West System Epoxy vs. other epoxy

[rv9builder]

At Aircraft Spruce, a quart of West System epoxy resin and the necessary hardner sells for $34.70. The same amount of Aeropoxy resin and hardner sells for $25.80. There's also a product sold exclusively by Aircraft Spruce called the Poly Epoxy Structural Epoxy System. It sells for $18.85 for a quart of resin and the necessary hardner.

Anybody have any experience with Aeropoxy or Poly Epoxy? Does it work as good as the West System, or is it worth paying extra for the West system?

Thank you,

Mark
Fiberglass newbie

[robertahegy]

I'll give you another choice. I used Alpha Poxy from ACS. For use on your cowling, leg stiffeners, wheel pants and fairings, this stuff worked well for me. It is flexible and can withstand the vibration and flexing involved with these parts. It is non structural, so you would not use it for load bearing applications like landing gear mounts or spar boxes, but it is fine for the fiberglass parts in an RV.

I bought the 1-1/4 gallon kit. If you do the leg stiffeners, seal the fiberglass, make or repair any of the fiberglass, form your own intersection fairings, etc, this kit will be sufficient. A qt. kit of any brand will unlikely be enough for even the minimal jobs.

Roberta

[kevinh]

For the stuff we are doing, West System is fine. We aren't using epoxy for structural applications like our glass plane peers.

You might try finding the epoxy locally to save on hazmat shipping. West Marine has retail stores over much of the country (at least the parts close to water ;-)). A plastics supply store like TAP plastics is also an option.

[tacchi88]

Mr. Mark,
West epoxy is recognized as the best in the business. If you have the opportunity, read "the Gougeon Bros. on Boat construction, Wood and West System Materials". Having built an amphip, mostly wood, I can tell you the stuff is excellent.
If you have a West Marine outlet (no relation) in your area, they carry the full line of West product, and a tad lower in price than AC.
T88
RV10 N968TP

[penguin]

Several wood working outlets also carry West Epoxy. Aeropoxy is a dark brown color where as West is nearly clear - looks better on a finished airplane. One big advantage of West is the pumps that fit on top of the cans to measure thecorrect quantities - saves loads of hassle mixing with syringes, scales or other methods. I'd go with the West System.

Pete

[Kevin Horton]

I used West Systems, as that seemed to get the best reviews. After I bought my West Systems epoxy, a local sail boat fanatic co-worker told me that I should have bought East Systems epoxy (made in Canada, but available in the US). East Systems is a bit cheaper, and supposedly cures without leaving an amine blush on the surface.

Amine blush is a waxy film that comes out of the epoxy as it cures, especially at colder temperatures. It must be removed before putting another coat of epoxy (or paint), or you won't get a good bond.

East Systems is available from Noah's Marine. The claim about no amine blush with East Systems epoxy is on the web so it must be true

Another page reports that the East Systems epoxy has a similar blush problem to West Systems 206 hardener, but that the West Systems 207 is much better (and more expensive, of course).

[dan]

Consider how easy the West System is to MEASURE properly. They sell a pump kit for less than 10 bucks (last time I checked). It takes all the guesswork out of coming up with the proper epoxy/hardener ratio.

You might save a few bucks on some other brand of epoxy, but how easy is it to measure and dispense?

Not suggesting it's all that difficult or expensive, but I'm just giving you my 2 cents on why I personally think West System is easiest and worth a little more.

)_( Dan
RV-7 N714D (785 hours)
http://www.rvproject.com

[Alex]

I've used both West Systems (slow and fast) and Ez-Lam (http://www.acp-composites.com/acp-ez.htm)

The West Systems was definitely much better to work with.

[osxuser]

I love West system to death. It's the most awesome stuff i've used. I'm actually better at working with fiberglass than I am with metal (right now anyway ).