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Mark _australia said..
Rio - Another reason I don't use it. Its thinned to have low solids by volume to try and achieve that one little 'advantage'
West is fine for little repairs but its 20 year old+ tech and we're not building boats. I use a modern 2:1 ultra clear non yellowing (UV stable) as then it can be used for surfboards in the sun, laminating, repairs, carbon that has to look pretty, etc etc. If you're making a board or doing a lot of work I'm not a fan of West. Newer systems like mine have enormously higher tensile strength and at fairly higher compression strength (but they make it hard buy talking in different terms on their sites)
Mark - I am in total agreement with you about the West System resin. Its mechanical properties are optimized for use in wooden structures and bonding applications. I did build my first several boards from it about 40 years ago because it was the best available resin at the time. Later on I had access to other resin systems that were better for board construction. Unfortunately most of those resins were not available to the general public. My work is now limited to repairing my own boards which only happens occasionally. I keep a small set of West System pumps with the resin and hardener on my garage shelf and tend to use it for repairing other things besides boards.
I still believe the West System is one of the best for basic repairs. At least in the US it is widely available. They have a variety of resins for different application, fillers and accessories like the pumps which makes it useful for the occasional user. There is also a wealth of educational information on line for using their various products. Anyway enough said.
Your online tutorials are really great and should help to a lot of people who are not familiar with board repair. I cringe at some of the repairs I see at our local sites but I also realize there is very little information available on how to do it in a proper manner. Keep up the good work.