Wanted: Can I use general purpose Poly Resin if...

[Intermediate Mariner]

Hello to anyone out there (everyone's probably at the lake!)... wish I was!!

I have read and read and poly/epoxy resin and even posted a few threads and although I am far from an expert I am glad I am learning about all this. Thnaks to everyone for their help.

Just wanted some second opinions on Poly Resin. The boat was built w/ poly resin so I am good there. The thing is this wax additive issue.
I have looked all over town and all anyone has is the "general purpose" kind with just the hardener with wax mixed in (of course most sales clerks look at you like a deer in the headlights on this) like the Wally World/O'Reilly's/Lowe's kinds like 3M/Bondo/Evercoat.

Is it just the norm nationally to not be able to find poly resin with wax in second bottle?

So simply because of availability I would like to use the general purpose stuff because: it's VERY readily available, relatively low cost and easy to work with. Question: If I thoroughly sand and apply acetone liberally between layers can I use this gen purpose for repairs like transom where a layup resin typically works best?


I am working on a 60 or 61 Red Fish (not sure on exact model though but if anyone knows great - the Baylap had four horizontal "slats" on the side and the Inland has two and I have three so I can't figure out model).

A 1962 40 hp is going on this rig with double 3/4" marine ply transom.

 

[mogfisher]

Re: Wanted: Can I use general purpose Poly Resin if...

Disclaimer: I'm a newbie too and this info is based on what I've read on here.

Yes, the HD resin is easy to get but the quality is not what you want. It is "general purpose" resin and can be made up of anything really. Usually they dont specify if they have wax but some do. These resins are usually much thicker than a true poly laminating resin and often "kick" much faster. That has been my experience anyway. I've used the HD resin for making custom fiberglass subwoofer enclosures and the working time is much shorter than the realy poly resin we get in a 5 gal pail.

You will also probably find that, depending on quanitiy, the HD stuff is not cheaper either. We purchase 5 gal pails of poly @$135 per pail. We order ours from out of state and they deliver with their own truck for 35 bucks no matter what we order. I have found a similar price locally as well. If I were in your shoes I would look around your area and find a fiberglass supply house. They are more common than you think. Just do a google search and see. Another option is US composites. I use them when I don't want to buy stupid quantities of materials and they have good prices. I just ordered my foam from them because my supplier only sells foam in 5 gal pails. Thats a lot of foam!

Hope that helps a bit.

 

[jonesg]

Re: Wanted: Can I use general purpose Poly Resin if...

I would like to use the general purpose stuff because: it's VERY readily available, relatively low cost and easy to work with. Question: If I thoroughly sand and apply acetone liberally between layers can I use this gen purpose for repairs like transom where a layup resin typically works best?

A 1962 40 hp is going on this rig with double 3/4" marine ply transom.

The transom is the most critical joint on the boat, I wouldn't want waxed resin on it, even if you got it all off, its a ton of work for nothin.
fiberglassite.com resin is decent too.
If you have a marine store local they will have unwaxed.

I found the depot resin to be thick and too hot to handle for construction.