"Brian D" wrote in message news:cdGmc.43368$0H1.3993970@attbi_s54...
Cotton fibers or wood flour are better for your size of boats, Scotty
...can't remember the WEST designations for these (and you have to ask them
what is in many of their fillers anyway...)

Brian

(puffs up chest) Yeah, I got my fillers all set man, I've built over
50 of these size boats For the record, I use aerosil, maple flower,
and pine flower in different mixes depending on what I am doing.
Between the three I get what I need. For backings and wood and gap
filling I use wood, mistakes are recut, not filled, I know this is not
always practical in larger vessels.
Scotty




--
http://www.advantagecomposites.com/tongass -- My 22' Tolman Skiff project
http://www.advantagecomposites.com/catalog -- Discounted System Three
Resins products


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"Backyard Renegade" wrote in message
om...
Glenn Ashmore wrote in message
news:Csqmc.7893$Lm3.270@lakeread04...
Parallax wrote:

My epoxy is 10 yr old West System stuff and my metering pumps broke
yrs ago so my mixing is prob a little off. I am using the colloidal
silica I used yrs ago for blister repair and it seemed to work then
but I may not be using the righ amount. Today, I plan to buy another
gallon of the West epoxy, pumps and fibers.

Milled fiber does not thicken epoxy very well. While it is great for
strong bonding it will definitely not make epoxy stiff enough to keep it
from sagging. For fairing and filling I mix in microballoons first then
slowly add silica to get the right consistancy.

I don't use milled fibers. I tried them once but the lamination it
created left the epoxy stiff. For the type of construction I do, stiff
is not necessarily good. Scotty