Epoxy Recommendation Similar to West System 207?

[Ned Mcbee]

I'm looking to purchase epoxy for multi use and would like to know if there's a good quality epoxy resin w/hardener similar to West System 207 that's less expensive.

I'm looking for a clear no-blush epoxy with a decent open time. I'd also like to have an epoxy on hand for general wood projects, glue up, filling in voids, etc. Also to play around with some basic casting or pouring. I'd like a clear epoxy, easy to work with, without blushing, or additional need to do a lot of washing and removal of contaminants from the cure process. West Systems seems to have gained a rep for being a user friendly system and great customer (technical) service.

My immediate application is for repairs to old cabinet doors: some of the 90 year old door panels (thin ply) had developed lots of splits in the surface veneer when using a lye stripper to remove the paint (I've since switched strippers). Where the splits occurred the wood had formed little 'lips' on either side of the split where it raised us slightly from the surface. I sanded those down. So I want to fill/inject epoxy into the splits and sort of skim coat the panels so they can be sanded smooth and painted. I also want too mix it with filler (like West 407 or my own wood flour) to fill big gaps and chunks in the same doors (these are really old cabinets, nothing special and of no great value) ... they will be finished in paint.

A quart of West Systems 105 Resin + 207 & pumps is approx. $100.
Are there any other recommendations for better bang for the buck or larger quantity for the same amount?

Thanks.

[Chip Seltzer]

I buy West 105 for around $98 per gallon and keep a quart of fast and a quart of slow with pumps all the time. It is my “go to” glue and the initial purchase is pricy with the pumps.

[Bryan Lisowski]

I don't know the actual brand name, but I recently bought from The Epoxy Resin Store. They had good prices and so far have been happy with their clear resin. The only negative is that small batches can be an issue in not mixing without a lot of bubbles.

[Brad Shipton]

System 3's G2 is a bit cheaper in my area, but I tend to spring for West. The G2 is not clear for pouring castings, but after one tries that a few times you usually stop due to the cost of the epoxy. Smooth On makes a clear epoxy as well, and you can find an endless number of suppliers for it on their website.

https://www.systemthree.com/products...SAAEgJ-qfD_BwE

[Jim Becker]

I've been using T-88 for structural glue-up/assembly but have been looking carefully at TotalBoat's products. Unfortunately, "the good stuff" regardless of manufacturer isn't inexpensive.

[Ned Mcbee]

Alright, maybe I should just start out with the West System stuff so I'll have some sort of baseline as to how the material behaves in addition to the technical advisory and then after I get some soak time if I decide to continue using epoxy I'll have learned a little and can decide what I want out of it, how best to tweak it, and if switching to something cheaper seems the right direction.

Thanks for all the feedback.

[Kevin Jenness]

One thing to consider with an expensive product like epoxy is waste. As I recall, the West System resin pump that screws on the cans puts out an ounce per shot, which can be more than I want in many cases. I have gone to decanting my epoxy into 16 oz. squeeze bottles and mixing by weight with a balance scale. I can mix up a few grams at a time this way for small jobs.

The pumps are convenient and generally accurate but they do need to be checked occasionally for accurate output, especially if you go a long time between uses. There is some margin for error, but an inaccurate ratio of resin and catalyst makes for a weak batch of adhesive. West System with its 5/1 ratio is a bit more sensitive than other products with a 2/1 mix.

Gougeon Brothers make a good product line and it's worth supporting their ongoing product research and tech support. That said, Jamestown's Total Boat line is a good value and other formulators like System 3 and Raka also make good products. As far as I know they are all buying the raw chemicals from similar suppliers and compounding their own special sauces plus marketing.

One advantage of epoxy is the almost unlimited shelf life. If the resin crystallizes it can be reliquified in a warm water bath. The hardeners generally get darker and stinky over time but seem to still do the job- this may vary with different formulations.

[roger wiegand]

Definitely skip the pumps and get a $25 digital balance to use in the shop. Weighing the resins out is way more accurate and you can mix up exactly what you need for the job; for 90% of what I do a full pump would generate a lot of waste. Once you have a shop scale lots of other things will get better as well, from making up shellac and hot glue to getting good reproducible proportions on dyes.

I've ended up with three balances in the shop; one accurate between 0.01 to 10 g for dye powders and such, the one I use the most that is accurate between 1g-1000g, and a postal scale that goes up to ~50 kg that mostly gets used for weighing drying turning blanks.

[John Gornall]

I never liked the pumps for small jobs.

As an alternate to weighting I use syringes. The ones I use hold up to 60 ml. I clean them with acetone after each use.

Yesterday I did a small repair. I dipped a 1/8 dowel in, let it run until it was dripping and counted drips - 20 drips of resin, same for 4 drips of hardener. Onto aluminium foil - mixed it. Quick little repair.

I'll get an electronic balance - can think of many uses