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Adhesive or filler suggestion, please


ByronForestPreserve

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Someone gave me one of those huge fake boulders that are used to hide electrical boxes. I want to hide a five gallon bucket in or under it...the problem is that the boulder is really light and would certainly blow away without stakes through the holes in the bottom. I think that would be a pain, and probably not last long even if cachers did their best to put everything back the way they found it. So, I could make the boulder heavy or attach the bucket somehow...but how?

 

The only thing I've come up with is to turn the boulder upside down like a bowl, place the bucket in it lid side up, then fill the boulder partially with cement. (I'm using one of the sealed lid add-ons that screws on and makes it all waterproof, so the bucket living upside down wouldn't be a problem.) Would that even work? I'd probably need to put some shallow grooves on the bucket, otherwise it might be too smooth. I think the cement will stick to the inside of the boulder. Maybe. Regardless, I wouldn't have to worry about the cache being stolen from a half mile out in the prairie. :)

 

Thoughts? Suggestions? There's probably a better way to do this....

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Thoughts? Suggestions? There's probably a better way to do this....

How about construction foam? The kind in a can. You could fill the whole thing, or fill it part way, sealing the bucket inside at the same time. Place a few nice sized rocks inside as weights and seal them into the foam. That stuff expands, so it may be a little like making a cache during a volcanic eruption :anicute:. But if you have a lot of space to work and don't mind making a mess, it might be OK.

 

Or use construction adhesive. Run a bead of it around the base of the bucket, to glue it into the inside of the fake rock, and glue some weights (rocks) inside. Either way, rough up the plastic as you said, so the adhesive grips well.

 

Seems like there must be a suitable way to do it. And it sounds like a very cool cache idea to me!

Edited by kunarion
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Thoughts? Suggestions? There's probably a better way to do this....

How about construction foam? The kind in a can. You could fill the whole thing, or fill it part way, sealing the bucket inside at the same time. Place a few nice sized rocks inside as weights and seal them into the foam. That stuff expands, so it may be a little like making a cache during a volcanic eruption :anicute:. But if you have a lot of space to work and don't mind making a mess, it might be OK.

 

Or use construction adhesive. Run a bead of it around the base of the bucket, to glue it into the inside of the fake rock, and glue some weights (rocks) inside. Either way, rough up the plastic as you said, so the adhesive grips well.

 

Seems like there must be a suitable way to do it. And it sounds like a very cool cache idea to me!

 

Ooh, hadn't thought of foam insulation. That sounds perfect. And not as permanent as cement, and easier to work with. Plus I can experiment and try to stick some to the bucket first to see how it holds. Still might have to scratch it up, but that's not a big deal. Thanks!

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One of the oldest caches in California is this exact cache you are describing. It hasn't blown away but I guess it would depend on how windy it is where you are hiding it.

 

Oh, it would blow away, believe me! We're on the third highest point in the county and there will be no tree cover. The industrial shingles have blown off the roof before. Sections of our solar panels, too. :)

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For future reference, the expanding foam insulation in a can worked like a charm. Didn't sand or scratch the bucket and it is STUCK. I was a little surprised, though, that two whole cans only got about a third of the way up the bucket. I'm going to add more foam just to get the bucket handle firmly entrenched so I don't have to be even a little concerned. Oh, and I did layer rocks first and then set the bucket on top, so it sits nice and firm. (And wouldn't you know it, someone gave me another fake rock--heavy heavy fiberglass and cement, but not quite large enough for a 5 gallon pail. Still exciting when people hand me things to make caches with.)

 

Thanks, Kunarion!

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For future reference, the expanding foam insulation in a can worked like a charm. Didn't sand or scratch the bucket and it is STUCK. I was a little surprised, though, that two whole cans only got about a third of the way up the bucket. I'm going to add more foam just to get the bucket handle firmly entrenched so I don't have to be even a little concerned. Oh, and I did layer rocks first and then set the bucket on top, so it sits nice and firm. (And wouldn't you know it, someone gave me another fake rock--heavy heavy fiberglass and cement, but not quite large enough for a 5 gallon pail. Still exciting when people hand me things to make caches with.)

 

Thanks, Kunarion!

You're welcome! I envy you getting free giant fake rocks. That will be a lot of fun!

Edited by kunarion
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What's it made of?

 

Some kind of plastic or fiberglass resin. It feels like plastic, but sturdier and not brittle.

 

I've built a couple of wood kayaks and use fiberglass resin as part of the construction process. One of those processes in involves creating a "filler" which is put along some of the seams and in the bow and stern of the kayak. That filler is a mix of epoxy resin (and hardener) and some sort of filler material to thicken up the mix (about the consistency of peanut butter). There are all sorts of fillers one can purchase, but I've used fine saw dust (from the dust bag in my random orbital sander). You probably wouldn't want to completely fill the "boulder" with the stuff but even a little is going to add weight.

 

 

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