: Lee: I buy resin in a clear, big "tupperware" pot and hardener in a
: small, brown glass bottle.

: Since is just a two component mix, and is REALLY expensive, I double check
: the operation twice before I actually mix the two components.

: But the truth is that I can't tell you if the stuff that is inside the brown
: bottle (supposed to be hardener) is actually hardener. Maybe, some genious
: at the hardware store put resin instead of hardener...

What kind of ratio are you mixing this stuff? Most epoxies are one part of hardener to anywhere from 1 to 5 parts of resin. The epoxy I've been using is an even mix (one part of each), while many brands use 4 parts of resin to one part of hardener. Whatever the mix, you should have a rather large bottle for the hardener, and it does not need to be glass.

On the other hand, POLYESTER resin uses a hardener that is rather caustic, and used in rather small quantities -- mixes of 1% hardener, (one part to 100 parts of resin) or are common.

Your mention of a SMALL brown glass bottle makes me wonder if you got polyester resin, or the hardener for polyester, by accident.

Shake the bottle of hardener. If the contents barely budge, or have the viscosity of honey, then I'm probably on the wrong track, and you can forget this. On the other hand, if the contents move like water then it is probably NOT the right hardener for epoxy.

Assuming you just have a totally different variety of epoxy resin, the idea of a hardener shipped in a brown glass bottle suggests that the material is sensitive to light or air. Has this stuff been siting around for a while? Maybe it decomposed after you used some for glassing the hull. If so, then you may just need to get more hardener.

What you really need is a good line to a supplier of quality materials. Lots of places in the USA are willing to ship to South America, and they can usually tell you what the shipping costs, tariffs, and import duties will add to the price. It might be cheaper in the long run to import the right materials than to use the locally available stuff.

Sorry to hear of your problems with this. Good luck with getting them resolved.

Paul G. Jacobson