Oak - Epoxy

[Dusan]

Hi everybody,

Have anyone experience with West System (207) Epoxy?
I want to protect my wooden boat (oak) with Epoxy. Are enough three coats of West and three coats of Epifanes PU Clear? What about UV rays? Must I protect it every year with new coats of varnish?

Thank You.
43673

43674

43675

[apex1]

Hi everybody,

Have anyone experience with West System (207) Epoxy?
I want to protect my wooden boat (oak) with Epoxy. Are enough three coats of West and three coats of Epifanes PU Clear? What about UV rays? Must I protect it every year with new coats of varnish?

Thank You.


West resin will probably not stick well to Oak timber! There are resins on the market for such applications with Oak and Teak!

You MUST use a UV protecting varnish, the brand does´nt mean much. And under normal conditions in the Med. Sea it should last for 5 to 7 years before it has to be redone.

Regards
Richard

[alan white]

I believe red oak is fine with epoxy, but epoxy doesn't bond to white oak or live oak very well. That said, coating is not bonding in that ultimate strength characteristics aren't required, just that the epoxy remains stuck to the wood's surface.
If you are simply coating brightwork, forget epoxy anyway and just do the varnish. Sealing with epoxy can be problematic if it isn't completely sealed with an epoxy back-coat. Wood can absorb water from behind and it gets trapped under the outer surface, lifting varnish or paint in some cases.
In addition, there's nothing worse than a poorly maintained varnish job over epoxy. The sun's uv rays destroy the epoxy requiring some hellatious sanding to remove---- it turns yellow (horrid looking) besides taking the varnish with it.
I see a lot of old stripper canoes finished bright but now neglected and essentially ruined because the varnish wasn't kept up on a regular schedule.

[apex1]

I believe red oak is fine with epoxy, but epoxy doesn't bond to white oak or live oak very well. That said, coating is not bonding in that ultimate strength characteristics aren't required, just that the epoxy remains stuck to the wood's surface.
If you are simply coating brightwork, forget epoxy anyway and just do the varnish. Sealing with epoxy can be problematic if it isn't completely sealed with an epoxy back-coat. Wood can absorb water from behind and it gets trapped under the outer surface, lifting varnish or paint in some cases.
In addition, there's nothing worse than a poorly maintained varnish job over epoxy. The sun's uv rays destroy the epoxy requiring some hellatious sanding to remove---- it turns yellow (horrid looking) besides taking the varnish with it.
I see a lot of old stripper canoes finished bright but now neglected and essentially ruined because the varnish wasn't kept up on a regular schedule.

Concur Alan..

if only coating is required, epoxy would be wasted.

(btw. there is no red oak in Europe)

Regards
Richard

[dskira]

(btw. there is no red oak in Europe)

Regards
Richard

You are right.
Just for the fun of it I copied from wikipedia the list of white oak species.

The white oaks (synonym sect. Lepidobalanus or Leucobalanus). Europe, Asia, north Africa, North America. Styles short; acorns mature in 6 months, sweet or slightly bitter, inside of acorn shell hairless.

