Noticed Blisters in Your Gelcoat? What’s Next? You’ve just pulled your boat out of the water. There, you see it – blisters in your gelcoat. Ignoring them might seem like the easy way out, but it’s not. Neglect could lead to bigger problems like a complete hull overhaul, gelcoat removal, or even a full barrier ... Repairing Gelcoat Blisters on a Fibreglass Boat Using Six10® Epoxy? More
Working with WEST SYSTEM® Epoxy products opens up a world of creativity. The key to success is proper mixing. However, what happens when you want to make custom filleting tools? According to Hamish, your options are only limited by your imagination. Why is Epoxy So Versatile? Epoxy is incredibly versatile. In fact, you can use a variety of tools ... What Materials Can You Use to Make Custom Filleting Tools? More
Understanding Epoxy Resin Requirements This is a question the team at WEST SYSTEM® Epoxy get asked a lot. According to technical expert David Johnson, it’s important to have a good idea of how much epoxy resin your project is going to need before you start. You want to be sure you have enough to hand ... How Much Epoxy Resin Do I Need? More
So, you’ve decided to give resin art a try? Congratulations, you have an exciting journey ahead of you. Check out our beginner’s guide. From the very start, it can be easy to jump straight in without doing your research. But resin art comes with its own set of challenges and there’s a lot to learn, ... Looking to Start with Resin Art? A Beginner’s Guide More
In the days of each and everyone of us adapting our lives to be more environmentally friendly when working with epoxy, there is always a way to minimise your leftovers. David Johnson uses his many years of epoxy experience to offer insights into ways he has become savvy with epoxy waste. What Techniques Does David ... How Can You Minimise Epoxy Waste? More
Volunteers at Glasgow’s Clyde Maritime Centre have made a stunning river table/bar and installed it in the Tall Ship Glen Lee, a three-masted museum ship that operates as a visitor attraction and events venue. The charity anticipates that the bar, made with Entropy Resins®, will attract more events like weddings, parties, and corporate functions, helping ... Glen Lee River Table More
We set our team a challenge! We sent them a bag of Entropy Resins® goodies and asked them to get creative. Find out what they got up to! We follow how Richard Ross designed and created a set of botanical bookmarks. “I wanted to create well cured, bubble-free, clear bookmarks with dried leaves cast inside them,” explains Richard. ... How to Make Botanical Bookmarks with Bio-Based Epoxy More
Why is Warm Weather Ideal for DIY Tasks with Epoxy? It’s that glorious time of year when the sun is shining, the weather is warm, and we’re ready to tackle those DIY tasks and hobbies. There are projects waiting to be started and others that need finishing. But how can you maximise the use of ... Top Tips for Working with Epoxy in Warm Weather? More
Whether it’s spending time at a street party or a BBQ with family and friends, getting party ready is always fun! What better way to get ready than by creating your own themed jubilee item or a gift for friends! We are really excited to be celebrating the Jubilee and celebrating with style. With that ... Celebrate the Platinum Jubilee with a Custom-Made Epoxy Crafted Badge? More
You may be wondering, so, why are epoxy resins important? Epoxy has played a pivotal role in the evolution of boatbuilding. It offers a shift from traditional methods to more durable and efficient techniques. What is Epoxy Resin? Epoxy resin is a two-part synthetic polymer. When mixed together, it undergoes a chemical reaction. This results ... Why Are Epoxy Resins Important? More
“I wanted to produce four coasters using Entropy Resins® Epoxy, the Soft and Vivid Colour Tints and the metallic gold pigment,” explains Colin, a former employer of Wessex Resins. “This was a joint project with my daughter and we had so much fun creating these coasters together.” Collaborative projects with your family are a great ... DIY Coasters at Home with Your Family? More
Have You Ever Spilled Epoxy ? Need to remove epoxy from fabrics? We’ve all been there. You’re dressed to impress, ready to leave the house, and you decide to take a quick peek at your ongoing project in the workshop. And then, disaster strikes – a drop of epoxy lands on your favourite outfit. Why ... Remove Epoxy From Your Clothes? More
Have you always wanted to build your own skimboard but don’t know where to start? Even if you have chosen the materials for your project, the next step to actually building a skim board can be daunting. But don’t worry – we are here to help! What materials do you need for your skimboard? Lay ... Can You Build Your Own SkimBoard Using WEST SYSTEM® Epoxy? More
