How 2 clear up epoxy that hasn't gone off

Just be warned, MEK was a widely used solvent in the print industry but is now banned, so use decent gloves with it.

Originally posted by Dave.B I've begun building the core for my Farr centreboard and routed a groove around the edge to fill with graphite filled epoxy to create a hard edge. I picked it up tonight to do a bit more shaping and ended up with a sticky black hand. The leading edge epoxy has not gone off at all (and this is after 2 weeks!). I remember mixing it casually without proper measuring - Big mistake. It is so soft and sticky it's getting everywhere and I'm concerned that if I don't get it all off it'll bung up my tools, affect my finishes and be a real pain. I've dug the soft stiuff out and used some acetone with limited success   Any other ideas ? Thx   www.davesfarr37project@weebly.com

The only thing I can think of is, as you are going to be fairing down eventually to a hard epoxy mix. Is to sacrifice a router bit to the great epoxy god and cut a slightly bigger groove and do the same with some 40 grit sand paper to take off the rest of the sticky stuff off the front edge. Maybe do this the other way round - sand face first, route second. So your router doesn't get mucky. That is if no sort of chemical is working.

MEK can be bought from your local DIY store as ABS pipe joiner - once you smell it you will never forget it (its actually quite nice)

You can buy specific epoxy solvents which might work, but to begin with you are probably stuck (!) with mecanical means - scrape off as much as you can first, before adding anything that will spread it further.

Glad I'm not the only one who has done this...

Cotton wool!