Where do you guys buy Bondo and how much does it cost? Could I buy Bondo at Menards do you know (for those of you with Menards around you, otherwise what about Home Depot or something?)
probably not. you will probably have to order it from a website. Bondo is primarily used in car bodyshops and I think it is probably pretty hard for the average consumer to come by.
wrong, it is pretty common. I'm not sure what they carry at Meynards as I don't have one near me but any decent autoparts place will have it. As a matter of fact. I got mine at wal-mart in the automotive section. My advice, buy some big/extra squeegie rubber cards used to spread it on the surface. The bondo I bought at walmart had one included but it was so small, it was virtually useless. Later, I got a set of three for really cheap at walmart.
well i payed about 4-5 for a kitwith a tub about the size of a pint(400ml) and a little tube of cream hardener but its to small so pick up more yes wallmart is better than a auto place, they have the same brands but cheaper more tumb action
Hmm, walmart, who'd a thought? Not me... of course I got my duplicolor mirage in the automotive department and found where they keep the vinyl dye, I must have just missed the bondo there. Is it actual brandname bondo or some other brand equivalent (ie what am I looking for?)
The stuff I got was actual bondo brand. It was near the sandpaper and automotive touch up paint kits. The spreader cards (squeegie) kit was also bondo brand, three of various sizes, all a little bigger than my hand. The bondo was about $15 (IIRC) The spreaders were around $4 (again IIRC)
rgr that, looks like I'll be making a trip to my local Wal Mart this weekend! Thanks for the great help!!
Hiya Guys. I've got to ask for us peeps not in the US - what's Bondo? Are we talking plastic car-body filler? Or is it a more specialized product? Apart from fibre-glass body repair kits, and the resin they include, over here in the UK you generally see stuff like "David's Isopon" - other generic brands too. Basically a plastic putty and tube of hardener. A we talking the same stuff? Thanks!
same stuff like a strange plastic goop with cream hardener (they never give ya enough so buy an extra tube) here in the US you can prolly find brand name Bondo at... Wal-Mart Home Depot (most home do it yourself stores i.e. Lowe's/Hobby Lobby/etc.) Larger auto body stores (Pep-Boy's/O'Reiley's/etc.) Look in the sandpaper/glue/caulk section that's where i found it at home depot. Buy an extra tube of hardener, find some small rubber squeegee things. I also suggest to everyone to stop by any local restaurant and grab a manager/server (or if you know someone who works in a restaurant) and ask them for "to-go ramekins" (pronounced ram-eh-kins). They are little plastic cups they use to put salad dressings, various sauces, and crap like that in for take out. If you have a hook-up they will be free, but usually if you are nice to the server/manager they will give them to you dirt cheap if not free. The reason i suggest getting these is, they make WONDERFUL disposable mixing cups. They give you a good portion to work with and use (about 2-4 ounces, think 2-4 shotglasses). This way, you can usually use all the batch before it gets hard, and if you screw up and put too much hardener in, you only lost a little bit of the Bondo. Damn, that was way too long. Vazz
How hard does bondo dry? If I wanted to say put screws through it so that I could attach a handle to pick up the computer by do you think that it'd be able to support that kind of weight?
Bondo is essentially a soft epoxy (ie, easy to sand). It is entended to fill dented spots on the surface of a much more durable material like plastic/metal/fiberglass. If you were putting screws into something that had bondo on it, you would not be depending on the bondo to hold the wieght but whatever material the bond was on. If you are talking about fabricating something from scratch, bondo is not the way to go. It is mearly a finishing material.
Alright - I didn't know how stable Bondo was so I'm glad that I asked about it. I've got some ideas but I think I will end up having to cut up some sheet metal for it. What a pain in the ass.
Cheers for that Guys (Vazzini42 et al) that answers *my* question. Then I know what we're talking about! Some brands say, yes, you can screw items into the set material - I tried it with proper engineering screw taps and it does work.. but... as ETD points out it hasn't got enough real strength of its own to take any weight or stress. You can also embed soft aluminium mesh in to the putty to reinforce it if that helps, carefully screwing it (or rivetting etc) to some chassis member. All available from auto repair shops etc. Over here we have Wal-Mart by another name, but same company - ASDA. Common brand's in UK include "David's Isopon" and "Plastic Padding" (this last one is a confusing name as they make all sorts of repair resins and putty.
I always bought bondo from wal mart but its not the strongest. i would stay clear of attaching anything to or with it.
It took me forever to find, but at Home Depot it's in it's own auto body section. Not with the stucco and other fillers.
yeah regular bondo is not good to screw or rivet to, like previously said, it is a filler. It works awesome for filling in holes, cracks, dents, spot weld marks, etc. It has very very little structural strength it is know to pop out if you put it under too much stress. When dried it has the consistency of dried out Play-Doh (you remember that stuff? damn Im gettin old)
I have even Seen Bondo at K-mart, but make sure that you really scratch up the application surface first because the bondo will fall off after a couple years if there is too smooth of a surface behind it,
