epoxy

[diggerdickson]

Has anyone out there used John Gillis's epoxy, I have heard many good things about his epoxy, I have a dvd he made and lent me showing and talking all about his epoxy and believe this is the go for me, probably better than resign with uv sunblock, as I dont want to stop my boy from watching what I do and opening the tarp the watch his old man and letting the uv in as he does.

I know John knows his stuff, he is a friend of mine and have had reports from a close mate who actually uses it, but he is only a backyarder. I have probably already made my mind up but am interested if anyone else has tried it.

[ric_vidal]

Johnny Giro visited us when we were doing the bloody XTR things and was playing with his epoxy then and said he would come back, never did!

[Cpt.Caveman]

Does aroldite count?

[diggerdickson]

Johnny Giro visited us when we were doing the bloody XTR things and was playing with his epoxy then and said he would come back, never did!

Yup, thats just like John

[feraldave]

Has anyone out there used John Gillis's epoxy, I have heard many good things about his epoxy, I have a dvd he made and lent me showing and talking all about his epoxy and believe this is the go for me, probably better than resign with uv sunblock, as I dont want to stop my boy from watching what I do and opening the tarp the watch his old man and letting the uv in as he does.

I know John knows his stuff, he is a friend of mine and have had reports from a close mate who actually uses it, but he is only a backyarder. I have probably already made my mind up but am interested if anyone else has tried it.

Johns resin is by far the best surfboard epoxy I have used... And I have been playing with epoxy since shane stedman imported xtr...

[bohdidontsurf]

Dave, I only have epoxy boards now...swapped over really when FW hit the market and while I still have a couple of them I mostly have hand made epoxies from the likes of Josh Dowling, Stretch etc. Why does anyone persists with PU? I know its cheaper and faster to make a board with PUl but at least in my mind they are stronger, better flex and dont shatter...I will never buy PU again. Are they that must of a pain in the arse to make?

[steve shearer]

EPS sucks water and fixing dings with epoxy is a pain in the arse.

[bohdidontsurf]

EPS sucks water and fixing dings with epoxy is a pain in the arse.

Um, no they dont all suck water, some actually dont suck any water and I find fixing epoxy dings, which happen much less frequently, much easier than mixing PU resin. Cant agree there big fella. Got to be more to it.

[seethesea75]

PU Foam and Epoxy Resin:

The flex and feel of a traditional surfboard, the durability and ability to work greater with new technologies. EPS is a pretty average core on its own really, it's main advantage is that it is light so you can add more layers of cloth and hence strength. Of course it works well with sandwich construction where you use even lighter EPS and bag a layer of PVC foam 'sandwiched' between layers of cloth, this adds the strength.

Many US manufacturers and now some in Australia are glassing PU with Epoxy for team riders as they last longer and keep that new board 'pop' for longer.

Epoxy resin is without question stronger. The modern Epoxy resin is just as easy to work with as Polyester resin if not easier, it is however more expensive and slower. That means less boards per day at a higher cost. No problems if people are willing to pay for it! Modern Epoxies also have UV inhibitor so the PU foam does not brown in the sun.

[purple pyramids]

so how does the epoxy smell? as good as the PU? it's great having a board curing in the house.

[Skipper]

^^^
you'd love my garage at the mo'.
3 repair jobs on the go.

[seethesea75]

It doesn't smell. If stinking your house out is something you look forward to Poly may be best. Or is it the smell of Pro-tec that you are smelling?? That is the smell of new boards, stinks out your car. Love it, you can use it on Epoxy boards if you need to as well.

I work regularly with Epoxy in my garage on various things and my wife never complains. I opened a tin of Poly and within 2 minutes she was up me about the smell.

I am not allowed to use Poly in the garage anymore.

[Skipper]

Nah. It's the resin smell I dig. Reminds me of carefree grom days.

[ric_vidal]

Some epoxy smell goddamn awful, some isn’t too bad. Polyester is strong smelling too but somehow, perhaps by association, less confronting. Think all epoxies are slower to cure, certainly from a FULL cure perspective unless post-curing is used*. Epoxy seems susceptible to pinholes which could be as much about the core material. Probably a whole lot more frustrating to work with than poly.

I have been told all Hayden Shapes boards are now glassed with epoxy (lams and fillers), PU cores and of course the Fibreflex (EPS).

Some manufacturers use epoxy for lams and poly for filler coats as it is somewhat easier to sand. From experience, that can have its own set of problems and have fixed the odd exclusive brand name board where the filler is de-laminating as the polyester ages and becomes less flexible (than epoxy).

It’s good, just not sure it is x times better, relative to time/cost than the standard PU/PE combo.

*My reading suggests polyester cures most of the way relatively quickly then levels out.

[feraldave]

I have been told all Hayden Shapes boards are now glassed with epoxy (lams and fillers), PU cores and of course the Fibreflex .

I can understand that if you have a uv safe epoxy.. Probably by the end of the year I will seriously consider doing so my self for most of my boards. Just stick with pu for the resin colors and the retro buyers who are willing to pay more..
And Steve shearer, please visit me one Saturday to show you quite a few things about eps and epoxy and how simple it can be...

[Beerfan]

I might have to give the epoxy on PU a go. I just ordered a shed, and thinking i was smart, ordered it with 2 skylights, so i could shape in the day without needing lights. After i'd ordered i realised UV polyester resin probably wouldn't work well in those conditions haha. Always been keen to try it.

[diggerdickson]

I might have to give the epoxy on PU a go. I just ordered a shed, and thinking i was smart, ordered it with 2 skylights, so i could shape in the day without needing lights. After i'd ordered i realised UV polyester resin probably wouldn't work well in those conditions haha. Always been keen to try it.

beerfan, let me know if you want johns number mate, I can pm it to you, he is down kawana way

[tiger]

I've been using the Kinetix R 104? I like the final product, been doing lams and fillers with it. It's ok to sand as long as you leave it a day or 2. But yeah, it's annoying how long it takes to go off. Not such a problem for me as I've always got other stuff to do, but it would be a pain in higher production.

Keen to have a look at some other epoxies with faster kick times, so will definitely look John up when I need some more. Has anyone tried the Kwik Kick that Greg Loer bangs on about on swaylocks?