Choosing an epoxy resin

[Fishstab]

I’m looking at choosing an epoxy resin for a laminated iroko gun.

the west system stuff will cost about £45 for the resin and hardener... I feel this is a lot.

Are there cheaper alternatives? Anything specific to loom out for to make sure it’s ‘salt water resistant’?

 

[Johny Depth]

The west is good .Try a proffessional paint supplier they shall order for you from a supplier if not in stock .Or art supplies shop.

 

[Fishstab]

Well I went with the west systems 105 & 206 A pack. Ended up buying locally for £53 for a litre.. pretty expensive hey.

I’ve done the glueing and brushed an even coat on all surfaces before clamping. I haven’t however used anything to thicken the epoxy.

hopefully this isn’t essential!
If it makes a difference the surfaces went through an electric planer and then a thicknesser followed by a light sand so they were a good fit up with no voids to fill

 

[Fishstab]

If you have a good surface prep then the micro fibres aren’t as important, but they are still best practice, (for next time).
To make things easier next time also, wrapping those sections of flooring with cling/glad wrap will stop any problems of your timber laminating with them.

Good tip, I used grease proof paper underneath which worked really well but hopefully the wood that’s clamped on the sides isn’t stuck at all. Might take the clamps off once it’s sat for 24h and then leave it for another week before I mess about with it

 

[Fishstab]

If you have a good surface prep then the micro fibres aren’t as important, but they are still best practice, (for next time).
To make things easier next time also, wrapping those sections of flooring with cling/glad wrap will stop any problems of your timber laminating with them.

Well just popped the clamps off and the tiny bit of epoxy that had made its way onto the bits of wood I was using to clamp had indeed stuck them fast, to the point I had to tap them off with a hammer. In fact the bond to them was so strong in one place rather than the epoxy breaking It tore a chunk out of the wood. Luckily it was the clamping piece of wood that got damaged.

gives me confidence that it’ll be strong enough without using the microfibres!

 

[Styspearo]

I’m looking at choosing an epoxy resin for a laminated iroko gun.

the west system stuff will cost about £45 for the resin and hardener... I feel this is a lot.

Are there cheaper alternatives? Anything specific to loom out for to make sure it’s ‘salt water resistant’?

Try these : https://www.easycomposites.co.uk/epoxy-resin
They're cheaper than west systems and still a good quality.

 

[Diving Gecko]

In short, West developed their epoxy back in the early 70s (or late 60s?) and were the first to really target boat builders and create a whole “ecosystem” with different hardeners and fillers and don’t underestimate the pumps;-). They also had amazing manuals and instructions and really helped builders and DIYers adopt this new, very improved way of building, especially, boats.
But... the epoxy itself is no longer anything special and you will get similar results with many other cheaper brands.
E.g. very few people doing serious carbon composite work would use West as it doesn’t take a post cure at elevated temps. More modern epoxies do and you can get a bit more strength out of it and a higher resistance to higher temps that way. But that’s not an issue for wood anyways as you don’t want to heat the wood for a post cure and have it gas out into the epoxy.

Ok, so not so short but yeah, no need to think that you have to have West;-)


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[Fishstab]

In short, West developed their epoxy back in the early 70s (or late 60s?) and were the first to really target boat builders and create a whole “ecosystem” with different hardeners and fillers and don’t underestimate the pumps;-). They also had amazing manuals and instructions and really helped builders and DIYers adopt this new, very improved way of building, especially, boats.
But... the epoxy itself is no longer anything special and you will get similar results with many other cheaper brands.
E.g. very few people doing serious carbon composite work would use West as it doesn’t take a post cure at elevated temps. More modern epoxies do and you can get a bit more strength out of it and a higher resistance to higher temps that way. But that’s not an issue for wood anyways as you don’t want to heat the wood for a post cure and have it gas out into the epoxy.

Ok, so not so short but yeah, no need to think that you have to have West;-)


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Noted, although I’ve probably got enough of this stuff to do another 20 guns now hah

 

[oliver305]

WEST system is a good epoxy resin, Its ability to adhere to almost every surface appeals to me. I've done a lot of projects where I had to deal with metal and wood, and I haven't had any problems getting the epoxy to stick to any of the surfaces.

 

[Jaohn]

I have been using WEST epoxy from the very beginning. It works great for both minor repairs and the creation of home furniture. Since when I bought epoxy resin mold from here: https://hdpemolds.company.site/ I use it a lot.