Which first epoxy resin & hardeners to buy as a Newbie?

[Guest]

I kinda lost that second thought question on the amine blush thread amidst my babble, so I’ll ask again in a new thread.

Which brings up a related question. If you had to pick one epoxy resin, hardeners and etc to start with in the shop which one would you choose? Or have chosen if you had known?

This question, to my mind, assumes “to start with”; an epoxy novice procuring first quantities of resin and hardener(s).

I have been happy with West System epoxy and have seldom had troubles with amine blush.

I would agree, if only for the on-line availability of West System literature, experiments and technique tip support. And for the no-measure pumps. And for the proven ability to mix in West System G/flex in any ratio. Yeah, I’d buy some G/flex too.

System three clear coat for wet out and system three silver tip for fill.

I have never used it. That may be more cans of resin on hand than a newbie novice needs, but then, like me, they might be “stuck” using West products and pumps foreverafter. Or at least until everything ran out at once, which never happens, so I just buy another can of resin or hardener and keep using it.

So I ask again, with more MacGrady-esque specificity, which epoxy & hardeners would you recommend for a just-starting-out resin newbie? And why?

 

[Sven]

Raka with the non blush hardened.
Works as well as west system at a fraction of the cost. No pumps are available for it, but graduated measuring cups are cheap and readily available. I have experienced pump failure with west pumps. It's dang hard to screw up the ratio in a mixing cup as long as you pay attention, but if your pump is not pulling the correct amount of resin you probably won't realize it until it's too late.

 

[Alan Gage]

I recommend RAKA as well. Never used West so can't make a direct comparison but after many many gallons of Raka I've never had an issue. Relatively thin for epoxy (around 600cps if I remember right). Buy both the slow non-blush as well as the fast hardener. You can mix them together to customize the cure time. Fast will start to kick in about 5 minutes in a warm shop and the non-blush will give you 20 or so. Mix them for anything in between. Of course this depends on how big the batch is and the actual temperature.

You could use 1:1 pumps with Raka and count the number of pumps (2 pumps of resin to 1 pump of hardener) but I don't trust pumps. The one time I tried them I found them very slow to operate in a cool shop with thick resin and anything other than full pumps (small quantities) were a guessing game. Sometimes after sitting a while they seemed to let the resin bleed back into the bottle so I'd get a burp of air before the resin started to flow which left me wondering how much I actually dispensed.

Spend $12 for a small digital kitchen scale and save yourself a lot of hassle by measuring by weight instead of volume. No trying to clean and reuse graduated mixing cups. No marking your own cups. And no gummy syringes for super small quantities. https://www.amazon.com/Ozeri-Digital...=kitchen+scale

The ratio for Raka by weight is 100/43. That means 100 parts resin and 43 parts hardener. Or more simply put pour your resin into the mixing cup as it's sitting on the scale and look at the weight. If you put in 3 ounces of resin then multiply that amount by .43 on the cheap calculator sitting next to the scale. It will tell you that you need to add 1.29 ounces of hardener.

This makes it super fast and easy to mix whatever quantity you want. For small quantities I switch the scale to CC. I can quickly and accurately measure batches under 1/2 ounce.

If you still like pumps for cleanliness you could use them for dispensing only rather than measuring.

Alan

 

[Robin]

I have been using Raka per Alan's advice this week as a first time user, and it has been an easy process. I used clean tuna fish cans to measure and it worked out well as two cans epoxy to one can hardener gave me a good even coat of epoxy to the bottom of an 18.6' Wabash Valley canoe.
3 coats made for a smooth surface to this old canoe, luckily I have enough left for one more lite coat. I did it outside and had a hatch of some sort of flying insects land on the wet epoxy last evening. Lots of bumps to be sanded.

 

[pblanc]

I have not used RAKA epoxy but it seems universally well-regarded. I have used West System epoxy extensively and also MAS, and System Three and have had good results with all of them. Jamestown Outfitters is now selling their own brand of epoxy which they claim to be equivalent to West System epoxy at somewhat less cost. I haven't tried it as yet, but have been tempted.

I would encourage those new to epoxy use to avoid fast hardeners, especially if they are wetting out large pieces of fabric like full blankets over hulls. The last thing a newbie needs is more time pressure to get the epoxy on and smoothed out before it kicks. I personally like to keep epoxy batches as small as possible to maximize the working time. For that reason, I like the mini-pumps since they make mixing up a new batch of epoxy very quick. Just pump, pump, and stir.

 

[stripperguy]

I've used MAS, System 3, West and RAKA.
By far the best for my use was RAKA. Once you factor in the cost (and who doesn't have a budget?) there's no question. I've been using RAKA for over 15 years now, and have not been disappointed yet.
Another thing, RAKA epoxy is crystal clear, no amber tint. That may matter to some more than others.

 

[Cruiser]

I never hear much about the epoxy i use "East Systems", but for any Canadian users it's worth checking out ... it's a Canadian product so it is considerably less expensive (like half) than West or most of the ones needing import.

I haven't had blush issues ... or actually not any real issues at all.


Brian

 

[Canotrouge]

I will be using EcoPoxy as soon as the WestSystem stuff is empty...

 

[Mrindy]

Another vote here for RAKA, and I definitely agree you'll want to go with the slow hardener. You'll need all the time you can get if you're doing a big area as was mentioned before. I've also used West Systems G-Flex in small batches when repairing or adding skid plates to royalex canoes, which worked well for those specific purposes. Have fun with your new project!

 

[memaquay]

If I had to go with one for wetting out and fill coats, I would use system three silver tip. Best all-a-rounder I have used, and clear as water.

 

[jmhockey23]

Another vote for Raka w/ non blush!

 

[Quinn]

I've used Ebond Epoxy a bit recently. It probably isn't the best, but it seems to have average properties, a super long pot life with the slow hardener, and an easy 2-1 mix ratio. I've heard that it does blush, but haven't experienced it myself. Oh, and it is sooo cheap, cheaper than a lot of polyester. Again, there are higher performance epoxies out there, but ebond seems to do a good job for very little money.

 

[OFaceFul]

Another vote for RAKA. I'm now building my 3rd canoe/kayak with RAKA epoxy, prior to that I build 3 boats with System Three. RAKA wets fiberglass cloth very well and is less expensive. You can thicken it with silicon microfill or cotton fibers or wood flour or microbaloons. I use the more basic epoxy that does amine blush, you just have to time your layers proper. RAKA 127 resin, and for hardener I bought half 606 slow and half 608 medium (which is a blend of the slow and fast). I use the pumps for larger batches, and plastic spoon for smaller batch, always counting 2 resin to 1 hardener.

 

[stripperguy]

Another vote for RAKA. I'm now building my 3rd canoe/kayak with RAKA epoxy, prior to that I build 3 boats with System Three. RAKA wets fiberglass cloth very well and is less expensive. You can thicken it with silicon microfill or cotton fibers or wood flour or microbaloons. I use the more basic epoxy that does amine blush, you just have to time your layers proper. RAKA 127 resin, and for hardener I bought half 606 slow and half 608 medium (which is a blend of the slow and fast). I use the pumps for larger batches, and plastic spoon for smaller batch, always counting 2 resin to 1 hardener.

Mr Ful,

Welcome to the forum! There's an introduction thread, if you want to post something there.
And by all means, don't be bashful, let's see those previous builds!