Particularly for long-grain joints such as the edge-grain and scarph joints
of a spar, ordinary boatbuilding epoxy such as WEST 105/206 is perfectly
adequate.

"Bert van den Berg" wrote in message
...
Due to the high clamping pressure required to use resorcinol glue, and the
tight temperature control requirements, I am limited to using an epoxy
type
glue for the construction of a wooden mizzen mast. I have been told that
there is a "flexible" epoxy - can anyone shed some light on this?

Regards,

Bert van den Berg

Due to the high clamping pressure required to use resorcinol glue, and the
tight temperature control requirements, I am limited to using an epoxy type
glue for the construction of a wooden mizzen mast. I have been told that
there is a "flexible" epoxy - can anyone shed some light on this?

Regards,

Bert van den Berg

Since masts are held together with glue only, without other fastenings, I
wonder if epoxy is well suited for mast construction. In some climates,
mast temperature can get very high. Can epoxy fail at high temperature?
Sure can. Do you want to be the test subject? Plastic resin glue for masts
is safer.

You didn't note the gap filling properties that lets us wood butchers get
away with less than cabinet maker skills.

Note that "System Three" is both a company name and the name of one of their
products. I've been using it for several years with good luck. From their
free publication "The Epoxy Book:"

"Basic epoxy resin is very viscous and unsuitable for use in boatbuilding
except as a thick glue for specialized applications. At System Three Resins
we purchase the material in this basic form, then modify it using formulae
developed by us. The result is the various boatbuilding epoxy resin systems
we offer."

and

"Typical physical properties of "neat" System Three epoxy castings are shown
in Appendix A. Those familiar with the evaluation of such data will note
that System Three epoxy is a medium modulus resin with high resiliency and
good elongation. Tensile and compressive strengths are more than adequate
for this product's intended purpose. The heat distortion temperature is
fully adequate for boats painted light colors but suggests that dark colored
hulls subject to intense sunlight might experience some softening of the
epoxy coating."

http://www.systemthree.com/index_2.asp

The Gougeon brothers at West System also make a product that has worked well
for years and the Maas users will probably join in. The point is that the
flexibility is something tailored into the product by the vendor and is a
compromise with the other properties.

Roger (no commercial interest -- just a satisfied customer)

http://derbyrm.mystarband.net/default.htm

"Bert van den Berg" wrote in message
...
Due to the high clamping pressure required to use resorcinol glue, and the
tight temperature control requirements, I am limited to using an epoxy
type
glue for the construction of a wooden mizzen mast. I have been told that
there is a "flexible" epoxy - can anyone shed some light on this?

Regards,

Bert van den Berg