Ariel #414

[mbd]

I tried the heat gun earlier in the week. It thins the mixture when there's not enough hardener to "kick" - which incidentally is the way West suggests removing it. I also tried the heat gun on one of my used mixing pots to see what would happen. It just made it runny.

Ebb, I've got lots of the clear buckets with marked measurements. That's how I started out, but pouring the resin and hardener from the jug and cans was a messy and wasteful affair, and I invested in the pumps.

I also called West with a "hail mary" and took little comfort when he said, "You're not the first to do it." In light of the fact that I used the slow hardener, the temps are hovering around 60 and it hasn't started to cure yet, he said I'd be better off removing the questionable stuff, which I'm inclined to do anyway because we're talking about the structural integrity of my deck.

Ironic. In the software biz, I strive to write "idiot-proof" code 40 hours a week and I've concluded many times over - you just can't save some people from themselves...

[ebb]

Hey Mike, Guess you have to make up a proportion code sheet.
Like 72 squirts part A / 14.4 squirts part B = 8 oz
100 squirts pt A / 20 squirts pt B = 12 oz
ETC

Had to find a supplier for empty F-style gallon cans to screw in the pumps. Befor I nixed the pumps. But I got to like the wider mouth cans - you can look down the hole to see what's doin in there.
I buy Part A in 5 gal bombs weighing 600#, it seems -so I have to decant with a funnel into smaller containers. No fun when the big one is full. I got a big mit and find it pretty easy to pick up a rectangular can by its side and tip it into the quart container - laboratory style at eye level one in each hand. Not you? You only need to have it half full, weight wise. Anyway you probably aren't set up for continuous use like 338 is.

Spent an inordinate amount of time last few years with a gallon can in one hand and a quart container in the other. The wider mouth means that the syrupy epoxy pours out rather than BLOB - which indeed can get messy.

Earlier threads point out that 2 to 1 and 1 to 1 epoxies are better to use. And easier to measure. One reason is that they are more tolerant of mistakes because they are essentially the same stuff in each container but one has the hardner. Been said these epoxies are in a premix state already on their way to set. Sometimes indicated by zero induction time. This might have been true yesterday, but today there are 100s of new epoxies!

You're absolutely correct. Personally haven't been saved at least a thousand times!

[mbd]

Earlier threads point out that 2 to 1 and 1 to 1 epoxies are better to use.

I was real close to going with Mike G's FGCI epoxy, got a catalogue and even called and talked to them. But in the end, the ready availability of West won out.

In retrospect, I suppose I'd rather my recore were delayed because I was waiting for a delivery of epoxy...

[mbd]

Not so bad really. The 25:1 ratio goo was basically resin and was nowhere close to hardening. I was able to just peel of the fiberglass cloth and biax strips I had laid down, scraped off what I could, then wiped it all down with acetone. I could have been a lot worse...

Lesson learned.

[ebb]

Can get seduced by the local marine convenience store (WM.) Aside from ranting West Systems (Gougeon Bros) for foisting blush epoxies on the inexperienced, they do have packaging down pat. And they're the only act on the shelf. It is also true we are paying for the convenience of having the store down the street: taxes, morgages, salaries, utilities - that game forces the prices of everything up. (WM is a publically owned company and is probably worth more in real estate than inventory. Who knows what they're into. Who owns West Systems, for example? The CEO of WM makes a paltry million and a half a year. Good ole Empire building goin on heare!)

For that little bit of wait you mention, online suppliers offer greater selection and better epoxies at half the price. The site I use sells 'marine' epoxies without the added surcharge. They are often what industry and the military use. The only problem I've found is eclectic containers. And maybe too large quantity. My white tank coating, for instance, requires a gorilla to open the plastic pail part A comes in. Decanting the thick creme into small batches takes invention and patience. What the hell...

At least I'm not married to WM's consumeroid choice. Happy pumping!

[mbd]

For that little bit of wait you mention, online suppliers offer greater selection and better epoxies at half the price. The site I use sells 'marine' epoxies without the added surcharge.

I know it's on this forum somewhere, but is this your internet site of choice Ebb? (http://www.epoxyproducts.com/)

I'm sure I'm not alone when I say your well considered and thought out opinions weigh heavily when it comes to boat related decisions. You should work out deals with the companies you buy from and get royalties when a new customer says "Ebb sent me."...

As for the re-recore progress: Saturday AM I rewiped the deck, then did some self appointed penance and reground the whole side deck to make sure no trace of my stupidity remained.

Here's the latest picture. (Remarkably similar to a previous one I know - at least it's from a different perspective. ) But, I did manage a little happy pumping (and all of the batches hardened nicely) when I filled the forward stanchion holes with soaked biax and plenty of properly mixed and thickened epoxy, before Earnest made me relplace the tarp...

[ebb]

Absolutely Gorgeous.
It's definitely art.
Those mysterious symbols....
Interesting you've kept your core material
a complete secret.