1998 Bay Blazer. Epoxy or Poly? How To Tell?

Discussion in 'Fiberglass and Composite Boat Building' started by blackhawk999999, Dec 24, 2018.

  1. blackhawk999999
    Joined: Dec 2018
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    Location: Kansas

    blackhawk999999 New Member

    I need to do some glass work on a 1998 Bay Blazer boat. But, I can't tell if it was constructed with epoxy or poly. I read somewhere that poly will smell really bad when sanded. I sanded a spot down to the glass and it has a super strong chemical odor. I'm guessing that it is poly? Any suggestions or guidance would be greatly appreciated.
     
  2. upchurchmr
    Joined: Feb 2011
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    upchurchmr Senior Member

    Ask the dealer.
     
  3. Mr Efficiency
    Joined: Oct 2010
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    Mr Efficiency Senior Member

    You can almost guarantee it is a polyester resin, which is/was the standard for mass market glass boats, except in special builds. I'd say 99%, in keeping with your forum name !
     
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  4. Blueknarr
    Joined: Aug 2017
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    Blueknarr Senior Member


    99.9999% Poly
    Poly and epoxy sanding dust both smell of chemicals. But very different from each other. Impossible to describe. Buy a small syringe of epoxy, let some cure, then do a scratch-n-sniff. If it smells like your boat then you have an epoxy boat. If not then you own alot of polyester.
     
  5. missinginaction
    Joined: Aug 2007
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    missinginaction Senior Member

    It's polyester. Take a styrofoam cup or a scrap piece of blue board insulation and heat it up. You'll find that it smells the same as the odor you got when you were sanding, which heated up the polyester resin that your boat is made out of. No mass produced boats that I know of are built with epoxy. Epoxy is great stuff but too expensive.
     
  6. Mr Efficiency
    Joined: Oct 2010
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    Mr Efficiency Senior Member

    I was rounding down ! :D
     

  7. blackhawk999999
    Joined: Dec 2018
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    Location: Kansas

    blackhawk999999 New Member

    Thank you to all that have replied. I appreciate the responses. That clears that up for me.
     
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