Well, I have yet to use this Ear Magic. It sure seems to be the ticket. So you leave the cartilidge in, how much do you use for each ear and how thick does the ear have to be ? Once it's in the ear, there's no going back like bondo, correct ? I used bondo once, but hated it.. No adhesion at all.
I've been using liners, mostly Jonas and cutting the butts off and rebuilding them with clay. This technique has worked great for me over the last few years, but this Ear Magic has my curiousity up. Maybe I'll give it a whirl.
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buy the smallest amount you can. If you like it, buy more. I have used bondo forever and maybe it has fried my brain, but I like it. I can form ears with the cartilage intact. No earliners to buy, bondo is cheap. I can buy it locally, so there is no shipping. Ear magic smells awful and gets hot quick. I'm gonna use it til I use it up, maybe I'll like it better with time. But for now I'm not overly thrilled.
1. Bondo is cheap
2. It's probably fried your brain
Since it sounds as if you've never used it, let's start from there.
LIKE BONDO, it does have some smell. No better and certainly no worse than catalyzed fiberglass resin in Bondo.
IT DOES LAST FOREVER. Unlike Bondo which is highly proned to cracking and breaking, Magic Ears has silk stranding in both parts "A" and "B" so there's no "adding" any reinforcement and the strands are even out to the edges in Magic Ears.
IT DOES NOT HEAT ANY FASTER THAN BONDO. Unlike Bondo, however, the catalyzed heat is predictable. 6 to 10 minutes. With Bondo, you can mix it "hot" to cure in 2 minutes or "cool" to make it take 30 minutes. If you mess up and mix batches in an overlay, the hottest one will cure the slower one at that rate.
YOU CAN FORM THE EAR UP TO 6 HOURS LATER. Unlike Bondo, you can shape your ears over the course of a day. Bondo, once cured, is done. Any bending of the ear after the catalyzation is like bending a potato chip. With Bondo, you get to open the ear and take it out. (Course, with Magic Ear, it doesn't come out and NEVER drums.)
So, the bottom line is: If "cheap" is your only requirement, Bondo is your product. IF, however, you're looking for more professional results, you'll have to pay for a professional product.
I see you say you DID use it. Now my only conclusion is you didn't use it correctly.
I need to work with ear magic some more. I tried it on a bobcat a couple of weeks ago, and had to get it out quick because it set a heck of a lot quicker than I expected. Must have had a tad more hardener than needed. Gosh it has a smell I know bondo odors are bad. I try to minimize odors by using it out on the porch of my shop.
Its in your ballpark, related to your skills.
I like it very well and use it, but others dont, so I must assume their skills with it are not what my skills using it are.
If an epoxy is mixed 50/50, messing with that combo will destroy your intended use. It will either not cure at all or cure in a jellied mess. The only acceleration on epoxy comes from adding heat and the only deceleration comes from cooling. Make SURE you only mix it in equal amounts.
There is a small learning curve to it but once you get the hang of it you can it quite a bit thinner than Bondo. I use a ball a little bigger than a golf ball for each ear. Leave the cartlidge in, if you want you can rough up the ear or score it but this is usaully not necessary. I hate earliners but I would use them anyday over Bondo. Bondo isnt an adhesive therefore the ear will drum eventually.