Re: Epoxy or Poly
Chief, JasonJ<br /><br />You guys understand it, epoxy is great stuff, but it's just not needed in most repairs. There are times when it should be used, but there is a reason that almost no boats are made with it, the cost, health concerns and hassles aren't worth the bennefits most of the time. The reason that transoms and stringers fail is not related to the polyester resin, its how the boat was built to begin with. It was made by an under paid guy that really only cares about how much beer his paycheck will get him on Friday, and was never trained well enough to know that resin and glass needed to cover the entire piece of plywood. It would have rotted out in the same amount of time even if it was made with epoxy. Plus the boats would cost more than double what they do now.<br /> <br />If it was the poly that failed, you have boats out there with good plywood in the transom and it would only need to have the fiberglass replaced, how many posts have seen with that problem. Even when the wood in the transom is just pulp, the poly holds it together fairly well. To get the most out of epoxy, fibers other than glass, or higher grades of glass need to be used, plus it needs to be well engineered. Most of the short commings of poly are exaggerated and so are the benefits of epoxy.<br /><br />I don't hate epoxy, but I only use it when its needed.<br /><br />Sorry if this sounds like a rant, I hope I didn't offend anybody, that was not my intention.
