Which Epoxy?

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Mark J
Posts: 23
Joined: Thu May 26, 2005 8:40 pm

Re: Which Epoxy?

Post by Mark J »

Marinepoxy is a good laminating resin because of it's viscosity. I almost exclusively use Marinepoxy. Very low odor of a peanut butter smell. I've had no skin outbreaks and no blush. It's my first choice. My second is S3.

You prolong pot times in various ways. Mixing the product and getting it out of the pot onto a flat surface, ice bathing resin, or refrigerating resin.
I summer build. I'll use medium hardener at 100 degrees ambient air temperature. I'll drop back to a slow hardener for a large layup. I usually buy my epoxy kits with medium hardener but keep a gallon of slow on hand so I can go either way. Don't paint yourself in a box. You don't want to stall your cure times using slow if you don't absolutely need slow.

I guess epoxy is the most daunting thing to overcome for a newcomer to boat building but the learning curve is not as steep as some assume it to be.
By the time you edge glue your panels and get your hull stitched, you've mixed enough small batches to learn the curve and progress on to laying glass on a hull.

One key thing I recommend to beginners in the use of fillers is to use measuring spoons and measuring cups to measure filler. The simple reason is that once you find a mix that works for you or whatever the requirement is for the task at hand, it's quickly and easily duplicated on subsequent batches. Eventually it becomes like mama making bisquits. She can't tell you how much of what to mix, she just does it by feel.

I've been doing it a long time and I still use measuring devices from time to time especially if I'm trying to match batches that are visible.
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