As a beginner to intermediate epoxy user, we focus a lot of effort on learning techniques for mixing and applying epoxy. While these skills are important, there are other aspects to epoxy success that most of us only learn through experience. Luckily, or unluckily, depending on how you want to look at it, I've learned a lot about what not to do from working on my own projects. Through my experiences, and hours hanging around our GBI Technical Advisors and their projects, I've learned a few approaches to help make things go smoother. Hopefully, some of the knowledge I've gained can help you on your next project.
Have a Well-Developed Plan
It's easy to think to yourself, "This will be easy. I'll just slap a little fiberglass on here, a little epoxy on there, and bam! Good to go." It's important to walk through each individual step. How much epoxy am I going to mix? Am I going to mix it in one batch, or in stages to prolong pot life? Are all my materials cut to size and dry fit? Should I wet out my fabric in place or on a flat table? Will it cause problems if the fiberglass stiffness changes once wet out? How am I going to clamp? Etc. Basically, you want to do a dry run of the whole repair before mixing a drop of epoxy.
A few years ago, I was reinforcing the bottom of the drawers in my Ikea wardrobe with some fiberglass, so they could support our heavy winter boots. The external temperature was around 80°F degrees, but the inside temperature of my garage where I was working felt much cooler. I grabbed my WEST SYSTEMⓇ 105 Epoxy Resin/206 Slow Hardener, and mixed my epoxy. I trimmed my fiberglass as I went, since it was such a simple shape. First drawer, no problem. Second drawer, no problem. Halfway through the third drawer (of seven) the batch kicked off in the pot before it even touched the fiberglass.
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Tips for More Successful Epoxy Projects
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