More just resin than fiberglass. I mixed up a small batch of resin I was just planning to fill a couple of screw holes. When I added hardener some (more than one drop, maybe several drops, but I have no idea exactly how much) came out of the hardener bottle at one time. I added a few more drops to get to what I thought was the right amount of hardener. Appearantly not! I put some resin in the screw holes and for the most part it seemed to run through the holes, which is okay, my hope was to used the same holes and just be able to get a bite on the screws which previously had stripped out the holes. Now again, I did not use any glass fiber to absorb any of the resin, but this stuff did not harden, even after an hour the resin had not hardened. Bearing in mind that I did add what I thought was enough hardener (but appearantly not) will this resin harden over time?
I guess I could wait until tomorrow and find out, just hoping for info on what I should expect.
If you don’t have the proper ratio, it will never harden, but give it overnight and if it doesn’t, clean it out and start over. I usually use West Systems, so I don’t normally have that problem (it’s precisely calibrated and cures perfectly virtually every time). For little screw holes, you could also buy the kind in the dual syringes so you get perfect ratios and don’t have to buy too much more than you need that way.
You could also use one of the 2-part epoxy paste products (like JB Weld). It’s easy to mix. Just make sure to use epoxy and not polyester.
Gotcha Covered,
Lee Strickland
Strickland Marine Insurance, Inc.
843-795-1000 / 800-446-1862
High Humidity will also play a factor in how quick it hardens. Don’t know about how it was in Charleston today but it has been humid in Saluda for the last couple of days.
I have used fiberglass jelly in the past with some good results. It is naturally thicker than resin. I purchased it at the local NAPA in the past. Used it to fill some chips in the gelcoat on my bass-boat and it didn’t drip or run. Was able to mold it the way I wanted.
The marine fiberglass resin you get from West Marine takes 12 drops of hardner per one ounce of resin. I have a metal measuring cup that holds just over an once. I use that and add 12 to 13 drops of hardner per ounce. For filling screw holes I use marine tex and apply it with a toothpick. This will fill the whole nicely. Then if you want a smooth finish tape a piece of a platic baggy over the hole. Another trick when you want to fix a stripped out hole is to use marine tex, fill hole, spray screw with wd 40 and screw into hole. Let the marine tex fully set. Remove screw.
Sounds like too little hardener. The humidity and temp can affect the cure rate. It may still cure but I wouldn’t give more than 24 hours as stated above, then clean out with acetone and re-do. You can get a powder to add to the resin which will make it like a paste and much easier to work with. This powder will be with the other West systems supplies. I think it is called thickener or some such. Very easy to do. I have found that it matches your gelcoat better than the Marine-Tex. Also, only make as much as you need for 5-10 minutes of work. With proper hardener ratio, it will cure very fast in the summer.Good luck.
the white powder is cabosil/fumed silica that you can mix with the resin to make something of a putty consistency and you can slow down the cure time by using tropical hardener and by putting the two parts in the refrigerator before you mix them
