i550class.org

I am building with West epoxy and use West thickening compounds.

I have started off using the West System 405 filleting blend as a filler when filleting, but it is only available here in the smaller containers. I have blended high density(404) and low density (405) fillers for filleting in the past when building DNs. Those fillers are available in bigger containers, and so are cheaper. I note that some builds (Chad's for example) have white fillets, so those builders can't be using (brown) filleting blend (405).

What are you using? Any cheaper alternatives to the Gougeon products with similar working characteristics?

Hi Warren,
I used West almost exclusively for a lot of years. They were great innovators and supporters of their products, testing and putting out books and articles that were more thorough and helpful than just about anybody else. But for the last 10(?) years, as other companies have figured out the room-temp cure market, and produced the same fillers in bulk formats, West has retained the premium prices from the time when there wasn't cheaper competition. They seem to be counting on brand loyalty, and the fact that many marine retailers still only stock their products. Some of the prices they charge now for West-branded commodity products are just silly- things like fiberglass tape and carbon uni tape, or colloidal silica, phenolic balloons, and milled cotton fibers are all double or more what absolutely equivalent products cost from other vendors. Their epoxy is great, but at around $100/gal it isn't noticeably better than Raka's or US Composites' offerings at around $43/gal. Here's Raka's page on fillers, and US Composites' page.

For fillets, I generally used a blend of silica and milled cotton fibers, and set table-wetted tapes into the still-wet fillets. Sanding silica mixtures is an un-fun exercise!

One of West's fillers that I haven't found elsewhere is their Micro-light, which is fabulous for fairing.

Enjoying seeing your progress, and how each builder builds on the experience of the earlier guys.
-Chad