Why Is Winter a Challenge for Epoxy Products? Winter can be tough on epoxy products. They need warmth to stay fluid enough for dispensing pumps to work well. Cold temperatures can slow down curing times and may even weaken the finished work. Many of us have left our epoxy products in a cold garage or ... How Can I Make a Hotbox to Keep Epoxy Warm in Winter? More
In part one of this series of how to build a wooden dinghy Steve Goodchild takes us through choosing a design, and making a jig for his Stornoway 16. “I’m essentially a fair–weather sailor,” says retired land surveyor Steve Goodchild. “The trouble is, the weather doesn’t seem to know that.” Nevertheless he decided to combine his two passions of wood working and sailing and build ... Steve Goodchild explains how to build a wooden dinghy (Stornoway 16) More
From her garage in Bedfordshire, Sarah Conway has discovered that Entropy Resins® products are the best epoxy for coasters and all the other stunning art creations she produces. With an online following of 25K plus, Sarah’s epoxy pours with alcohol ink are shipping through Europe and to places as far off as Alaska, Australia and New ... SARAH CONWAY uses bio-based epoxy to make coasters and art flower blooms More
We’re delighted to be supporting two firefighters from St Mary’s, Southampton, in their epic quest to row across the Atlantic and raise money for charity. Billed as the premier event in ocean rowing the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge is a journey of over 3,000 miles west from San Sebastian in La Gomera, Canary Islands, Spain ... Rowing the Atlantic for charity More
If you’re finding that you’ve got bubbles when pouring clear casting epoxy, here are some simple techniques to help resolve the problem. Bursting bubbles using a little heat Use a hot air gun to heat and break the surface tension to burst the bubbles. This should be done as soon as possible after pouring. Care ... How to remove epoxy bubbles More
When it comes to the art of making stringed instruments, a luthier’s first choice of material would traditionally be poplar, ash, maple, rosewood or another workable wood. Epoxy certainly wouldn’t spring to mind. However, anything but traditional, this is exactly what the craftsmen at Carpentaría Lambar used to make their unique guitar. Carpentaría Lambar, based just ... Rocking Out: Carpenter Uses Epoxy to Build a Guitar More
As you know, we manufacture WEST SYSTEM®, PRO-SET® and ENTROPY RESINS® under licence from the Gougeon Brothers Inc, USA. Below Grace Ombry traces the company’s heritage, from its modest beginnings as a boat shop to a company which is now helping millions of people across the world build, repair and maintain boats of all sizes ... Happy Birthday to Gougeon Brothers, Inc! More
Preparing teak strips for bonding Here’s a tip for preparing a teak plank for a small-scale project such as a cockpit table, using teak and epoxy. It could work just as well on a complete deck. Mark at Aquamarine Ltd uses it whenever he wants to bond teak to a substrate rather than physically attach ... Tips from the Professionals (teak strips) More
The transparency of ENTROPY RESINS® CCR clear casting epoxy makes it ideal for the creation of a ‘river table,’ a furniture design that mimics a stream flowing between two ‘banks’ of wood. River tables (sometimes also called water tables) have become a sought-after piece of furniture as they combine traditional timber with clear cast resin ... Make a river table with ENTROPY RESINS More
Recently we tested a range of moulds which could be used with ENTROPY RESINS® Clear Casting Epoxy. Some of the moulds were bought online, some came from household items and others came from kind donations (like re-purposing an unused Pampered Chef silicone cupcake tray!). We’re taking these, and some more substantial products like our river ... Testing the mould More
ENTROPY RESINS® is cooking up more than a few dedicated followers in Italy. You can clearly tell that ENTROPY RESINS is a surf-business epoxy given the number of manufacturers around the world who use it to laminate their boards. And, you’ll be pleased to know, we offer a completely free technical advice service to support ... Baking a Surfboard More
David Johnson (our sales director) recently visited Turkey to run an ENTROPY RESINS® workshop. As he and the delegates discovered there is something really satisfying about being let loose on the creative projects that you can make with ENTROPY RESINS Clear Casting Epoxy – a bio-based clear casting epoxy. Hosted by Sema Carckci of Etap ... Experimentation with ENTROPY RESINS More
