FGCI and Raka resins are both noticably thicker than West 105. It is way
to thick for light weight scrim and a real PITA when you try to wet out
heavier knitted cloth like DB170 or 1808. The thickness actually helps
when you are covering with 5 or 6 oz woven cloth because it takes less
coats to fill the weave. The actual coverage per gallon is about the
same because you can fill 6 oz cloth with two coats rather than 3 with
West but small pools will not flow out on their own so you have to
carefully squeegee evenly or do a lot more sanding.

I use several different resins depending on the job and the required
open time. The FGIC laminating resin is most ecconomical for covering
plywood with woven cloth. Pre-thickened FGCI epoxy adheasive is great
for laminating ply skins to foam cores. West 105 is better for making
up fairing putties and general bonding and ProSet is by far better for
vacuum bagging heavy sections of unidirectional and biaxial knitted
material. It has a higher ultimate strength, lowest viscosity and
longest working time.

James W. Sloan wrote:
I recently began using my first 1 1/2 galolon of Fiberglass Coatings 2:1
slow cure epoxy. It seems a bit on the thick side, but cures beautifully.
Seems like the thicker epoxy doesn't go as far as the thinner WEST stuff
does. Should I compensate by adding a bit when I place my next order, or is
the issue just my perception of the "new" brand?

Thanks,

James



--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
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