Quercus alba — White Oak — eastern North America
Quercus aliena — Oriental White Oak — eastern Asia
Quercus arizonica — Arizona White Oak — # southwestern U.S., nw. Mexico
Quercus austrina — Bluff Oak — southeastern North America
Quercus berberidifolia — California Scrub Oak — # California
Quercus bicolor — Swamp White Oak — eastern & midwestern North America
Quercus boyntonii — Boynton's Post Oak — south central North America
Quercus chapmanii — Chapman Oak — # southeastern North America
Quercus cornelius-mulleri — Muller Oak — # southwestern North America
Quercus copeyensis — # Costa Rica, Panama
Quercus dalechampii — southeastern Europe
Quercus depressipes — Davis Mountain Oak — # Texas
Quercus dilatata — Moru Oak — # Himalayas
Quercus douglasii — Blue Oak — California
Quercus dumosa — Coastal Scrub Oak — # southern California
Quercus durata — Leather Oak — # California
Quercus engelmannii — Engelmann Oak — # southwestern California
Quercus faginea — Portuguese oak — # southwestern Europe
Quercus fusiformis — Texas Live Oak or Plateau Live Oak — # south central North America
Quercus gambelii — Gambel Oak — southwestern North America
Quercus garryana — Oregon White Oak or Garry Oak — western North America
Quercus geminata — Sand Live Oak — # southeastern North America
Quercus glaucoides — # Mexico
Quercus grisea — Gray Oak — # south central North America
Quercus havardii — Havard Oak, Shinnery oak, Shin Oak — south central North America
Quercus hinckleyi — Hinckley Oak — # Texas, northwestern Mexico
Quercus hondurensis — Honduras Oak — # Honduras
Quercus ilex — Holly Oak or Holm Oak — # southern Europe, northwestern Africa
Quercus insignis — Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama
Quercus intricata — Coahuila Scrub Oak — # two isolated localities in west Texas, northern Mexico
Quercus john-tuckeri — Tucker's Oak — # southwestern North America
Quercus laceyi — Lacey Oak — Edwards Plateau of Texas, northern Mexico
Quercus lanata — Woolly-leaved Oak — # Himalayas
Quercus leucotrichophora — Banj Oak — # Himalayas
Quercus lobata — Valley Oak or California White Oak — California
Quercus lusitanica — Gall Oak or Lusitanian Oak — Iberia, North Africa
Quercus lyrata — Overcup Oak — eastern North America
Quercus macrocarpa — Bur Oak — eastern and central North America
Quercus mohriana — Mohr Oak — # southwestern North America
Quercus michauxii — Swamp Chestnut Oak — eastern North America
Quercus minima — Dwarf Live Oak — # southeastern North America
Quercus mongolica — Mongolian Oak — eastern Asia
Quercus muehlenbergii — Chinkapin Oak — eastern, central, and southwestern US (West Texas and New Mexico), northern Mexico
Quercus oblongifolia — Mexican Blue Oak — # southwestern U.S., nw. Mexico
Quercus oglethorpensis — Oglethorpe Oak — southeastern North America
Quercus peduncularis — # Central America
Quercus petraea — Sessile Oak — Europe
Quercus polymorpha — Monterrey Oak, Mexican White Oak — # Mexico and extreme S. Texas
Quercus prinoides — Dwarf Chinkapin Oak — eastern North America
Quercus prinus — Chestnut Oak — eastern North America (= Quercus montana)
Quercus pubescens — Downy Oak — Europe
Quercus pungens — Sandpaper Oak — # south central North America
Quercus robur — Pedunculate Oak or English Oak — Europe, West Asia
Quercus rugosa — Netleaf Oak — # southwestern U.S., nw. Mexico
Quercus sadleriana — Deer Oak — # sw. Oregon, northern California
Quercus stellata — Post Oak — eastern North America
Quercus toumeyi — Toumey Oak — # southwest New Mexico, southeastern Arizona, northern Mexico
Quercus turbinella — Shrub Live Oak or Scrub Live Oak — # southwestern North America
Quercus vaseyana — Vasey Oak — # southwestern North America
Quercus virginiana — Southern Live Oak — # southeastern North America

[Dusan]

Thank you. What are your suggest?
Oak is Quercus robur.

[Guest62110524]

Hi everybody,

Have anyone experience with West System (207) Epoxy?
I want to protect my wooden boat (oak) with Epoxy. Are enough three coats of West and three coats of Epifanes PU Clear? What about UV rays? Must I protect it every year with new coats of varnish?

Thank You.
43673

43674

43675

many of mine were finished in oak
thin the fisrt coat of epoxy half and half with epoxy OR universal thinners, light sand and build up your coats Oak particularly NA white oak is very dense, the most dense of common building timber

[Landlubber]

nice work woosh, i thought that you were a metal hacker......

[Guest62110524]

nice work woosh, i thought that you were a metal hacker......

even metal boats need finish
My grandfather used to say Oak never stops moving, he died in 1956,
So although my strength is metal, I was with timber from early age, but learned most off the men who worked for me in that department
i would not choose oak again, often you take your no 1 plane to the merchant and are there hours trying find decent stick, without cracks, shakes and so on

[apex1]

Thank you. What are your suggest?
Oak is Quercus robur.

Of course. There is hardly any other oak timber on the European market. And sure not NA white oak (which is not stronger than Quercus robur)

Do not try to apply thinned epoxy resin, thats a mad idea.
Thinning the EP does NOT make it bond better, especially not when you use universal thinners instead of special diluents they just destroy the good properties of Epoxy. The diluent would give you the impression to stick, but that does not last long!

But as mentioned before, just leave it. You are fine with a good varnish. The resin would be wasted. Except it is part of the building method, but your pictures show it is not.

Regards
Richard

[Dusan]

http://img33.imageshack.us/g/dscn0626ma.jpg/

[apex1]

Nice result.

Varnish only?

[Dusan]

Thank You. On photos You can see three coats of Epoxy and now I’ll put three coats of varnish.