Epoxy or Poly resin?

[Entourage]

I am doing my transom and i am at the point where i am joining the 2 pieces of 3/4 marine ply together. I am trying to get feedback on what to use polyester resin with mat or just a 2 part epoxy resin?

[pelican]

epoxy resin will provide the best bond...it's best to "wet" the surfaces with the epoxy - prior to coating with a laminating mix - this assures a full bond,versus a "dry bond"...

when working with wood - epoxy is allways the best choice...

[hermco]

The way we did the wood core back in the day was with poly and mat, screw together with drywall screws until cured then revove the screws before installing.

[Entourage]

Ok guys very good, thank you for the helpful info.

[gofastsandman]

Always good info Don. The flex rates need to be thought about.

Cheers,
GFS

[pelican]

big fan of using drywall screws for clamping parts together for laminating - old school - but it works...

[hermco]

Originally Posted by pelican

big fan of using drywall screws for clamping parts together for laminating - old school - but it works...

Drywall screws are your friend!

[pelican]

Originally Posted by hermco

Drywall screws are your friend!

note what's in the penske board...



penetration - it's good and bad - bad when things aren't protected...good when they are...

[Blue_Heron]

Mike,
You've got the opinions of two professionals, I'll add the opinion of an amateur that's done a little research and played with both resins.

Poly is "good enough", epoxy is better. Why? For an amateur, epoxy is easier to mix, easier to work with, and has little to no odor. A guy using poly resin in an attached garage may run the whole family out of the house with styrene fumes.

Epoxy also has better secondary bond strength, is water proof while poly is only water resistant, and has the best physical characteristics of any of the laminating resins. But it's the most expensive, too.

Either will work, epoxy will work better, last longer, and cost more. So, ya pays yer money and takes yer choice.

[bly]

It is a lot cheaper then epoxy. but It is more then polyester. It is water proof. Some claim more water proof then epoxy. It has better secondary bonding then polyester resin. It is thinner and wets out most glass better and easier then epoxy.