Made the pilgrimage to Noahs Boat Building (MEC & the Sportsman Show) yesterday.
All excited to buy my epoxy for my up coming canoe.
I was planning on buying MAS Epoxy (low viscosity resin resin & slow no-blush hardener) again.
I used it two years go on my (Endeavour) kayak and am very happy with it.
I also used WEST in combination with SYSTEM 3 on my canoe four years ago.

Then the sales person recommended EAST System epoxy and that blew away my plans.

Thought I would run the "which one" discussion here, again.
I am still of the belief that MAS is the one I will be going with.
(1 gal resin & 1/2 gal hardener)

I also noted that 4 oz is more than 6 oz (fiberglass) cloth, why is this?

Epoxy Test
http://www.oneoceankayaks.com/Epoxtest.htm


Thanks,
Doug

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"Some people hear the song in the quiet mist of a cold morning..... But for other people the song is loudest in the evening when they are sitting in front of a tent, basking in the camp fire's warmth. This is when I hear it loudest ...."

I read that epoxy test a few months ago too.....it's always difficult to decide. I too have worked with west, system three and MAS. I still think the most durable combination is the system 3 clear coat with west 207 fill. I use my canoes pretty hard, and the sytem three/west combo has stood up the best. I too would be interested in finding some one who has used the east sytem though....going to be ordering four to five gallons soon, and would like a price savings.

For info on East epoxy, there's a teacher in Sault Ste Marie who gives classes in cedarstrip building and East is all he uses. He's built dozens of canoes and kayaks and reports no problems. I don't know his email but over at www.bearmountainboats.com searching on "erich" at the forum will show the PM. His past posts also describe how-tos with East and he seems to be there often enough to provide info.

I've used East to build a stripper and other projects with good results, but two things might be different. First, the low-temp use that East describes at 10C shouldn't be used for building strippers, because of problems with overcoats not bonding well. Workshop temps should be 20C or over. Erich heats his workshop up to 30C - this is probably to ensure low humidity and a good chemical bond. I kept my temps at about 23C with a dehumidifier going and all went well.

The other thing is that East seems to need a shorter time between applying additional coats for a good bond to form between the layers. Other builders say waiting several hours or even overnight between applying overcoats using slow-curing West and MAS is fine for a good chemical bond. With East, I'd overcoat as soon as the epoxy starts to firm up a little and is still sticky, maybe an hour or 1 1/2 hours between coats at 23C.

There are lower priced epoxies out there, Citadel and Industrial Formulators (?) - contact Glen at the Bear Mountain board for Citadel, he's built several canoes and kayaks using it with no problems. I haven't tried either myself, so can't comment further on those.

The staff at Noah's have also built various boats using East and report no problems. The epoxy tests above report that it's one of the hardest epoxies when compared to West, MAS, etc.

Rick

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