Larry, You wrote: "TRUE, BUT ... West System was designed for a fine finish over wood boat hulls. All of the experts that I have talked to say "COSMETIC ONLY, NEVER USE IT FOR STRUCTURAL PURPOSES"
I would like to talk to the experts that gave you that information. West System was formulated for bonding wood and other materials. It is also used on the surface of wood boats to encapsulate the wood to protect the wood from water--not for "cosmetic purposes" although epoxy does leave a nice surface for adding a fine finish. I have built two wooden boats and two wooden airframes (KR2 and Pietenpol) with straight West System with no fillers (except where needed for nonstructural gap filling) and in the process made many test pieces, broke them every imaginal way, soaked them in water and tried to break the glue joint. The test pieces never broke on the glue joint. I could probably dig up some test pieces from 30 years ago if someone would like to see how the West System stands the test of time. I have had the same fine results from T-88, but have not used it extensively. Rich H
