Price of resins?

FC, I have not bought resin lately but I can tell you that most epoxies are a byproduct of oil and the price of oil is at decades lows. Esters are not oil byproducts. That could be the reason you are seeing this.

 

Greed. Once upon a time they made $2 a gallon now they can make $7. Why would the want to drop the price of epoxy?

Look at it this way- Price of oil last August was $100 a barrel and gas was $3.70. Today oil is at $55 - is gas at $1.85?

For cheaper tests - try to find a gallon of resin at the auto parts stores, etc...these types of places have old stuff on the shelf and don't usually reprice stuff already in inventory.

Boatyard resin at FGCI should still be about $20/gallon, eh?

 

I thought you wanted the boatyard for your tests? Good enough for that.

 

As it was described to me by a chemical engineer:

All resins are a byproduct of oil, for every gallon of oil less than a drop of that is viable to make resin of any kind, even then that "less than a drop" gets split several more different ways to make certain glues, and different resins for other industries. Also "supposably" even with the price of oil dropping we are using less oil (dont see how thats possible), which means we are refining less oil, which means even less resin, which means prices go up.

 

While i actually like working with poly i have to agree with you. For those prices i would probably use epoxy as well on a smaller project. I guess it also matters what your doing with it. If your wetting out alot of glass that will burn through some epoxy quick. But if your using wood i would use epoxy. On the other hand i wouldnt mind watching you do a all foam cored epoxy build either

 

Poly seems thinner to me and flows easier, and soaks in faster. Epoxy is great, and like you said basically idiot proof. Every batch of poly ive ever had have been different. Some needed more mekp to kick than others and not to mention weather and hunidity changes add to the thrill of wondering if your work is going to harden properly. Epoxy is very "set it and forget it". They both have their places. Epoxy is great for repairs, i feel poly is a much better laminating resin when multiple layers of glass are being laid up. I always mean to start using vinylester but it costs sooo close to epoxy its a no brainer to get the epoxy. I know you do alot of work with epoxy, one thing to be careful of is the fumes. People work with epoxy with no p.p.e. because they cant smell fumes like poly, when epoxy is just as bad if not worse for you.
i have a friend that owns a speargun company. Hes been building teak guns and other woods epoxy coated for most of his life. He had an employee that also did work with epoxy his whole life, building those fancy tables with shells in them and such. He never wore a respirator. His body eventually began rejecting the epoxy fumes and everytime he breathed it in or touched it he would start going into anaphalactic (spelling?) shock. Crazy. Also he tells me the over exposure to teak sawdust is very bad for his health too. Wow im rambling now, be safe

 

Totally agree

 

Still looking at the tri hulls?

 

Wow, lots of comments...

One thing you might want to look at is an ISO resin. It's a cross between polyester and vinyl ester resin. Basically a blend between the 2 and many boat builders tend to use it to be a notch better than poly built hulls which is considered in the industry to be a cheaper built boat. It's not as expensive than pure vinyl ester. Vinyl ester is a denser resin, thereby achieving a higher tinsel strength, less flex and can get away with less product to achieve the same stiffness. Less resin = lighter boat overall. But cost more. ISO splits cost vs strenght, stiffness and weight. Also, not quite as good as epoxy, vinyl will block water absorption better than poly.

All 3 of the ester resins smells way worst than epoxy, but be warned, epoxy is more harmful to you and your nervous system. You can get amine poisoning or amine toxicity from the amine hardener they use in it. I knew a boat builder in Fort Myers who rebuilt classic boats using West Systems epoxy resins. He can't even drive by a shop anymore that is using epoxy without it freaking out his entire nervous system and he goes into crazy pain and shock all over his body! He knew others just like him.

So be very cautious to use in a VERY open area, use a tyvek/chem suit, blue chem gloves, eye googles and a charcoal respirator (not those stupid 99 cent mask that don't do nothing!). Hey, it's your body and read up on it 1st but don't be stupid and say "I didn't know..." after the fact!

Just sayin.....