Epoxy is a type of resin that you can use in composite parts or repair for concrete or other structures. Epoxy adhesives' properties depend on their chemical composition. This composition determines whether an epoxy functions as a glue or an adhesive and whether or not you can use that epoxy on specific materials like glass or metal.

With epoxy adhesives education and training, you can learn how to develop epoxy, learn new technologies to meet the demands of the industry and learn the safety requirements for working with epoxy adhesives. Depending on the area that you want to specialize in, you might want to consider the following educational opportunities:

1. Take advantage of hands-on learning experiences.

2. Utilize resources from industry associations designed for people who work with adhesive epoxies.

3. Find educational opportunities hosted by epoxy suppliers.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Attend hands-on training courses for epoxy adhesives

For some individuals, hands-on training provides the best educational experience. Through a hands-on course you get practical experience to go along with classroom instruction.

I recommend: The ChemQuest Group hosts an Adhesive Bonding Professional Training Course. During the 40-hour course, you get hands-on training as well as classroom instruction. Wessex Resins & Adhesives provides training courses in epoxy and includes hand-on experience with epoxy glue.

Work with associations to gain epoxy adhesives education and training

Industry associations often offer their members a variety of educational platforms. Conferences, seminars and online learning are just a few of the benefits you can gain from a membership in a professional organization. Depending on the association, your membership may allow you to take advantage of educational opportunities for a reduced price.

I recommend: The Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) sells an e-learning course on Epoxy Adhesive Formulation. It also hosts conferences and events for its members to further education. The American Composites Manufacturers Association provides an overview of resins and includes a detailed description of epoxy.

Gain education from epoxy adhesives major suppliers

Major suppliers often provide educational information specific to their products. In some cases, the manufacturer will be the best source of information for a speciality adhesive epoxy like mosaic epoxy adhesive or steel epoxy adhesive. The educational opportunities available from manufacturers will vary by company.

I recommend: Basic Adhesives, one of the leading epoxy manufacturers, attends trade shows for the industry. The representatives who work during the trade shows have valuable educational information to share with visitors to their booth during the show. LORD provides educational information on its website, including Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) and instructional tools for its products.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  The majority of epoxy manufacturers have MSDS and other safety information available for people who want to work with their products. In some cases, you may need to request the information in order to get copies of it.

Epoxy adhesives are high-performance adhesives mainly used for joining components where high strength bonding is required. Epoxy adhesives’ resistance to heat and chemicals is comparatively higher than other adhesives. Epoxy glue is an important fastening chemical used for the construction of aircrafts, automobiles, bicycles, boats, golf clubs, skis and snowboards. You can buy customized epoxy adhesives to suit your applications, especially for products made of wood, metal, glass, stone or plastic.

Epoxy adhesives can be flexible or rigid, transparent, opaque or colored. You can further categorize adhesives as fast setting or extremely slow setting adhesives.

Some of the key parameters you must consider before buying an epoxy based adhesive are:

1. Material of the parts that require epoxy adhesive bonding
2. Chemical composition of the epoxy adhesive
3. Grades of epoxy adhesive
4. Operating condition parameters such as temperature and pressure

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Find epoxy manufacturers

Once you understand your requirements, you are ready to select the specific manufacturer to buy an appropriate epoxy adhesive. Some of the types of epoxy adhesives available from manufacturers are: mosaic epoxy adhesive, steel epoxy adhesive, epoxy tile adhesive and epoxy adhesives for glass.

I recommend: Epoxies, Etc. manufactures epoxy adhesives suitable for bonding various materials such as glass, metal, plastic and wood. You can also buy epoxy adhesives at BondPro Corp., a manufacturer of adhesives. Lord Corporation offers different types of epoxy adhesives. Additionally, Permabond Engineering Adhesives and Master Bond are other manufacturers of different types of epoxy adhesives such as two-component adhesives and single-component adhesives.

Find a retailer for epoxy adhesives

You can visit various online retailers to select appropriate epoxy adhesives from different manufacturers. You can compare properties, composition and prices of suitable epoxy adhesives.

I recommend: ITW Devcon provides epoxy adhesives of different brands. Ellsworth Adhesives is another epoxy adhesive supplier that offers low and medium viscosity adhesives. You can also get a list of adhesive epoxy suppliers and distributors at ThomasNet and Chemical Register.

Order specialty or customized epoxy adhesives

If standard epoxy adhesives do not meet your adhesives requirements, then order specialty or customized epoxy adhesives.

I recommend: Master Bond supplies specialty epoxy adhesives such as cryogenic & heat resistant epoxy adhesives, UV curable adhesives and electrically conductive adhesives. efi polymers develops custom formulation for industrial applications that require high strength and immediate setting of the adhesives . Aavid Thermalloy is another custom epoxy adhesive manufacturer that provides high strength thermally conductive adhesives for bonding thermistors, diodes, resistors, and integrated circuits (IC).

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Handle epoxy adhesives carefully as they can cause an allergic reaction.
• •  Store an epoxy adhesive in an airtight container, as exposure to air might hamper its bonding ability.
• •  Make sure the surface area is clean before applying the epoxy adhesive, as rough surface results in poor bonding.