Yesterday, I checked the epoxy, and I found that it was noticably more
solid than two or three days ago. I have a feeling that it will
eventually cure completely -- just very slowly.

I have contacted the tech support of the epoxy manufacturer. He said
that the epoxy mostly likely will eventually cure because of the fact
that the curing is progressing. More importantly, he also said that
the cured epoxy will have a good bond despite the fact that the epoxy
will take much longer time to cure than normal. Therefore, I will wait
a couple weeks for epoxy to cure completely.

Jay Chan


Mik wrote:
If I was you, I'd wait a couple of weeks til it seems to harden as much
as possible. Then, I'd start scraping. Sicne it hasn't cured properly,
you can try a heat gun to soften up the epoxy before scraping. Paint
scrapers, window scrapers, utility knives, 40 grit sandpaper. Try
everything, except a garden rake....

Seriously. Especially since this is structural, I'd be removing all of
the epoxy, down to bare wood, and starting over. cured epoxy is
fantastic, but partially cured is a disaster waiting to happen. Why
ruin a good boat over some bad epoxy??

Mike
Saskatoon, SK

wrote:
Thanks for pointing this out. Sound like I have a hopeless case on my
hand. OK, I just have to treat it as a learning experience.

Jay Chan


derbyrm wrote:

I think there's some confusion between polyester resin and epoxy.

As someone else pointed out, with polyester, the hardener is a
catalyst/accelerator and the resin will eventually cure.

As I understand epoxy, it is the combination of the chemicals in the resin
and those in the hardener. Too few of the hardener molecules and you'll
never end up with actual epoxy, only with a slurry of cured epoxy and
uncured resin molecules looking for their mates. It will not be very
strong.

I'd suggest you start scraping.

Roger (sorry)

http://home.insightbb.com/~derbyrm

wrote in message
groups.com...

Glad to hear that there is some hope. OK, I will wait a week or two to
give it a chance. Meanwhile, I can always work on something else or go
fishing on a rental boat. If after two weeks my finger nail still can
make a dent on the epoxy, I will remove it.