Have you ever noticed how different various consumer epoxies are?

This thought was brought to mind when I repaired mom’s walker the other day. Like all the walkers I have seen, there are a pair of weak joints that are mig welded, but the axis of strain is such that the welding fatigues and cracks with use. Rather than trying to re-weld, i use the modern equivalent of baling wire: epoxy and a set screw. I learned the methodology from my grandfather. He used epoxy to “weld” the engine block/chassis of an old Case tractor when I was in my teens. The tractor continued in use for many more years without a problem and I have been a fan of epoxy for many things ever since.

Some colored epoxies form a very fatigue prone joint while most of the clear ones form a joint that holds up under heavy use. They are all rated for about the same joint strength, but the stress in walkers on the joint in question is torsional and not perpendicular to the surface. I suspect that if the strength of bond quoted on the package were measured torsionally, they would have very different ratings rather than the same.

In any case, the walker in question is now back together and in use.