Cheap epoxy, any reason why it won't work for laminating?

http://www.jgreer.com/epoxy-adhesive.htm

Super cheap epoxy, its a 1:1, is there any reason why this won't work for my use (building a glass over ply pilothouse)?

 

There are several reasons: It may react with air humidity and not cure. The cure time may be too short for laminating, you should check curing times at the temperature you are working. It appears to have high viscosity, so it may not wet properly. It may work OK, but you should ask jgreer if they guarantee it for the intended use.

 

It's flexural strength is about 20% below the major formulations, it's viscosity will work, but at twice as thick as their standard resin, you'll probably want thinner stuff if you have moderate experience with goo, it's sheer strength is the big deal and considerably less then the major formulations (50%), so lets hope you don't need it to stay put as well as other brands. This is also a resin system that will blush more easily then others.

In short, this is a less refined formulation and best suited for gluing up bits of structure then making fabric laminations. For 'glass work you'll want to use their 300/21 resin/hardener combinations which is better suited to wet out and general laminating needs.

The cheapest all around marine grade laminating resin/hardener combo, is the 2:1 "Marinepoxy" from www.bateau.com

 

Yeah, I just saw that 300/21, and it looks better. I'll check the bateau site, but the biggest factor for me is shipping, living out in Hawaii. I'll see what they can work for me

 

Having lived in similar island life situations, you should be accustomed to this particular difficulty as a fact of life. You should see if a local formulator is available, as the epoxy industry is growing rapidly.

 

Yup. Luckily I've seen the price of shipping drop in my lifetime. The priority mail flat rate boxes are amazing. Also with more and more items being available off ebay and Amazon with free shipping, its getting much easier to get things out here affordably. This is the locally available epoxy, which I've used before with good results, but never for a project big enough that price was really an issue.
http://fiberglasshawaii.com/resins/resins-epoxy/resins-epoxy1.html

 

Hey guy www.uscomposites.com 635 epoxy is cheaper then marine epoxy and if you were to purchase marine epoxy the price of one gallon is $ 65.00 and the hardner is $38.00 opposed to us composite's epoxy which comes in a one gallon kit resin & hardner for $69.00 http://www.uscomposites.com/epoxy.html

 

I just got a 1.5 gallon kit for $83 plus shipping. This is the new generation non-blushing, LOW viscoscity stuff. Works great. 2/1 ratio mix.

Even cheaper if you need larger quantities.

http://cgi.ebay.com/EPOXY-RESIN-KIT...676?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item45f750233c

Another good (maybe even better) source is Epoxyproducts.com. These guys have the same basic epoxy and stock all the cool 'fixins' Fillers like copper powder, graphite powders, microballoons in several grades, etc. Very comprehensive inventory. Web site is a chore to follow but they have all kinds of info available.

 

Yeah, that ebay site is the same guys as my original post, they've got a good price and reasonable shipping. Whats up with that epoxy products site? That has got to be the single worst webpage I've ever seen. It looks like it was put together by a down syndrome 6 yr old.

Is there a downside to going with a non blushing epoxy? I can see the benefit, but it seems like if there was no downside, everyone would be using the stuff. Thanks

 

Sounds crazy but I must give credit where due. I bet I have spent 20 hours of my life on that crazy site. It's hard to figure where you are but these guys really shoot strait with all you could ever want to know about epoxy and explaining the differences in the epoxy world. Of coarse I have no way of testing actual performance, but I have had excellent results with my limited experience with them.

I stripped the bottom gelcoat (major blistering) from a Boston Whaler Harpoon 5.2. I then faired it out using Epoxyproducts microballoons and their Basic no-blush. For the finish I used their epoxy and graphite powder and went several coats. I now have a super slick, super hard bottom job. Turned out REAL nice. Excellent potlife and workability. Biggest problem I had was always mixing more than I needed.

I used Aeromarine's products recently only because Epoxyproducts.com closed the week of thanksgiving so I gave Aeromarine a try. Aeromarine stuff seems nice too. Look at their customer list

 

Something else I forgot to mention...

I had enough epoxy left after the bottom job and had the swing keel and rudder off the boat. I leveled them up real good and poured a bearing surface on each of the sides using a mixture of the graphite powder and epoxy. Just like bartops are poured. Now they have a very positive contact in thier grooves (inside groove I rolled 2 coats) . No hint of play anymore, I should be able to get away with a light wear coat every couple years and always have jamm up bearings in these important spots. Plus the look is really cool. Blue/black much like carbon fiber

I think I spent a total of $150 (Epoxy, graphite powder, microballoons). I have about a quart of epoxy left and still have half a bag of graphite and quite a bit of the microballoons left.

 

If you folks want to pay full retail for your goo and play the "compare prices" game, then you enjoy yourselves, but Remy's products aren't the cheapest at the wholesale level and below. Anyone spending $60 a gallon isn't doing any reasonable research. Hell, just with a little looking and calling, you can get goo for $45 a gallon.