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Lodewijk Stegman

schreef in
ps.com

On Jul 7, 6:43 am, Lodewijk Stegman
wrote:
schreef
groups.com

Why would it not absorb water? Epoxy is not water proof, water
resistant yes, proof, no.

You make it sound as if epoxy is some sort of grease.

I don't now how you arrive at the conclusion that epoxy is not
waterproof, but I have always lived under the impression that it is
not only waterproof but even fairly vapour-proof. Solvent-free epoxy,
that is.

I have worked with it enough to know that it is usually not used in
lab conditions.

You may not use it in lab-conditions, but I am sure that you use measured
amounts of resin and hardener. Quite a different story from polyester,
where the amount of catalyst used is much less critical.

Weather, sun, stress, and goblins will make even the
most hyped epoxy, let water in.

If you are that convinced that it lets water in, I wonder why and how you
use it al all.

The key however is to engineer with
that in mind. Remember it is much harder for moisture to get out, than
in.

That is right, of course. Don't use it on wet wood. Preferably, don't use
it on massive wood of large sections.

This quality is one of the reasons epoxy is used as an
osmosis-barrier on new polyester boats, for instance.

Hummmm. sounds like a gimick to me. I have not seen a lot of boats
soaked by osmosis through the hull without some kind of disruption to
the laminate itself.

Maybe you have not seen enough polyester boats.
Osmosis (blistering of the gelcoat and sometimes of the laminate itself)
is a pretty common illness to polyester boats. It does not necessarily
mean that a boat is up for the scrapyard, but it scares the hell out of
many polyester boat-owners, allright.

But I am more of a wooden boat guy.

That figures.

Hey, I could be wrong here, but my view of this has not let me down
yet.

I'm sorry to say, but you ARE wrong. It is almost impossible to use epoxy
and wood together without depending on the waterproof qualities of epoxy.
I wonder what you have used it for and how you engineer your work if
you're so sure it leaks.

Have a great day and go build a boat!

Sure. You go build a heavy wooden boat. But don't use epoxy. You're not
knowledgeable enough.

--
Lodewijk