My three yr old Tolman 20' Standard Skiff has some serious epoxy
problems that cause me to doubt that this building method can work for
my N. FL conditions.
I built her with System 3 resin using the slow hardener due to the
heat here. I used the metering pumps o get correct ratios and
followed the builders directions.
All went well for the first two years but then got a separation of
epoxied wood at the transom. This had been glued by first painting
the wood with epoxy followed by a thin layer of epoxy/fiber paste and
serious clamping. I pried the two layers apart last year and re-
filled with epoxy thinking the problem solved (NOT).
Yesterday, I found the biax separating from the stringers, a long
piece that had been clamped to the gunwales and glued separating and
other places where the epoxy simply had not adhered to the wood. I
will be able to use her for the next couple weeks (scallop season) but
this will require some major surgery.
Under N. FL humidity and rain, it is nearly impossible to keep her dry
and I suspect that swelling of the wood due to absorption of water is
the big problem.
I plan to remove all the rest of the expensive paint i put over the
original epoxy primer because it simply did not adhere anyway. Then
will grind out the bad areas dry everything and try to re-glass the
bad areas after using a heat gun to dry them.
I would hesitate to use epoxy/glass over wood for another project here
in N. FL conditions.