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While polyester is not as good as epoxy for the reasons you and others have said, it does work. If you are trying to build on-the-cheap, polyester is satisfactory. My brother is still using a 15 year old strip canoe made with polyester. Since small boats like canoes and kayaks are not generally stored in the water, the permeability of polyester resin is not that big a deal.
> Hi,
> I am playing around with an inexpensive polyester epoxy (Bondo). I joined
> two plywood pannels using this resin mixed with cabosil (I guess it is a
> powder made of fibers). I joined them using the S&G technique. I also
> saturated few pieces of plywood. The result is every thing looked very
> strong. I know many people don't like using polyester because it
> delaminates, absorbs moisture. and it is not as strong as epoxy.
> Here are my questions: 1) how strong is strong enough?. Is the polyester
> strong enough for kayaks.
> 2) Are there any data that show that polyester is not suitable for Kayaks.
> I read a few books on boat building and all that I found on polyester are
> general statements whith no backup data. Has anyone tried it?
> 3) WhenI was mixing the resin with the hardner, it turned dark. Why is
> that? (The temperature in the room was 40F).
> Thanks
> Ben-B
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Guillemot Kayak - High
Performance Wooden Sea Kayak Designs
