Epoxy Resin

Marine epoxy resin, in the cure speed your shop temperature calls for

Epoxy is the resin to use when the bond is what matters: wood, cured polyester, metal, foam, or any repair that has to hold structurally rather than just fill. It barely shrinks, it does not need a wax additive to cure tack free, and unlike polyester it will bond to almost anything you have already repaired.

Pick the ratio by pot life, not by strength

Our house epoxy comes in 2:1 slow, 3:1 medium and 4:1 fast. All three cure to a similar strength. What changes is working time, and the choice is really about temperature. Fast in a cold garage in February, slow in Florida in August, medium for most of the year. Buying the wrong one is the most common reason a first epoxy job kicks in the cup before it reaches the part.

Thin or thick

Thin epoxy wets out cloth and penetrates. Thick 1:1 epoxy is already bodied for bonding and coating where you do not want it running off a vertical surface. If you want a thin epoxy that you thicken yourself, that is what the fillers are for, and it gives you far more control than buying it pre-thickened.

West System

West System 105 resin with 205 fast, 206 slow or 207 special clear hardener is stocked for anyone working to a published West schedule or a surveyor's spec that names it. The 406 colloidal silica and the rest of the West filler range are here too.

Table top epoxy is a different product

Kleer Kote table top epoxy is a 1:1 casting and coating resin built to pour thick, self level and stay clear under UV. It is not a laminating resin and it is not for structural repair. If you are glassing anything, you want the laminating epoxy above.

Sizing a batch

The resin calculator works out resin and hardener for a full layup, ply by ply, including the consumables if you are bagging it.