polyester resin or epoxy resin?

[dancudayo]

Hey all, after doing a lot of reading, I finally decided to use epoxy resin because it is suppose to be stronger and more absorbent with wood. On a recent thread some folks were talking about using polyester resin. I'm doing the whole thing, stringers, transom, and deck. Did I get that right, it's deck right? lol. anyways, what is the right kind of resin to use? I am thinking of also coating the inside hull with resin just to seal it all up. any ideas or opinions would be great,
thanks !

 

[ondarvr]

Re: polyester resin or epoxy resin?

The short answer is, if done correctly it won't make a difference which one you use.

The longer answer.

Epoxy does bond much better to wood, is a better glue and is stronger..BUT, the failure is not typically due to the epoxy or poylester resin, it's that the wood got wet for some reason and rot set in.

Poor workmanship or bad design is the main reason the wood gets wet, it has little to do with the resin used.

On a normal repair of a polyester boat there are very few good reasons to spend the extra money for epoxy.

 

[Robj]

Re: polyester resin or epoxy resin?

I was faced with the same question. With epoxy costing 3 to 4 times as much as polyester, I decided to use polyester. Just couldn't justify the extra cost for the small benefit. My repair will last as long as I own the boat. Remember your boat was built with poly, and if you take care of it, it will last a very long time.

Have a great day,

Rob.

 

[tallcanadian]

Re: polyester resin or epoxy resin?

either one will last for a very long time. i used epoxy. it did cost 3 times more, but there is very little or no smell. polyester is very strong smelling. if i had to do it again i would use polyester, main reason....cost.

 

[sunchaser81]

Re: polyester resin or epoxy resin?

I am doing the same as you, transom,stringers and deck, I used epoxy glue with a filler to glue the ply together and then to the hull, for the rest of the project I am using poly because of cost. poly doesn't bond as well to epoxy as epoxy does to poly, so if you do your whole project with epoxy then you may need to use it for future repairs.
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