Been a long time since I've seen this subject come up: thinning epoxy with acetone or xylene to give the resin a more watery viscosity that seriously enhances penetrating characteristics. I believe the upshot was more or less that yes, it works, but the downside is badly degraded epoxy integrity; that while thinned epoxy will wet out cloth like nobody's business, the resulting matrix will never be as strong.

Lately I've been hearing where the Texas racing community is generally partial to the idea of thinned epoxy as a penetrating application to be used prior to regular epoxy, to render wood gunnels, bulkheads, and such as waterproof and rot-resistant as possible. These people aren't casual hobbyists, but serious competitors in grueling races who get plumb scientific about most everything they do. I tend to pay attention to them when they talk (while keeping in mind the differences between dedicated competition boats and more recreational craft).

So I have been experimenting with xylene-thinned epoxy on my Cormorant rebuild, and so far really like the results I've been getting. But I'd like to be refreshed on existing knowledge from this group if possible, so if any of you has experience to share, or can direct me to pertinent links, I am most interested. In particular, it seems like just the thing for a seal coat, as thinned epoxy really soaks into wood with something like 10% thinning agent added to the goo (I, on the other hand, seldom get overly scientific, sorry).