First Glued Parts!

I have been working at a leisurely pace on the boat this week. I got all of my mahogany planed down to size and the first pieces cut out. The wood shop at work came through for me and I can use it every day until about 3:30. I also received the epoxy and screws that I ordered so it was time to put some pieces together! I pre-drilled all the screw holes, and drilled a few all the way into both pieces. The through holes are for alignment once the pieces have epoxy on them. I mixed up my first batch of epoxy and added the silica filler. I spread it on the pieces and them set the extra aside to start the assembly. The next thing I know the mix is snap, crackle, popping like Rice Krispies and wisps of smoke are coming out of the container! Epoxy resin and hardener produce an exo-thermal chemical reaction which speeds up the hardening process. Since I mixed mine in a small container the heat was contained and made the epoxy heat up very rapidly. From reading about other people who have had this experience I learned that the process is called "going off," as it "That epoxy just went off!" Now technically, I think that all epoxy that you mix up "goes off," but when you concentrate it in a small area it seems to be more spectacular. The epoxy I spread on the wood and the stuff on the edge of the mixing container was still easily workable 10 minutes later due to being spread out over a larger area. I mixed about 5 oz. this time which was probably twice what I needed. Next time I will do a smaller batch or spread it out more to slow down the reaction. Hopefully the pieces will stick well enough.