Thinning epoxy resin? Denatured alcohol/methylated spirits?

bookface

bookface

Sr Member
RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
I just saw an interesting tip for thinning epoxy resin with denatured alcohol, and as I've always found epoxy resin to be rather thick and difficult to use, this is something I'd like to try. However, it seems like denatured alcohol is tricky to come by in the UK, but some people claim that methylated spirits is effectively the same thing. Does anyone have any experience with this?
 
bookface said:
Cheers Prof, I went out and got some, and a small test piece is now (hopefully) curing.
Click to expand...

hey man, could you report back with your findings? i too am interested in this because there is a model i want to fiberglass to strengthen and was looking into this too. i heard the epoxy tends to become brittle and so on. let me know please?

cheers.
 
Strode said:
hey man, could you report back with your findings? i too am interested in this because there is a model i want to fiberglass to strengthen and was looking into this too. i heard the epoxy tends to become brittle and so on. let me know please?

cheers.
Click to expand...

Well, it worked just fine, though it did slow down the cure time (I'm fine with this, as I find epoxy tends to kick a lot quicker than polyester). I think both polyester and epoxy resin tend to the brittle side if not reinforced with fibreglass matt or cloth, so as long as you're reinforcing it with something (even tissue), you'll be fine.
 
bookface said:
Well, it worked just fine, though it did slow down the cure time (I'm fine with this, as I find epoxy tends to kick a lot quicker than polyester). I think both polyester and epoxy resin tend to the brittle side if not reinforced with fibreglass matt or cloth, so as long as you're reinforcing it with something (even tissue), you'll be fine.
Click to expand...

so as long as i reinforce it with fiberglass it will be cool. Ok thanks i'll probably try a few test pieces myself and see as well.

thanks for the input
 
May I ask what kind of epoxy resin you're using? And what cure times you're looking at? The only epoxy resin I can really find are for coating table tops, and from what I gather, it takes a lot longer to cure than I'd like. Like, hours.

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I use this stuff SP106 Multi Purpose Epoxy Resin System - mbfg.co.uk

However, even without the thinning, it still takes hours to properly cure, and will remain tacky for around 12 hours. The problem I was having was that it would start to gel a lot faster than the polyester resin, so if you're looking for a fast curing epoxy, it's probably still not what you want.
 
I'm using Smooth-On Epoxamite and it's the same thing here .. couple hours to cure .. you don't really have a choice if you want to be able to spread it properly.

Even with such a long case, I'm seeing the same issue as you bookface .. it tends to gel quite fast .. I have to do only small batches too. I'll need to look at this thinning theory here in Canada.

Thanks for the tip!
 
Putting any solvent in epoxy will not only weaken it but also shrink the epoxy as it cures.... Epoxy is an odd bird, unlike urethane resins, the hotter an epoxy gets the thinner it becomes, you can heat the individual components to thin it out but it will decrease your pot life....
 
As Beaker suggests I tried heating it recently and it worked pretty well. It did shorten the pot life, but it stayed thin and workable longer than it would have otherwise.

I've researched thinning and it doesn't seem like the best way to go. Whatever thinner you use will weaken the epoxy. You also need to keep the coats light, the thinner needs to evaporate completely before the epoxy goes off. If the epoxy hardens before the thinner evaporates it will be trapped inside.
 
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