WEST SYSTEM

Why Choose WEST SYSTEM Epoxy?

All epoxies are not created equal. Epoxy brands can vary widely in their formulations, quality of raw materials, and their suitability for marine environments. It’s easy to market an off-the-shelf industrial epoxy product as a marine epoxy, or formulate an epoxy with one or two favorable characteristics while sacrificing other important characteristics. It’s much more difficult to balance all of the physical and mechanical properties necessary for a versatile, high-quality marine epoxy. Defining an epoxy’s performance criteria, and designing a formula to meet those criteria requires good chemistry, rigorous test programs, skillful shop work, and direct experience with today’s high-performance boats and composite structures.

Epoxy Reliability & Performance

WEST SYSTEM Epoxy was created by Gougeon Brothers–sailors, builders and formulators who know the engineering and the chemistry required for high-performance composite structures. They are an employee-owned, family run organization that has maintained its performance-driven development of marine epoxies since the company was founded in 1969. They continually formulate, test and improve WEST SYSTEM Resins and Hardeners and develop specialty epoxies to produce the most reliable and well-balanced epoxy systems available.

There resin and hardener formulas, ingredients and combinations are tested to compare fatigue strength, compression strength, glass transition temperature, and peak exotherm. Qualified samples undergo additional tests for hardness, tensile strength, tensile elongation, tensile modulus, flexural strength, flexural modulus, heat deflection temperature, impact resistance and moisture exclusion effectiveness. This level of testing ensures that any change in a formula will improve one or more of a product’s characteristics without diminishing any other characteristics.

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