Application Techniques

Mold strongbacks
1. How we built stiff supports for molds that required very tight tolerances and spanned up to 70'.
2. A variation of the plywood strongback designed by Jon Staudacher for building airplane wings.

G/5 Adhesive tips
Making many small batches conveniently and repairing plastic tools with G/5.

Fiberglassing a woodstrip hull
Ted Moores' techniques for a perfect clear finish

Varnish over epoxy
A look at the benefits of undercoating with epoxy

Using dowels to align stitch and glue panels
A practical tip from Dan Anderson

Make shop tools quickly with G/5
Jigs, fixtures and molds in 30 minutes

Building components with Kevlar™ braid
Practical uses for epoxy and braided Kevlar

Shop Tips and Testing

Mixing G/flex epoxy with other West System® epoxies
Blended G/flex 650 epoxy and 105 Resin-based epoxy to alter their cured characteristics.

Fasteners demonstrate G/flex toughness
A simple experiment, pounding a nail into epoxy, opened the door to other uses for G/flex.

Understanding flexible properties
Jeff Wright looks at the issue of flexible versus stiff epoxies from an engineer's perspective.

Moisture Exclusion Effectiveness
Bruce Niederer examines another accelerated test procedure, this time using our environmental huts.

New Products
Introducing the 320 Small Batch Epoxy Scale and the upgraded 309 and 309-3 Gear Pumps.

Borate salt treats decayed wood
Sodium borate is an environmentally friendly and epoxy compatible wood preservative.

Cleaning tools
A safer alternative to using harmful solvents for cleaning epoxy from tools and surfaces.

Accelerated testing: Hot soak moisture uptake
Bruce The Chemist explains a test we use to compare the moistuer resistance of coatings.

If you can’t take the heat...
An explanation of the effects of high temperatures on cured epoxy and what HDUL really means.

Comparing cost and weight of flat panels
A detailed comparison of flat panels built with laminated and composite materials.

Practical uses for razor blades
Here are a few of the many uses single-edged razor blades have in a shop where epoxy is used.

There will be a test
Why we test. Inquiry and testing have been an unbroken tradition at GBI for 35 years.

The importance of stiffness in small boat performance
Meade Gougeon's overview of the factors affecting the loss of stiffness in composite boats.

Building for long-term competitive performance
Bram Dally discusses his quest to find the stiffest composite for the Swift Solo's hull.

Woods of the world adhesion testing
A look at some of the worlds most exotic wood from an adhesives point of view.

A better way to prepare laminates
Norton's rotary wire brush works better than sandpaper for some fiberglass surface prep.

Furniture repair with G/5
Using G/5 Five-Minute Adhesive to repair stripped fasteners in particleboard/fiberboard.

Avoiding surface contamination
The leading causes of contamination related adhesion problems and how to avoid them.

Testing large bonded-in fasteners
Tests conducted to demonstrate the benefits of hardware bonding.

Thinning WEST SYSTEM epoxy
The advantages and disadvantages of thinning with solvent

Mold release, PVA and hairspray
The effectiveness of PVA and hairspray as a mold release

Estimating epoxy amounts
A formula used to calculate epoxy for wetting out glass and coating surfaces

Protective skin creams-do they affect adhesion to the surfaces we touch?
Adhesion tests for contamination from five common protective creams.

Scrapers-Versatile tools for working with epoxy
Examining the effectiveness of various types of scrapers for smoothing epoxy surfaces

Epoxy Products

WEST SYSTEM launches G/flex Epoxy
New G/flex Epoxy adds a degree of flexibility to the WEST SYSTEM product line.

An overview of WEST SYSTEM epoxies
You may be asking how the new G/flex fits into the WEST SYSTEM product line?

Using Epoxy with Other Materials

Gluing plastic with G/flex®
What we've learned about bonding to one of the most difficult materials to bond to.

Building composite tubes
J. R. Watson shows how you can use low-tech ingenuity to build high-tech carbon fiber tubes.

The "lost foam" method of composite fabrication
1. Using the "lost foam" method to build a custom air scoop for a race car.
2. Building a custom sailboat part with a molded cavity also using the "lost foam" method.

Effects of surface treatments on adhesion to metals
Which surface preparation provides the best adhesion to common metals?

Chopped stand mat & epoxy
Normally used with polyester resin, can it be used with epoxy?

Adding pigments to epoxy
Examining what pigments can be used to color epoxy and how they affect adhesion.

Epoxy adhesion over stains
A closer look at the effect of wood stains on the adhesion of epoxy to wood substrates

Testing DCPD blend laminates
Repairs are effective on fiberglass laminates made of DCPD blend polyester with internal mold

Comparing surface preparation techniques for paints and primers
A test method to determine which technique provides the best adhesion

Testing house paint primers
Analysis of various primers over epoxy

Plywood basics
A look at plywood types and their suitability for various projects

Gluing plastic dimensional lumber
Testing adhesion to plastic deck lumber