Are more expensive epoxies better?

[WolfgangSeaLife]

Whats good for bottom patch up repair? I have some fiberglass damage about 6 x 10 " at the keel.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by WolfgangSeaLife

Whats good for bottom patch up repair? I have some fiberglass damage about 6 x 10 " at the keel.

Your local fiberglass repair guy. If you want to DIY then I recommend starting with reading the West System literature on fiberglass repair, available free online

[Pegu Club]

West systems has been a go to brand because they have a quality product, right down to really good customer service. We used West systems to close up five unneeded through hull holes on our boat in 2015, we were completely new to to doing this sort of thing and any questions we had West systems answered them upon a phone call, ya gotta like that... That’s all I’ve got for you, outside of use a respirator and gloves, all epoxy products are bad for humans.

Fair winds,

[akopac]

Years ago I bought some epoxy with some other cruisers in Panama, that was made in Costa Rica by SUR. I believe it was $60 for 5 gallons. It was a 50/50 mix, 40 min. dry on surface, 20 min. dry in pot formula. Very hard drying epoxy. I built a Danny Green Chameleon dinghy with it in Equador. I still have a couple gallons of white paint from the same formulation. Awesome stuff.
Still got the dinghy too.

[skenn_ie]

I was told by a dealer, Gudgeon Bros (West System) are the main researchers with epoxies. Most others are licensed compositions from them.

[Poche]

I tried the "Hawk" brand system and am happy with it. I don't see a difference in quality.

[slug]

As far as I know all amine epoxy blushes

Some more than others

West is expensive because they have a worldwide distribution network , a full product range and products sized for amateur use

If you are on the road I can guarantee that you will be using west products

I just bought a tub of west graphite powder and a roll of biaxial cloth tape

I was surprised that the marine store had it on the shelf

[Lance]

Originally Posted by Chotu

This is probably the most significant difference in epoxies used for hand lamination. Getting a non blushing formulation is key.

I have so much experience in this area, buying resin by the 55 gallon drum, that I can no longer go near epoxy as I’ve developed a severe allergy to it. Lol

As. Soon as I read your first post regards 55 gallon drums of these toxins I wondered how you were surviving the Allergy .
In my experience It really sucks that my career was stuffed because like you said going near it can produce a negative reaction .
So my dermo specialist prescribed steroids that gave some relief but he also said there was no cure , just live with it .
In my stubborn resistance I did not listen and was fortunate to find a recommendation about a book called The Plant Paradox by Dr Steven Gundry .
I followed the advice for over two years now and I can cautiously announce that my out of whack immune system has recovered dramatically .(not fully)

I have even managed small repairs with out a reaction .
I do wear triple gloves and an organic vapour mask too as I did before.
Read the whole book it is full of news about what we subject our bodies to .
Good health to you .

[Chotu]

What is the short summary of the book? I’ve been doing my own research to try to get my out of whack immune system back under control. Things I’m currently doing are:

A mostly meat free diet (but still all protein, etc) try to keep away from inflammatory foods.

Deslotradine prescription for when I can’t breathe. Helps with allergies in general for me.

Filtering air with a hepa filter or NIOSH N95 and P100 masks. Particulate air pollution past “moderate “ levels causes me to have severe asthma attacks. So I have to filter my breathing air in these cases. Silver lining of Covid is I can finally breathe again.

No exposure to epoxy, mold, citrus or dairy as I became allergic to all of those as a result of epoxy. Never had a single allergy in my life before it.

I’m grateful you posted and maybe we can put together a thread for people who have had their health destroyed by epoxy.

I’ve had some improvement by living as above and using deslotradine when I can’t breathe.

Originally Posted by Lance

As. Soon as I read your first post regards 55 gallon drums of these toxins I wondered how you were surviving the Allergy .
In my experience It really sucks that my career was stuffed because like you said going near it can produce a negative reaction .
So my dermo specialist prescribed steroids that gave some relief but he also said there was no cure , just live with it .
In my stubborn resistance I did not listen and was fortunate to find a recommendation about a book called The Plant Paradox by Dr Steven Gundry .
I followed the advice for over two years now and I can cautiously announce that my out of whack immune system has recovered dramatically .(not fully)

I have even managed small repairs with out a reaction .
I do wear triple gloves and an organic vapour mask too as I did before.
Read the whole book it is full of news about what we subject our bodies to .
Good health to you .

