Post #415551 by bananabobs on Sun, Oct 26, 2008 7:15 PM

The West System is a low viscosity epoxy resin that permeates rotted wood and fills the voids. I used a large hypodermic with big needles to inject the epoxy into the wood, then as the middle became solid, I started working it to the outer surface. I finished by brushing on coats until saturated.
When I started the entire TiKi weighed around 30 lbs, when done it was near 100 lbs, in the beginning, the wood was soft enough to push your finger almost through, when complete there was no give at all with full pressure.
The only down side is the color, it darkens it quite a bit and gives it a bit of a sheen. Having been outside for a year now, the resin has lost the sheen and in a couple of places that I slathered the resin thickly, it has discolored a little. I took a wire brush to those areas and that solved the problem. Next time, I will use less resin on the surface, unless the TiKi is either kept indoors or is painted.
The West System is used, among many things, a repair method for wooden boat parts that have rotted or eaten by critters. I started using it back in 1975 on wood sailboat restoration projects.