Cheap source for epoxy resin and vinyl bags

[Stark Suggs]

Great info. Denatured alcohol, DNA presumably. Certainly cheaper that acetone. Olaf, Brice, where did you two get your epoxy resin, a+b mix? cost? the best I could find on amazon was approx $63 for a 1 gallon kit, 1/2 gal each, a and b. As well, what about the vinyl bags? Where in the world do you find those? All of this is very helpful!! Thank you

SWS

[Mike Nathal]

I am pretty sure that black trash bags (like Hefty) are vinyl.

[Olaf Vogel]

Epoxy prices are interesting and vary a lot depending on many factors.

So, EXCLUDING exotic stuff (high temp, aero space, special applications etc)

You likely won't get much cheaper than Amazon. I'm fairly convinced that a lot of offerings are rebranded. There is not a lot of price variation at the low end.

Factors to consider:

ArtResin is supposed to have the lowest VOC, so best for indoor use, food safe (consider the factors I mentioned above).
Has UV guard so won't yellow, is VERY clear (no tint). But is soft and can scratch. Excellent for major gap filling.
Slow cure time (~ 8 hrs)

KrystalClear is much harder/sratch resistant, a bit cheaper, high VOC's, slightly yellow.

West Systems has a broad product line, excellent, but MUCH more expensive.
Most of their products are overkill for woodturning (IMO), except...if you are gluing peices together - where strength is required.
They have excellent product guides (which encourage you to buy their stuff), but that gets into details which again, are overkill.

All epoxy seems to sand well. But you likely want a mask and good DC for that. I do it outside on a windy day.

Buy in gallons and price / unit goes way down.
The stuff does have a shelf life of about a year. So calculate your consumption to minimize waste.

Industrial garbage bags are good, epoxy peals right off. Same for plastic drop sheets

My wife is a professional artist, coats much of her work in epoxy, so goes through 10+ gallons per year.
(Picture pouring epoxy over a 4 x 8 foot painting you have spent 3 months on....nerve racking.)
https://www.arwynn.com/

I've also started doing river tables, so can use a few gallons per table.

We are looking for a supplier to get 5 G pails and hence a lower cost base.

Hope that helps

[Stark Suggs]

Olaf, ended up getting the epoxy mfg and/or sold by these folks https://eastcoastresin.com/ . Looks like decent epoxy. Thanks for your input.

SWS