Keith Moir, a lecturer in product design at City of Glasgow College, tasked his students with creating some eye-catching plant pots using ENTROPY RESINS® (given its eco-friendly, sustainable credentials), an excellent epoxy for casting. Wessex Resins and Adhesives’ Sam Oliver judging the students’ creativity at the Faculty of Creative Industries at Glasgow City College in ... Product design using epoxy for casting More
If you have to secure a screw or bolt into an area that is almost inaccessible from underneath, then this trick, using WEST SYSTEM® epoxy will prove a brilliant solution. The beauty of epoxy is that it remains a liquid for a useful working period after it has been mixed. This means it can travel ... The Great Sponge Trick More
JEC World is the leading international composites show and this will be the 21st time that we’ve attended the event with our brand PRO-SET Epoxy. Plus, this year we’re taking our new bio-based epoxy system, ENTROPY RESINS. “We’re interested in talking to all industry professionals,” says Sam Oliver, area sales manager. “We get to catch up with all ... Visit Wessex Resins and Adhesives at JEC WORLD More
We’re loving our new PRODUCED with PRO-SET stickers. If you’ve built, laminated or infused with our PRO-SET epoxy range, catch one of the team and they’ll be delighted to supply you with some. We’re really proud of our brand. Our epoxy is strong and produces lightweight products with amazing results from our professional users. These ... PRO-SET stickers now available More
Oarsome Chance (OC) is a charity where young people who have been excluded from mainstream education learn to work with their hands. This practical training is also combined with learning about business and how raw materials can be turned into saleable items. The charity gets its name from one of the first things students learn ... Oarsome Chance – Learning about epoxy and life More
Avoiding ‘orange peel’ effect You’ve applied a fresh coat of resin and hardener mix, and the coat seems to have fish-eyed into a series of tiny craters. What has caused this, and how do you prevent it from happening again? “The piece of wood in the photo is typical of what can happen when it ... Ask Hamish- Avoiding ‘orange peel’ effect More
Boat builder Abdul Hakeem has created this stunning 70-foot yacht from wooden laminates and equipped her like a superyacht. Epoxycraft is always delighted to hear from its global community of dealers and customers, and when we received an email from Abdul Hakeem of Sulkha Shipyard in India, we were greatly impressed with his new build ... Building a Bruce Roberts in India More
The Spirit 52D has combined traditional timber, carbon fibre and PRO-SET epoxy to make a high-performance head turner. Building in wood is enjoying a huge resurgence due to the ability to make stunning one-offs and the 52D from UK-based Spirit Yachts is a classic example – classic being the operative word. Spirit Yachts draws its ... Spirit Yachts – The ultimate racing machine? More
How to make a wood fillet using this adhesive filler. What is it? A fillet is a coved shaped bead of thickened epoxy that bonds to the outside of two surfaces to lock them together. Being an external bond, rather than hidden behind the wood, a fillet has to look good, so WEST SYSTEM 405 Filleting ... Additive of the Month 405 Filleting Blend, perfect for making a wood fillet More
PART 1: STRIPPING AND PREPARATION If your teak deck is looking a bit thin and tired, or is lifting away from its substrate, or maybe if you just want a new design, now might be the time to start planning its replacement. A key ally in the process will be WEST SYSTEM® and PRO-SET® products. ... The secrets to renewing teak deck More
The summer months are a good time to restore weathered wooden fittings and trims. The long evenings allow them to be stripped, prepared and primed with WEST SYSTEM 105 Epoxy Resin with 207 Special Coating Hardener for a rich, deep gloss. Before and after: This 50-year-old wooden pedestal and travel horse assembly was stripped back ... Dead wood? Bring out the gloss! More
Many older boats are made using plywood and this can deteriorate with age, especially if rainwater has been able to penetrate the paint layers. WEST SYSTEM® Epoxy will repair and preserve the wood for many years to come. PREPARATION AND REPAIRS The cabin on my ferro-cement boat was made from 1 inch (25mm) marine plywood back ... Protecting bare plywood with epoxy More
Meet the West System International team on stand C42 (Great Hall) at the RYA Dinghy Show (3-4 March 2018). Pick up tips on repairing your dinghy after a ding! Find out what products you should have with you at race events to keep you on the water and racing. Watch live demonstrations at 12:00 and ... RYA Dinghy Show – see WEST SYSTEM® Epoxy Products in action More
