Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer - for slightly punky spalted maple?

[Ron Humphrey]

I just heard of this product and am interested to find out if anyone has any experience with it. I have some beautifully spalted maple I would like to use for box lids, but it is punky in spots and needs reinforcement/hardening. This looks like it might be more effective than just squeegeeing slow setting epoxy.

Trade name: Total Boat Penetrating Epoxy

Some suppliers: JamestownDistributors.com
http://www.amazon.com/TotalBoat-Pene...g+Epoxy+Sealer

[Jamie Schmitz]

Epoxy's are great sealers. I did not click link because I did not want this to show up in my search list but most are similar. Two things-epoxies will mostly give a thick build so if that is an issue make sure and look into what type of thinner to use to make it penetrate more and check to make sure to check and see if it is waterproof because if it is it might be darker than other non-waterproof epoxy. One other thing is if you want to experiment try some "Minwax Wood Hardener" to see if this works, this will cetainly be cheaper and it is really thin so it will penetrate deeper.

[Steve Baumgartner]

There are several products available that function about the same: they are thinned resins of one sort or another that penetrate deeply to preserve rotted wood. I have used both the Minwax product (which I believe is polyester based) and CPES (which is an epoxy). I think that CPES works somewhat better. But it has an incredibly strong odor that is a health hazard, and it takes eternity to harden.

[Ron Humphrey]

Thanks Jamie. It seems thinner would be better for punky wood. I read that this product is better for rotten wood than others including the Minwax and was hoping someone on this site had some experience with it. It is too pricey for me to just experiment with.

Can any epoxy be thinned to increase penetration without altering the hardness when set?

[Ron Humphrey]

Thanks for the warnings about CPES. What is your experience regarding a reasonable expectation for hardening time in punky wood?

[Steve Baumgartner]

Thanks for the warnings about CPES. What is your experience regarding a reasonable expectation for hardening time in punky wood?

The last time I bought CPES there were two formulations, so-called warm-weather and cold-weather. The labels give the following info:

temperature		86F(30C)	68F(20C)	50F(10C)	32F(0C)
warm weather formula	pot life	4 hours	8 hours	16 hours	use cold weather formula
	full cure	2 days	4 days	8 days
cold weather formula	pot life	use warm weather formula	2 hours	4 hours	8 hours
	full cure		2 days	2 days	2 days

This stuff is water-thin and, as you can see, takes a very long time to "kick" (pot life) and to cure fully. That's why it can penetrate so deeply. The cold weather formula is significantly less stinky (though still strong), but because it kicks faster it won't penetrate as deeply unless the temperature is cool.

[Ron Humphrey]

Steve,

Thanks for taking the time for the helpful reply. My shop temperature is virtually always in the 2-4 hour "pot life" and the 2 day "full cure" range.

This product, "Total Boat Penetrating Epoxy", is supposed to be a new and improved CPES, but this may be marketing hype. It is fairly expensive and I have limited resources. I have several 1/4 x 8" x 24" splated maple piece that I would like to reinforce en masse for future use on custom projects.

I was hopeful that someone on this site may have actual experience with this brand.

Perhaps I'll start with the MinWax product and see how it works for me.

Thanks again for your input.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Most recently, I have used a produce from smith and company (Smith's Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer). I chose it because boat restores seem to like it. Sure was expensive, however. They have a lot of information here:

http://www.smithandcompany.org/CPES/

I have used this both to firm-up wood (such as you are doing now) and also to finish fresh wood that would be set outside and then ignored (a park bench that the owners said that they would never do anything with).

All of the pieces that I have done were then either painted with a marine paint, or, left as is.

I have only used this product in the summer outside.

How will you finish the wood after you hit it with the sealer?

[Ron Humphrey]

I am in entirely new territory for me. My thought is to use a very thin penetrating epoxy to make the punky wood workable to level the surface as much as possible without pulling out chunks or having the soft part sand deeper than the harder part. Tthen using a slow setting epoxy to fill in voids and level the surface.

The application is simple panels for small frame and panel lids for boxes.

Thanks for the lead