[fritzthecat]

Hi, here in Panama we use 1:4 epoxy from (?) Colombia at 85.- the gallon, thicker than west.... I was happy with it! reconstructed 4 hulls with it....
luckily I do not feel any skin problems using it... a little vaelin on the skin and disposal gloves....never had problems Polyester is a lot mor hostile to your lungs and skin.....

[I14]

Hi all, I am a polymer chemist and in my early career made 'base epoxy' which is a condensate of bisphenol-A (BPA) and epichlorhydrin which is really nasty. We also made a range of amine hardeners based on amines with acronyms like DETA, TETA etc. Almost all commercially available epoxies have base epoxy in their Part A usually with a reactive diluent to lower the viscosity. So most of the variations in the final properties come from the choice of Part B hardener including speed and temperature sensitivity of cure, flexibility, blush resistance, allergenic effect, mixing ratio and all the other mechanical properties. Cycloaliphatic hardeners, based on isophorone diamine, seem to give the best balance and there are rapid accelerators based on other phenolics to improve low temperature cure. There are exceptions where the base epoxy is modified to improve UV resistance (surf boards and pour on clear coatings for bar tops etc) and also other approaches modifying Part A and Part B to increase the heat distortion temperature of the final system and these can be seen in aerospace and pre-preg applications. So most of them are pretty similar, you need to choose one with the Part B that gives you what you want.

[Lance]

Originally Posted by Chotu

What is the short summary of the book? I’ve been doing my own research to try to get my out of whack immune system back under control. Things I’m currently doing are:

A mostly meat free diet (but still all protein, etc) try to keep away from inflammatory foods.

Deslotradine prescription for when I can’t breathe. Helps with allergies in general for me.

Filtering air with a hepa filter or NIOSH N95 and P100 masks. Particulate air pollution past “moderate “ levels causes me to have severe asthma attacks. So I have to filter my breathing air in these cases. Silver lining of Covid is I can finally breathe again.

No exposure to epoxy, mold, citrus or dairy as I became allergic to all of those as a result of epoxy. Never had a single allergy in my life before it.

I’m grateful you posted and maybe we can put together a thread for people who have had their health destroyed by epoxy.

I’ve had some improvement by living as above and using deslotradine when I can’t breathe.

Hi your situation is a bit more extreme than mine where my skin broke out with little chance of the wounds healing .


In respect to a summary you will see the author is a doctor and he explains his recovery methods are based on the complex reasons that our internal POSITIVE BIHOME has been damaged by the inclusion of common foods and substances that we cannot really tolerate .
Dr Gundry is a heart transplant surgeon so I give him some credance to his science.

Like I said it is best to read the whole book .
I have bought four copies but atm cannot find even one , given them away I think ?

The Book Depository (UK) delivers for free @ about 20 bucks , best money I ever invested into my journey of recovery .

[Buzzman]

In Oz BoteCoat is the go-to brand, 2:1, different hardeners etc, and sold online as well as at chandlers by maker/distributor Boatcraft Pacific of Brisbane QLD.

[Chotu]

Any tips on lowest potential for allergy hypoallergenic amine hardeners?

Originally Posted by I14

Hi all, I am a polymer chemist and in my early career made 'base epoxy' which is a condensate of bisphenol-A (BPA) and epichlorhydrin which is really nasty. We also made a range of amine hardeners based on amines with acronyms like DETA, TETA etc. Almost all commercially available epoxies have base epoxy in their Part A usually with a reactive diluent to lower the viscosity. So most of the variations in the final properties come from the choice of Part B hardener including speed and temperature sensitivity of cure, flexibility, blush resistance, allergenic effect, mixing ratio and all the other mechanical properties. Cycloaliphatic hardeners, based on isophorone diamine, seem to give the best balance and there are rapid accelerators based on other phenolics to improve low temperature cure. There are exceptions where the base epoxy is modified to improve UV resistance (surf boards and pour on clear coatings for bar tops etc) and also other approaches modifying Part A and Part B to increase the heat distortion temperature of the final system and these can be seen in aerospace and pre-preg applications. So most of them are pretty similar, you need to choose one with the Part B that gives you what you want.

[Thumbs Up]

https://www.resinresearch.net/
Resin Research is a brand that a lot of surfboard shapers use. They sell a bio (plant based) resin and hardener system. Still contains amines but perhaps looking into.
https://shapersupply.com/products/resin-research-bio-ce