epoxy embedded wires… any tips?

[Greenleaf]

We have freed ours of the mold! It’s very exciting.

Does anyone have any tips on how to pull the copper wires out of the bulkhead and stiffener that have been embedded in the fillet? We didn’t want to start breaking things before we knew what we were doing. It seems they need to be out in order to sand the exterior smooth.

[ecossett82]

Big tip, pick up a soldering gun (I like the trigger automotive type), heat wire up and pull out.. It doesn’t take to much, just enough to briefly soften around the wires.

[Greenleaf]

That’s a brilliant idea!  We will give that a try and report back…  Thanks!!

[derek0]

Certainly applying heat will help you get the wires out, but it may be unnecessary.  I had 10 or more wires around the bulkhead/ hatch stiffener area which refused to budge so I just snipped them flush and sanded them smooth.  Of course this leaves an 18 gauge dot of copper visible through the fiberglass, but I find this no more visually detracting than all those dark colored stitch holes which are equally visible.

[JakeM]

I did the same thing as Derek.  I actually like having the little bits of copper visible because it reminds me of the all the stitching work that we did.  It also is a cool thing to point out when people ask “how did you build this??”

[CWStevens]

I second the soldering iron method.  Make sure to wet the tip with a bit of solder to get optimal heat conduction.  I found that 3 to 5 seconds with a low wattage soldering iron did the trick in every case.

[western_flyer]

I used a hot air gun. I think a blow dryer would do the trick. Just hold the end of the wire with pliers and give a gentle tug while applying heat and wait until the wire starts to budge. The copper wire only took a few seconds to loosen. I used steel wire in a couple of places where the copper kept breaking and it took quite a bit more time and heat.

[Author]

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