Your First Epoxy Project/How It All Started

[RM Anderson]

The other day I was reminiscing about my grand parents. They were dairy farmers and each summer I'd stay on the farm and help with chores. My Granddad is the one who planted the epoxy seed in the fertile mind of a young boy. He would occasionally fix things that needed fixin' and I would watch as he mixed the tiny amounts of five minute epoxy.
Ever since then I have been utterly fascinated by adhesives, but especially epoxy. Like my Grandfather before me, I mostly repaired things for my wife who is profoundly efficient at breaking said things. About 15 years ago we moved to the country and my wife asked me to make something to cover the well head. My wife Heather loves birds so a birdbath quickly came to mind. Several other projects have followed but I'm always reminded of my Grandfather who planted the seed and my wife who watered it. RM

 

[HenryHawthorne]

Good idea, and well-executed!

I've used epoxy in small batches from time-to-time for certain repairs as well. But my first project? My boat. I'm certainly alone on this site in this regard.

 

[Jeff Reardon]

I bought an old sculling boat, built in Maine but exiled to Delaware. It had been built to hunt the waters near my home, an on an impulse, I made an E-bay bid and ended up with it. Drove ~12 hours south to pick it up--on an unknown trailer, in somewhat worse conditions than the Ebay photos had represented, and miraculously made it home through NJ, NYC, Hartford, and Boston traffic with no incidents. I am a lucky bastard! The "small area" of glass that was said to need glassing turned out to be a sign that most of the glass on the boat was delaminating from the wood. Folks on this site and two local friends, one who had built several stitch and glue boats including a Rail Skiff, helped me get it peeled off, the boat sanded smooth, and walked me through epoxy and glassing. Since then I haven't done much but some minor patches and skid plates on canoes, and glassing over the tips of cedar paddles to extend their life span when they start to split.

 

[Steve Sanford]

The other day I was reminiscing about my grand parents. They were dairy farmers and each summer I'd stay on the farm and help with chores. My Granddad is the one who planted the epoxy seed in the fertile mind of a young boy. He would occasionally fix things that needed fixin' and I would watch as he mixed the tiny amounts of five minute epoxy.
Ever since then I have been utterly fascinated by adhesives, but especially epoxy. Like my Grandfather before me, I mostly repaired things for my wife who is profoundly efficient at breaking said things. About 15 years ago we moved to the country and my wife asked me to make something to cover the well head. My wife Heather loves birds so a birdbath quickly came to mind. Several other projects have followed but I'm always reminded of my Grandfather who planted the seed and my wife who watered it. RM
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RM~
Very nice work! And thanks for suggesting the journey through our own Life with Epoxy.
Your idea took me through the various adhesives over my 7 decades. Of course, it started with Elmer's (which has long since been supplanted by Titebond III.)
My Dad was always working with wood for boats and other outdoor projects. We had a drum of urea formaldehyde from the Brooklyn Navy Yard. We mixed the brown powder with water and clamped everything to a fare-the-well. Later I bought it as Weldwood - for both boats and decoys.
For later boat projects - I remember laminating a White Oak tiller for one of my sailboats - I graduated to resorcinol. As I recall, I had to watch the clock after I mixed the 2 parts - and still had to clamp with maximum pressure....
Nowadays, polyurethane - in the form of Gorilla Glue - has found frequent use in my shop.
Like you, my first epoxy experience was with 5 Minute Epoxy - for decoys. I had used polyester resin - and usually 10-ounce cloth - for boats for many years. I read about epoxy resin for boats - from Zack Taylor in Sports Afield - but its price was beyond my pocketbook. Also, I learned that 1:1 epoxies (like 5 Minute) lack the strength of the 3:1 and 5:1 products I later used.

As the price of epoxy came within my reach I began to use it on boats. First I used it just on parts, then moved on to sheathing hulls with cloth. And - thanks to boatyard owner and good friend Bill Stark - I learned that epoxy and fiberglass mat (generally) are chemically incompatible. I have also read most of the "standard" books on epoxy - Gougeon Brothers, Sam Devlin, et cetera.

I have learned numerous tricks along this epic journey - my Epoxiad? - like putting on a topcoat whilst the first coat is still tacky - to avoid lots of sanding. I also have found that a good sharp scraper is much more efficient for the initial surfacing than sandpaper. And, either a woodstove or bright sunshine are big helpers in getting that all-important full cure.
Now I always have a supply of epoxy resins, the various fillers, measuring cups, throwaway brushes and other paraphernalia on hand in the shop. It is the rare week that does not involve some epoxy. This week included a couple of duckboats, one veteran Adirondack chair and a bird feeder.

Living where I do - in dairy country far from most boating - I mail order (interwebs, in fact) most of my supplies. I have been very satisfied with u.s. composites for many years now: https://www.uscomposites.com/

All the best,

SJS