Thinning Epoxy to Penetrate Wood.

[DolphinBuddy]

Go to rotdoctor.com They have what you need CPES™(Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer) I'm refurbing my 1976 Nor'star flicka and have found their products to be invaluable.
Fair winds- Kevin

[sloopguy]

Save your time and effort and use Liquid Wood by Abatron. It is a liquid 2 part epoxy. It will infuse the wood and make it stronger than the original wood. Amazing stuff.

[Stumble]

Originally Posted by Canibul

I'm kind of surprised nobody has mentioned GitRot. I've used it for something like 30 years. It's already the right consistency, easy to mix, and from what I've seen, does a great job.

Is there some reason the marine community doesn't like it? I've used it on the balsa core around some of the hatches on this boat, and it still works fine as far as I can see.

GitRot / Smith's / all penetrating epoxy are junk. They take good epoxy then add thinners to make it flow easier. The problem is that in doing so 1) the epoxy becomes pourus so it allows water in and 2) any strength it had is lost. Frankly I think the stuff should be banned from the market. There is no good reason to ever use the stuff, and in no instance would it be better than strait epoxy.

Penetration is not a defining characteristic of epoxy, bond strength is. And almost any good quality epoxy will be stronger than the substrate it is applied to.

As for why people in the marine industry hate it... Well the above, plus it is expensive, doesn't keep out water, the marketing is rife with junk science, has little strength, and is sold as a cure all when in reality it is good for nothing.

Thinning epoxy yourself has all the disadvantages of penetrating epoxy. But at least their stuff is uniformly bad, home brew epoxy who knows.


If you really need a thin epoxy, then just buy it. There are low viscosity epoxies on the market usually sold for infusion and laminating. But instead of just dumping in MEK or acetone they re formulate the entire chemical chain to allow it to flow easily.

[onestepcsy37]

Originally Posted by Canibul

I'm kind of surprised nobody has mentioned GitRot. I've used it for something like 30 years. It's already the right consistency, easy to mix, and from what I've seen, does a great job.

Is there some reason the marine community doesn't like it? I've used it on the balsa core around some of the hatches on this boat, and it still works fine as far as I can see.

Same here. I've used GitRot for years, sometimes below the waterline, and had no problems. My only caveat is that you dont get much for the price, but then I've never needed much.

[Canibul]

My experience with GitRot, specifically, has been good. Squishy balsa around a hatch corner is no longer squishy balsa. Screws that did not have a grip before now have a grip. That's exactly what I wanted it to do. That's what I bought it to do. It did it.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

MEK = Mujahideen-e Khalq, the Iranian organization known in English as the People's Mujahedin of Iran




Oh, OK. If it helps the war effort

I will attend the hardware store

I love your humor. It keeps things lite.

[DolphinBuddy]

CPES™(Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer)
This must me simular to your Git Rot. I sware by this for the same reason you do regarding Git Rot. www.rotdoctor.com

[Canibul]

Boatlife Git Rot:
BOATLIFE Git Rot Penetrating Epoxy | West Marine

[Terra Nova]

Git-Rot cures rubbery, so would not seem a good base for varnish.

[Stumble]

GetRot and CPES are all the same junk. Decent epoxy with thinners added and marked up a lot. If you are just using it to stick some non-structual wood together use wood glue. If it's structual use real epoxy.

If the wood is already rotted... Nothing will return its strength and needs to be removed.

[sunbear1]

From the West System article on thinning--the summation. WEST SYSTEM - Projects - Thinning WEST SYSTEM epoxy

"Does thinning epoxy make sense? In some situations, thinning is appropriate. In others, it is not. We feel that in most circumstances using heat to thin epoxy is preferred to using solvents. As long as the epoxy does not overheat during cure, the full physical characteristics of the cured epoxy remain. Adding solvent is a quick, simple method of thinning epoxy, but the strength and moisture resistance of the cured epoxy are significantly reduced."

[minaret]

Originally Posted by sunbear1

From the West System article on thinning--the summation. WEST SYSTEM - Projects - Thinning WEST SYSTEM epoxy

"Does thinning epoxy make sense? In some situations, thinning is appropriate. In others, it is not. We feel that in most circumstances using heat to thin epoxy is preferred to using solvents. As long as the epoxy does not overheat during cure, the full physical characteristics of the cured epoxy remain. Adding solvent is a quick, simple method of thinning epoxy, but the strength and moisture resistance of the cured epoxy are significantly reduced."

Just one of a number of previous threads on this subject. Note the heavy discussion of this article.




http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...xy-122527.html

[MarkJ]

Ok, Day 1 was fine... Well fine-ish.
The masking tape didnt like coming up. The trick with that must be to take is up as soon as the epoxy stops running. But I git a bit waylaid on an electrical job
Anyway it needed a bit of help with a knife but only in places you can't see anyway, but i wanted a seal between the wood and the Formica bench top. So today i ran a tiny brush of epoxy around the edge.

Sanded out the lumps, and tomorrow for some polyurethane.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by sunbear1

From the West System article on thinning--the summation. WEST SYSTEM - Projects - Thinning WEST SYSTEM epoxy

"Does thinning epoxy make sense? In some situations, thinning is appropriate. In others, it is not. We feel that in most circumstances using heat to thin epoxy is preferred to using solvents. As long as the epoxy does not overheat during cure, the full physical characteristics of the cured epoxy remain. Adding solvent is a quick, simple method of thinning epoxy, but the strength and moisture resistance of the cured epoxy are significantly reduced."

Not re: thinning. If System Three is still around? It is a good alternative to West System and more cost effective.

[sailing_jack]

I did some painting and varnishing recently an used 2 kinds of masking tape. Normal green painters tape, and frog tape(also green).
Long story short, use the frog tape. Once you do, you won't go back.