Epoxy supply in RSA?

[Manie B]

Hi guys

this is a question for our South African readers

who and where supplies Epoxy and the hardener to go with it.

so far i got

CKD Cape town (shell ???)
Harveys JHB = West system

i really cant believe that we have only 2 suppliers it means that the prices are waaaaay toooo high

please help

[Butch .H]

Halls paint in PMB

Associated Agencies in PMB

They are still all to costly

Regards
B

[Manie B]

Just to put it in perspective

Resin 1 part and hardener 0.6 part mixed

is a total of R 166.00 per 1.6 kg mixed

at R8 to US$1 that is US$ 20.75 per 3.5 lbs = US$ 5.93 per pound

surely that is expensive????

[Fanie]

When you get to the fiberglass part I know where to get.

I get my resin from Harvey's... they are expensive, you should look at getting the big drum, a bit cheaper and you get a tap on it too. At this stage I'm not sure when I will be able to jump in starting, but maybe if we buy our's together as a bit of bulk we could squish a few rands per drop less on the price out of them.

[deepsix]

www.amtcomposites.co.za - They carry a very wide range of products, I think they keep the SP Systems Ampreg resins, which is good stuff but expensive. They also carry some other products Axson - Epolam, and another generic resin.

You can also try NCS resins, they are local and might have an epoxy resin. Scott Bader keeps the crystic resin range, but they might only do polyester.

Duroplastic is another name I have heard around but I dont know what resins they keep, the advert lists epoxies.

For international prices go look at http://boatbuildercentral.com/

[Fanie]

AMT is even worse. I phoned one of their guys a couple of times for something a while ago and he was in a hurry every time to go somewhere... still waiting. One can only call so many times.

[Manie B]

I will keep you guys posted on this one
i am working through ALL OF THEM and will give prices soon

anyway thanks for your input

[Fanie]

Manie, I have just gone through the whole exersize looking for foam cores to use (again). I even got some foam sheets they epoxy sandwitch in aeroplanes.

I'm sticking to the PE foam I used before. Nothing beats it.

[Wynand N]

Manie, I buy all my epoxies and paints from the following guys and will not go elsewhere - for me it is expertise and service....

Breamar Agencies - Port Elizabeth; Tel: 041-4532220 and asks for Anton van der Merwe. Bought my first epoxies and airless spray unit from him in 1988! Epoxy paints etc.

SeaPort - Cape Town; Tel: 021-5106262 and asks for Steven. Buys my epoxy fillers etc from them

Both of these guys dispatch your stuff same day after payment is made and are always available for advice and queries.

[Fanie]

Dankie Wynand,

Egganokyk.

[Butch .H]

Eggok dankie Vat so Kat Vis

[Manie B]

Dankie Wynand
will most definately look into

[sproxxin]

I phoned harveys yesterday and the gave me a price for epoxy resin . When i went to the shop they sold me epoxy far cheaper than the price they gave me over the phone. I ended up paying R 114/kg (epoxy and hardener). I don't know if this is cheap or not for epoxy, seeing that g.p. resin costs R 40/kg? The epoxy is made by flowcrete http://www.flowcretesa.co.za

[michael pierzga]

Great....some epoxy guys, maybe they can answer a question for me. Long time ago, when I was just a junior knucklehead with a hand saw and a chisel, the shipyard I was working for assigned me a project to construct a beautiful teak cockpit table for this fancy sport fisherman. I beavered away on that table all week, a hundred precise cuts , no visible fasteners. I dry assembled the unit, double checked everything, disassembled, labeled, then proceeded to reassemble and glue up the table with epoxy. She was beautiful !!! a work of art. In the morning, with great pride I inspected my masterpiece and OH NO !!! one of the legs had wet epoxy on the joint ? I looked closer and sure enough the epoxy didn't kick off !!! Turns out that my last cup of epoxy was applied with no catalyst......my table was reduced to a thousand dollar piece of firewood. I naturally recieved the .... Knucklehead gold medal for 1982.
Well, lesson learned.
I dont often work with epoxy, but In the near future Ive got an epoxy sheathed skiff to build. 22ft. I can see that the layup will be to big for me ,working alone, to pull off in one shot. Going to need a young knucklehead with a handsaw and chisel to lend a hand...perhaps feed me buckets of catalyzed resin. I keep thinking of my teak table....how can I be sure that the buckets of resin that my helper is feeding me are properly catalyzed and mixed ? Can I add say... a few drops of white pigment to the resin and maybe a few drops of black pigment to the hardener so that a properly mixed and catalyzed pot turns a transparent gray colr ?
You know.... HEY KNUCKLEHEAD this resin is white...you forgot the catalyst..or Hey Boy, you gotta stir this stuff until the black and white swirls are gone !
Can I add pigments and not compromise the integrity of the epoxy ? What pigments, color would you choose ? Thanks.....Mike