: Hi Folks,

: I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on wood derived epoxies? I first
: learned about this yesterday while looking at the
: http://www.rotdoctor.com .

: Their site says "Featuring wood based epoxy resins that are designed to
: penetrate wood, resist and repair rot in all boat and home applications.

: Our epoxy products are formulated from resins derived from wood. They bond
: better, are tougher and more flexible than standard petroleum-based epoxy
: resins. You might as well buy the best."

The CPES (Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealant) would be unsuitable for applying glass fabric. The solvents added to it so that it an soak deeply into wood render it too thin for this job. If you wanted to use CPES as a base coat to seal the wood, though, it should do fine. But regular epoxy also does a fine job on a seal coat, so why buy two products?

Their Layup & Laminating (or L&L) resin seems to be what they recommend for layup and laminating glass fabric. Check the prices, though. It is expensive stuff. You'ld need two 2-quart kits for a gallon of resin, and that would cost nearly $160. Buying the 2 gallon kit for $278 would be more than many people pay for their resin and their glass combined.

If the prices were closer to petroleum based epoxies then it might be something for me to consideration, but as it is, I'd like to see some proof that their product is so superior to the competition that the difference in price is worth it.

If you get a small quantity and experiment with it, let us know the results. Also, I see from their writeup (http://www.rotdoctor.com/house/Hlay.html) that it "turns almost transparent when it is cured". I'd be interested in knowing whether this stuff is as clear as the usual epoxies we use, or not.

Just some thoughts

PGJ