THE IDEAL GLOVES Latex (white glove) is giving ground to Nitrile (blue glove) as the safety glove of choice for epoxy work. Epoxy and polyester resins can cause a dermatological reaction in some people, which is why West System International always recommends wearing gloves to prevent skin contact when working with epoxy products. In the ... Epoxy Tips – The Ideal Gloves More
One of the key advantages of learning from the experts is that you pick up some great tips for saving time and money when using epoxy products. Here are some from the recent Beginners Course held at WEST SYSTEM Warehouse in Romsey: Suffering hair loss? “You’ll get through a lot of cheap brushes when working ... The Top Tips for Beginners from the WEST SYSTEM® Course? More
Seasonal hints and tips from the professionals Even though the winter is loosing its grip, we still have frosty mornings but there’s no need to stop those DIY epoxy projects at the boatyard – just make allowances for the lower temperatures and seasonal damp conditions. Keep your resin and hardener warm Epoxy resin and hardener ... Tricks of the Trade More
Meeting our Thames Rowing Skiff: “Maggie” I’ve always dreamed of owning a Thames Rowing Skiff, so when I retired, I started searching for one. I met with Mark Edwards at Richmond who builds superb skiffs. One of his beautifully restored skiffs was up for sale and my wife Maggie and I went to look at ... A Complete Restoration of a Badly Damaged Thames Rowing Skiff By Dave Webb More
We’ve all had those times when we only needed a little bit of epoxy. Maybe to fill in a chip, fix something that’s broken in the house or to glue something small together. How do you mix a small amount, properly? WEST SYSTEM®’s very own technical advisor, Hamish Cook, explains all. I’ve had a couple ... How to Mix Small Amounts of Epoxy Resin and Hardener? More
What are the best practices for thinning epoxy resin and what factors should you consider before starting the process? Adding a solvent to WEST SYSTEM® Epoxy reduces its viscosity, making it easier to apply. This also allows it to penetrate deeper into porous surfaces like partially rotten wood and saturate faster into fibreglass fabric. For ... Essential Guide to Thinning Epoxy More
Experiencing discomfort from extended trips out at sea, a customer decided to revolutionise his boating experience. He would no longer confine himself to the wooden seats at the stern. It was time to take the helm at the front! In this article, we’ll walk you through the transformation from traditional tiller controls to a remote ... The Art of Constructing a Wooden Steering Wheel with WEST SYSTEM® Epoxy More
Stuart McGowan, despite his ties to the industry, only recently decided to leave his engineering job to pursue boat building. His enrolment in the Lyme Regis Boat Building Academy marks the start of this new career path. Who is Stuart McGowan? Stuart is a chartered mechanical engineer with years of experience in the water industry. ... How Stuart McGowan Changed His Career Path with WEST SYSTEM® Epoxy? More
Nigel Chapman, a former engineer in the gas industry, found a fresh start in boat-building. After dedicating nearly 30 years to engineering, he decided it was time for a change. This led him to the Lyme Regis Boat Building Academy, where he is currently crafting a 12’ Fleet Trow using glued clinker construction. What Role ... Why Choose Lyme Regis Boat Building Academy for a Career Change? More
What’s So Special About the Solution60 Project? The Solution60 project is a remarkable venture led by Production Director Dave Skene of Solution Motor Cruisers. They’re building a 60ft powerboat, the Solution60. This ambitious project is the brainchild of Ray Davis and globally renowned yacht designer Bill Dixon. As Dave Skene puts it, “We’re building a ... How is the Solution60 Powerboat Changing the Future of Marine Construction? More
What Sparked Keith McIlwain’s Desire to Build ‘Daydream’? After a bout of ill health and a realisation that ‘you only live once,’ Keith McIlwain decided that he needed a change in his career. The Boat Building Academy in Lyme Regis provided Keith with the skills and confidence he needed to construct ‘Daydream,’ his 20’” Golant ... How Did Keith McIlwain Build His Dream Boat ‘Daydream’ with Epoxy? More
Joe Latimer and Alex Lyddon have been working together to build their dream boat – now they are nearing completion, we catch up with them to find more out about the experience, and any problems they may have encountered along the way. Who are you? Joe: I’m a postgraduate ecology student at Exeter, originally from ... How Do You Build Your Dream Boat? – by Joe Latimer and Alex Lyddon More