+x ernie84 - 2/8/2020 12:25:05 PMHi everyone, am new to this forum and composites generally . Please I would love to find out if the epoxy used for floors and table top like this one on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/EPOXY-CRYSTAL-Gallon-COATING-TABLETOPS/dp/B00NLPCA5Y?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_4Or this onehttps://www.amazon.com/Crystal-Clear-Table-Coating-Tabletop/dp/B01LYK2NAG?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_1 Can be used for composite layup or is there some type of epoxy only meant for composites.
+x polaraligned - 2/8/2020 1:38:43 PM+x ernie84 - 2/8/2020 12:25:05 PMHi everyone, am new to this forum and composites generally . Please I would love to find out if the epoxy used for floors and table top like this one on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/EPOXY-CRYSTAL-Gallon-COATING-TABLETOPS/dp/B00NLPCA5Y?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_4Or this onehttps://www.amazon.com/Crystal-Clear-Table-Coating-Tabletop/dp/B01LYK2NAG?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_1 Can be used for composite layup or is there some type of epoxy only meant for composites.While I guess you could, for the money I would purchase a resin designed for composite layup. Depending on what type of process you are using, you could use a West system epoxy for hand layup, or as I use, Composite Envisions epoxy for infusion.
+x ernie84 - 2/8/2020 1:43:22 PM+x polaraligned - 2/8/2020 1:38:43 PM+x ernie84 - 2/8/2020 12:25:05 PMHi everyone, am new to this forum and composites generally . Please I would love to find out if the epoxy used for floors and table top like this one on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/EPOXY-CRYSTAL-Gallon-COATING-TABLETOPS/dp/B00NLPCA5Y?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_4Or this onehttps://www.amazon.com/Crystal-Clear-Table-Coating-Tabletop/dp/B01LYK2NAG?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_1 Can be used for composite layup or is there some type of epoxy only meant for composites.While I guess you could, for the money I would purchase a resin designed for composite layup. Depending on what type of process you are using, you could use a West system epoxy for hand layup, or as I use, Composite Envisions epoxy for infusion. Thanks for the answer. I am mostly asking for learning purposes, I want to find out if there are specific epoxies for composites or if any generic epoxy like this one above can be used
+x Hanaldo - 2/8/2020 10:25:06 PM+x ernie84 - 2/8/2020 1:43:22 PM+x polaraligned - 2/8/2020 1:38:43 PM+x ernie84 - 2/8/2020 12:25:05 PMHi everyone, am new to this forum and composites generally . Please I would love to find out if the epoxy used for floors and table top like this one on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/EPOXY-CRYSTAL-Gallon-COATING-TABLETOPS/dp/B00NLPCA5Y?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_4Or this onehttps://www.amazon.com/Crystal-Clear-Table-Coating-Tabletop/dp/B01LYK2NAG?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_1 Can be used for composite layup or is there some type of epoxy only meant for composites.While I guess you could, for the money I would purchase a resin designed for composite layup. Depending on what type of process you are using, you could use a West system epoxy for hand layup, or as I use, Composite Envisions epoxy for infusion. Thanks for the answer. I am mostly asking for learning purposes, I want to find out if there are specific epoxies for composites or if any generic epoxy like this one above can be usedKind of more complex than that. Short answer is there are specific epoxies for composites, developed and tested for the purpose so that the end user can know exactly what properties the component will have. That said, at the end of the day composites are very simple - they are a fibre reinforced resin matrix. So inherently, you can use virtually any resin under the sun. The most limiting factor is really viscosity, the resin needs to be able to wet the fibres out in order to form a proper matrix, ie. You couldn't use a structural paste adhesive to wet out fibres to make a laminate. But otherwise, if the resin wets out the fibres then it becomes a fibre reinforced resin and it will be stronger for it, ergo composite. What that composite components final properties are becomes anyone's guess however. I once used Megapoxy HX, a penetrating epoxy intended for concrete repairs, to make a carbon fibre laminate. On paper the specs were ok, but in practice the laminate was extremely flexible for its layup at first as the resin took an extremely long time to fully cure. After first demoulding (after 36 hours at 25 degrees) I could flex the 2mm thick laminate like it was paper. After about 3 weeks however, it was much more solid, but it's surface finish had suffered very badly from print through. Those sorts of inconsistencies and unknowns are what I would expect from using a resin not intended for the purpose.No idea how a bar top epoxy would perform. I suspect it would be ok, it's viscosity would make it a bit of work to wet out the fibres so it wouldn't be pleasant to use, and you wouldn't be able to achieve a very good fibre:resin ratio because of that, so it would be very weak for its weight. The biggest drawback that I can see would be that you are paying a much higher price for a bartop epoxy than you are a laminating epoxy, but not getting the performance to match that price, therefore it's not a fantastic idea.