Old Debate Revisited - Poly -v- Expoxy - which??

[thedink9]

John

I've just finished using gallons of both in my rebuild.
I'm hardly an expert at this but my perceptions are as follows:
For all the below deck replacement work I used Raka Epoxy and I was very pleased with the results. Only down side was the price, which varies with the amount you buy but you can figure on about 40-45 / gallon. When it came to the topside work, I switched to Poly as I wanted to redo the gunnels, insides and floor with gelcoat. I bought the material from Joe Merton in Springfield. Joe also sold me on rolling the gelcoat on the insides and floor and this came out pretty well. Joe's Poly is hi grade and I was very pleased with it as well. It costs less that the epoxy and sets faster. While I don't know how you will be using the material, be rest assured either will work well if properly mixed with the correct fillers, ie. cabosil, glass spheres, chopped glass and talc. I used all of these in different applications.
If you tell us more about how you will be using it perhaps I can add a few more cents. Hope this helps. Dink

[John R]

I'm looking to do several things, recore some hatches, some console work, repairing small cracks, edges, bulkhead, etc. Eventually I hope to do some work re-arranging the splash well.

[strick]

I've used epoxy for everything on this last project... mostly because I like the properties.. slow cure (I've been told that you can still get chemical bond up to 5 days) strength, ability to bond with just about everything and ease of use to name a few. It costs more and that is a problem if you are making fiberglass parts. I would use Vinylester if I were to build another engine bracket just because it is cheaper and wets out a little easier and thats the only reason. I'd keep it simple.... for repairs use good quality epoxy.. for making large parts go with polyester or vinylester.

Strick