I echo Matt and Mitch's statements above. E-bond is another brand you can checkout. You can get it around 30/gallon these days i believe. Ive used hundreds of gallons of it but its been awhile. Its still the standard for alotta guys. RAKA is basically a thinned out e-bond. It wets out easier and doesnt blush as badly.
West system, forget it... The Gougeon (west system) guys also make one called "Pro-Set" that ive messed with but i dont know anything about price or availability on it.
You dont need to use a mat-backed cloth with epoxy so youre saving alot of resin without having to wet out all the thirsty mat, driving costs down. (although it sounds like youve got a roll of 1708 already?)
I think its much more forgiving than esters as far as working with it (extended working times, predictability of working times, much better bonding if your prepwork isnt 100%, no fumes really). When i DO work with esters i find alot more waste gets produced too because the gel time ramps up so quick. Its hard to accurately catalyze tiny batches of it too so you make more product than you need.
Secondary bonding, epoxy all the way.
Not that i havent seen great solid work done with esters but it was put to me simply a long time ago... "if ya want shit to stay stuck together, use epoxy"...
|