RE: What Kind of Epoxy are you using? My Findings so far

Thanks so much for all of you’alls input on this topic! Here is what I have discovered so far. I do think I will stay away from System 3 and West Systems. Sounds like they are too yellow for my liking. I glassed two surfboards side by side. Both are PU foam. One I did with Resin Research and the other I did with Fiberglass Hawaii. Both resins sat in front of an oil heater to warm the same amount of time. The same type of cloth was used on both boards. Room temperature was about 65 for both boards. Maybe a bit warmer. Both boards were glassed starting around 11:00 AM. I used no additive “F” or similar FH product with this trial.

Once mixed, the consistency of both resins seemed the same to me. FH starts out a bit thicker but once mixed with the part “B”, felt the same as RR. Both resins wetted out nicely. No difference that I could tell.

FH seemed to stay workable a bit longer than RR which seems to start thickening after about 10 min. It also did not turn milky on me the more I worked it. The Fiberglass Hawaii board was set up and ready for a hotcoat way before the RR board was. Not a big deal, but handy in some cases.

The FH board came out a bit whiter than the RR board which really surprised me. That is not to say that RR is yellow, just that the FH was whiter.

So, I started out favoring RR since that is the only Epoxy I have used and was pleasantly surprised with the FH. In the future, I would be perfectly happy and confident using either product.

Greenroom Epoxy is on the way. Can’t wait to try that stuff.

I will report back again after I sand the two boards. I already know that RR sands well even without the additive “F”. It will be interesting to sand them both side by side.

Hello Leslie,

If you show up at Swaylock’s 2008 I’m going to ask you all kinds of questions!!! Thanks for your comments and input about Epoxy Resin. You are well respected. I always learn lessons from your posts…

Ray

Wow!  You are SO sweet!!  You're Hired!  Compliments will get you everywhere.  Frankly though, I'm pretty much just a goober.  Sometimes I do get lucky and things will go well without a hitch.  I like when my epoxies go off without a hitch.  I am basically terrified to try new resins as it would crumble my little world if I ruined someone's shaped blank that they trusted ME with.  Yikes.

I am basically terrified to try new resins as it would crumble my little world if I ruined someone’s shaped blank that they trusted ME with. Yikes.

Quote:

And that’s why I have so much respect for you…

Today I helped MarkSSD glass a balsa surfboard. It’s far from perfect but…

…I’ve got this RR thing down…

Of course we live in San Diego…small waves good weather…

Ray

I’ve only used one type so far, and it was RR… from my experiences dont mix it in a tall cup, definetly go wide or it’ll gel on ya real quick… but as for its life/strength duration, I poured some extra green tinted RR epoxy on my road in front of my moms house in SW florida and its been 2 and a half years and its still there stuck to the road and hasnt changed a bit… ill have to post up a picture one day