Thoughts? Comments? Yeah, its expensive as hell, but having boats around = having West around for fixing things.
A number of years ago I used the West system on a cedar strip canoe and a dory. It worked well. However, for surfboards other than wood, it would probably not be appropriated because of clarity. It hardens out to a slightly yellow color. Would be good if you wanted a board to look old! Perhaps they now have a clearer one available. Patrick
West isn’t exactly made to be used for clear coating, but it does work very well in atleast boat repairs. Thinking about West use in the past, it has come out clear on various things I’ve used it for, ie: hull repair, coating the wrappings of a fish gaff etc. Thanks for the thoughts though…
West makes a special clear coatings hardner for such applications that does not yellow when it hardens. I have used it for other applications and have been happy with the results. I believe the hardner number is 507 (not entirely sure offhand). My friend used System three to re-deck his Victoria skim with a wood veneer and it looks old now but cool!
I like west epoxy,I have used it in board repairs and for woodworking and once upon a time as a table top finish.As for clarity I think it has been stated many times that you lose some integrity in the resin by going for clarity.In a long ago thread Dale and Sluggo put up some interesting facts about clear resins in general and the fact that builders were more into the cosmetic side of things.I would like to hear Greg’s input on this subject. R. Brucker
Wow… You guys really rule for responses! [smile] I’ve used it for repairing my powerboat on multiple occasions (even have the 203482930483 different fillers they make) including both above water and below water repairs… I love it for the boat, now I can love it for the board with confidence. But I’d love even more input if there’s any insight on also using the various fillers…
I think west system epoxy is vastly overprized, atleast where I live(Even though the prices have dropped now). It’s very yellow, atleast in thicker applications, but I wouldn’t mind that all that much. If you can’t get the resin research epoxy for surfboards(first choice) or system 3’s surfboard resin, then go for the west system epoxy. regards, Håvard
West has also for a while been considered pretty damn close to being the best epoxy for boatbuilding. (Atleast in home building, and custom work.) Afterall, Goetz, Concordia, and various other big names wouldn’t use thousands of gallons of the stuff if it wasn’t up there. Also historically epoxy has always been 3x the cost of polyester resin.
I’ve heard that West being far superior to any boat epoxy is a myth. Atleast that was the words from one shop selling different brands, including West Systems. Their take was that West was first with boatbuilding epoxy and that the customers was grown accustomed to it. They said many customers came to the shop looking for ‘West’, not epoxy. That said, there is propably nothing wrong with it. That said, I don’t buy that it’s much better or better suited for building surfboard than any other epoxy. regards, Håvard
Also the fact that nobody has done any real hardcore comparisons of the various brands I suppose. Practical Sailor at one point or another I’m sure has, but with their number of issues, it’d be pretty hard to hunt down. As far as general strength? I’d guestimate that you’d be hard pressed to ever really notice the real difference in strength/flex between resins, and by the time you reach the breaking points of say surfboards in general, it dosen’t matter which resin you’re using, its gonna break. Not to say that we should all run out and buy the cheapest resin because of this, but also not to be running out for the #1 highest tensil strength resin available thats 10x the cost of that good/not too bad to work with resin that your buddy has been using for years now with consistent results.
Clarity is gonna be the main issue. All West Systems stuff (to my knowledge) will all cure with an amber tint. So maybe as an opaque or tinted lam it would be fine (do you have access to pigments too/ - sounds possible). If you want a clear Lam with Epoxy get some Resin Research Epoxy from Greg Loehr. I used the version with the fast hardnener. cures gin-clear. predictable work time, easy ratios, and very workable. Good stuff. Eric J
Clarity and colors are certainly aspects to be taken into consideration but also: UV stability Color stability Sanding characteristics Flow characteristics (hot coating and glossing) Barcol hardness No blush High gloss finishes Lower Toxicity (no phenol or formaldehyde. Check your MSDS on that one) Our system has three hardener speeds Fast 25 min, slow 50 min and X-slow 200 min. Two resins 2000 high modulus and 2020 high impact. Plus we have Additive F which is a sanding, flow and wetting agent. West had quite a product 20 years ago. But times change. For info, call me at 321-223-5276 or e mail at . We have two locations, one in Melbourne Fl. the other in Tucson Az. for shipping convenience. Sorry for the spam guys
There was a pretty good epoxy comparison done on a wood kayak site. He doesn’t test all brands referred to here (namely Greg’s brand)but a pretty good study. I posted it once but here it is again… http://oneoceankayaks.com/Epoxtest.htm
Interesting mixed results on all fronts from all the big boys. Thanks for the read [smile]
Greg, we are going into fall up here in the Pacific Northwest. What’s the minimum temp you feel your fast hardener will work? Also, what about humidity = rain? Thanks, Gary
Here’s a link to some epoxy info…I have not tried it so I don’t know the specifics but it was a good read nontheless…Krokus http://www.epoxyproducts.com/1_marineresins.html