Epoxy and Polyester Fiberglass

Discussion in 'Boatbuilding' started by triumph34, Aug 10, 2009.

  1. Dan H
    Joined: Jun 2009
    Posts: 23
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    Location: United States

    Dan H Junior Member

    Lost in translation here.
    $65.00/gal. for epoxy is useless unless you spend $38.00 for hardener. ($103.00)
    So when Triump34 says $100.00/gallon, he's buying the hardener also.
    I agree with everyone here, leave the polyester on the shelf.
     
  2. marshmat
    Joined: Apr 2005
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    Location: Ontario

    marshmat Senior Member

    1 gal. resin at $65/gal plus 2 qt. hardener at, say, $19/qt = 1.5 gallons epoxy for $103, or $69 per gallon. With a 100% solids epoxy, the harder volume must be added to the resin volume when calculating price/gallon and yield, whereas with polyester, the amount of catalyst used is so small that it can be ignored when calculating total yield.

    As PAR has pointed out, a bit of shopping around can net significant price breaks compared to buying a gallon at a time from the chandlery.
     
  3. PAR
    Joined: Nov 2003
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    Location: Eustis, FL

    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    I quoted prices for both resin and hardener in all the quantities I listed.
     
  4. old_sailor
    Joined: Aug 2009
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    Location: Virginia

    old_sailor amateur boatbuilder

    Par,

    Last time I was at Fiberglass Coatings, they had a wole new crew. I didn't see Joel anywhere.
    They are not the cheapest, but for seven years I dealt with them because I was building my boat in Dunedin, and they were convienient. Wow! Did I see their prices skyrocket over that time span.
    I have had no trouble with their general purpose laminating resin. Time is the only factor.
     
  5. PAR
    Joined: Nov 2003
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    Location: Eustis, FL

    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    Yep, FGC,Inc. was sold a few years ago and a lot of the old crew found jobs in other places. They promptly opened another office and prices have changed. I started using them when I moved to St. Pete back in the 80's, but haven't used them for a number of years.
     

  6. Jimbo1490
    Joined: Jun 2005
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    Location: Orlando, FL

    Jimbo1490 Senior Member

    I understand that whole business got very ugly with FGCI bringing lawsuits against several of their former employees who went to work for others (for violation of non-compete agreements; very standard; we have them with all of our employees) as the new owners had made continued employment very uncomfortable. I guess the new owners expected them to all go out and flip burgers instead of working in the same field that they had worked in for years.

    :rolleyes:

    Jimbo
     
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