Apoxie vs Epoxie which is best?

This was written by my friend Laura Muligan.

Apoxie Sculpt vs Epoxy Putty

Apoxie Sculpt

About

• Apoxie sculpt is a craft medium used for sculpting, bonding or filling.
• You have to order it online or get it from a specialty store
• Comes in two little jars - you scoop equal parts of each and mix
• You have 1-3 hours working time
• Comes in a variety of colours
• Costs about $10 for 4oz (2 of each part)

Pros

• Easy to roll around, didn’t leave residue on my work surface
• No noticeable smell at all
• Easy to mold both with gloves and bare fingers
• Long working time - I could adjust and poke around the whole time I needed to

Cons

• Hard to scoop out the exact amount I wanted from each dish
• Hard to see if I had the same amount of each
• You have to wait for it to set for the 3 hours before you can do the next step

Epoxy Putty

 

About

• Epoxy Putty is a steel reinforced putty used for bonding or filling.
• You can get it at any hardware store in the plumbing department.
• Comes in a tube, prerolled so you just cut off what you want and mix
• You have 5-10 minutes working time
• Comes in an industrial dark gray
• Costs about $3.5 for 2 oz ($7 for 4oz)

Pros

• Really easy to just cut off the amount I wanted with scissors
• It’s pre-rolled so you automatically have the right ratio of each part
• If I’d gotten all my parts in place - I could see the benefit of the quick setting time, as I don’t have to wait several hours to move onto the next step

Cons

•  Left a gray residue on my work surface which I had to scrape off
• Had a smell like 5-minute epoxy - not super strong, but noticeable
• Limited working time - At 3 minutes in as I was down to rolling my last small piece it was already getting hard before I had a chance to get it in place and smooth it down

Comparison

I originally bought the Epoxy putty as I couldn’t find a small container of Apoxie Sculpt easily. I read online somewhere that they were about the same. I was then given a small package of the Apoxie Sculpt, so decided to compare.

I was using them both for the same application - attaching wire to a lightbulb to make a project. I had the wire taped in place and used the medium to place over it to adhere it permanently and start to shape the project.

For preparing the mediums, the Epoxy Putty was easier to work with. It comes with both parts rolled together but not mixed, so you snip off as much as you want - which is easy to visualize, and then just start rolling. The Apoxie Sculpt was more difficult in that you had to scoop out of two different jars - which wasn’t easy as it is sticky. You then have to try and eyeball if you have equal parts of each, as well as an adequate total amount before you start mixing it up. So that was more challenging.

In terms of working with the mediums I liked the Apoxie Sculpt better. It is labelled as non-toxic, so after scooping and rolling it with gloves on I felt comfortable smoothing it with my bare fingers which gave me smoother results overall. The Epoxy Putty on the other hand says it may cause reactions to skin, so I left the gloves on the whole time just in case.The Epoxy Putty also left a gray residue on the plastic placemat I was working on, which I was able to scrape off as soon as I was done. The Apoxie Sculpt however, didn’t leave any residue which was much nicer.

In terms of the application, both products seemed to stick right away to all the surfaces and were easy to roll and move around and shape. In terms of working time I guess it would depend. I was trying to put on many small patches and found that the Epoxy Putty was hardening too quickly by the time I got to the last one due to the small parts. But if I was doing something larger and less fiddly, I think the Epoxy Putty would be okay and you wouldn’t have to wait so long in between steps.

In general the Epoxy Putty is much easier to come by and less expensive. But for crafting purposes I think that the ease of use, and longer working time probably make the Apoxie Sculpt the better choice. If you were doing a large project that didn’t have a lot of detail - the central core of something say - then the Epoxy Putty might be a good, quick and cheap alternative. If you’re doing a lot of this type of thing, there are larger containers of the Apoxie sculpt which seem to be more economical. They also come in different colours if you aren’t intending to paint the final product. In conclusion, would recommend the Apoxie Sculpt over the Epoxy Putty for most crafting applications.

Have you had any experience with these products? Which do you prefer?