: ...I had a new Greenland paddle,
: saturated as per Rot Doc instructions 3 times wet-on-wet to rejection,
: which took about 1 hour. . . When immersed in the pool water, a slime
: developed that made the stick really slippery. It was totally unexpected.
: Ted Henry gave it a try and made the same observation.

Just a thought here. The "slime" you encountered may not have had anything to do with the chemistry of the epoxy component of the CPES. It may have been a reaction between the solvents in the CPES and oils in the wood.

Was your greenland paddle made of red cedar?

The soup of solvents that gets mixed up with the CPES has some characteristics which, from the descriptions I am reading, suggest that they might also dissolve the essential oils which are in woods like red cedar. Just as the solvents can soak into the wood and "drag along with them" the epoxy, why can't those same solvents 1) saturate the wood, 2)dissolve oils found in the wood 3) carry those thinned and dissolved oils along as the solvents go through the wood and 4) leave a film of those oils resting on the surface -- floating above the cured epoxy -- when the solvents evaporate.

We know that a final coat of polyester resin is frequently mixed with wax, styrene plastic and solvents, all of which float to the surface. The solvent evaporates leaving the styrene and/or wax behind to seal the polyester resin from air so it can cure. I'm wondering if something similar is happening with the CPES. I know some people wipe down red cedar with acetone before finishing it, or gluing it, in order to remove any oils on the surface, so if acetone is a part of the solvent mix in CPES ( and acetone is used as a solvent with other epoxies) then this may just be a case of the solvent moving the wood oils through the wood.

Anyhow, it's just a thought.

A bit of chemical investigation on the "scum" would tell us if it was blush or wood oils. Anyone get a chemistry set for Xmas?

PGJ