Epoxy brands

Mark Davenport

Mark Davenport

Active member
My wife has asked me to finish a boat project that I started in 2011 before I bring another boat home (I'm embarrassed to say which project, but time sure does fly). Something always pulled me away from it, but now I have some extra motivation. So, with that said, I have used both West Systems and US Composites and it's time to order new product. I still have a few gallons of unopened US Composites that have been stored in a cardboard box in my temperature controlled basement since 2011, I tested it and it still works fine but I'm not going to use for this, I'll save it for other projects.
Disregarding cost, is there a legit reason to go with one over the other for a boat build e.g., quality etc. I will spend the extra for WS if needed. I have a West Marine nearby where I can order direct.
Note: just saw Eric's post about Raka, but have not used and will check their site out as well.
Thanks,
Mark Davenport
 
Check out fiberglasssite.com. 10 lbs per gallon; tensile strength 11,800 psi. It is a little thicker than many boutique boat building resins but you can't beat their prices and the the epoxy is quite a bit stronger. RM
 
Mark Davenport said:
I will spend the extra for WS if needed. I have a West Marine nearby where I can order direct.
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I think I am an anomaly here in that most of my experience has been with West Systems. The underlying reason for this is:
  1. In the 90s when I built my canoe, they had spectacular technical instructions in print
  2. Same time, I could buy it at the local West Marine store (no affiliation that I know of), it was in stock on the shelf.
  3. Since then, between the resin, fast hardener and slow hardener, I seem to run out of one thing at a time and replace what I need, and my usage has not been a "boatload" of epoxy at any point so I have just carried on with West Systems since.
If/when I do another boat size project, I will look at other brands as they are for sure more economical and the technical advise is out there on the World Wide Web at this point. I have had no bad experiences with West Systems, but they are not cheap, and not sure you get the value in the electronic information age that I did back when I would snail mail them a request and they mailed me back technical papers.

Chuck
 
Mark, give a call or text them about your old epoxy. I had old West and they told me to0 warmj the cans in water. S
till worked well, but was darker.
 
Chuck J said:
I think I am an anomaly here in that most of my experience has been with West Systems.
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Their G-Flex epoxy is nothing short of amazing on difficult materials or joints with alot of movement. Despite living in the electronic information age, I recently purchased a used copy of "The Gougeon Brothers on Boat Construction". More enjoyable with a good cup of coffee than struggling to read on a smart phone. RM
 
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