To Rebuild Or Junk The Boat

[jigngrub]

By heating the wood a little just warm enough you cant touch it eith by laying in direct sunlight or with a heat gun it will thin the resin a little with out the negative side effects of thinning with solvent or heating the resin it's self.
also as the wood cools it will draw the resin in a little deeper.
there is a thread on it at west systems web site

That will work with a thick epoxy resin but it will have a negative effect with polyester resin. The penetration/absorption rate for poly resin is minimal to begin with and applying it to an already heated surface will reduce it even further.

There are thin epoxy resin mixes that don't require heating the wood, one is the 635 thin resin mix from a well known supplier that I can't name on this site. But if you google thin 635 epoxy resin you'll find it, you'll also find their prices are very competitive.

 

[gm280]

An old trick that we use to use when I was an avid R/C aircraft flier was to mix up the usual mixtures of two part EPOXY, and then use alcohol to thin it down almost like water to fuel proof our engine and fuel tank compartments. The thinned epoxy would soak into the balsa wood and then you wouldn't have to worry about fuel soaked wood in a few weeks of flying. And that was the technique R/C'ers used. Not sure if that would work with marine epoxies, but a little test could prove it out... JMHO!

 

[ondarvr]

Thinning epoxy reduces its physical properties dramatically, this includes water resistance. It seems like a good idea up front, but the chemistry doesn't work that way.

Penetration doesn't help much when the product allows more water to pass through it, you need a highly water resistant barrier to prevent rot, which is what epoxy is formulated to be when you buy it, if adding other things helped epoxy to be a better product, the reputable companies would sell it with them already in it.

Years ago there was a "thinned epoxy craze" as time went on and people studied the results they found out it didn't work out as planned. There are still a couple places online where you can buy thinned epoxy, they make great claims, but the fad has faded due to poor outcomes.

 

[zool]

Yea, CPES is still available, but I don't know anyone that actually uses it, its not needed if a few properly mixed coatings of pure resin are applied....if u really want it sealed, just wrap it in thin cloth for the final layers....it will hold up til someone drills or screws into it...as long as the wood isn't moist or damp before coating it, this is usually the best route. For stringers and transoms, just a few coats of resin before glassing is all that needed to keep the wood from wicking up resin and avoiding dry lams...

 

[Woodonglass]

Waterproofing is not about penetration into the wood fibers, it's about encapsulation of the wood with a waterproof material. If the wood is properly encapsulatated and the barrier is never penetrated then the wood will never rot even if the coating Never penetrates to the inner fibers of the wood. Epoxy is a bit more "Waterproof" than Polyester but the difference is miniscule and the absorption rate would take decades of total immersion for anyone to ever be able to tell the difference. As stated, it's all about the quality of the work done during the lamination of the resin.:rockon:

 

[DarwinDodge]

Thanks again for all the great info guys.
That's why I keep asking questions and telling you my ideas so maybe I won't do something dumb ​