Hi Dean & John;

Thanks much for the great info. It does seem like a wasted effort to apply a thin, clear epoxy of whatever mfr. only to cover it with varnish that casts an amber shadow over all of our painstaking wood selection and woodwork.

Dean, isocyanates scare me a bit, even though I know lots of people with negative pressure respirators work safely with them day in and day out. Truth be known, I really prefer stuff I can rub in with my fingers, but there's not much of that for kayak finishes . . . ;-) I might end up breaking some ground, at least for kayaks, by trying a polyester resin finish on my kayak. I suspect your 1 & 2 part polys are similar in final properties to PR.

The more I consider a polyester resin finish, the better it sounds. For $5 I can draw 2 quarts from a 55 gallon drum down at the surfboard mfr. It has been demonstrated to survive the brutal Florida sun for many years on their boards. It appears dead clear out to at least 1/4" buildups such as they use on their boards. And it DOES look good!

The combination of epoxy and polyester resins seems a match almost crafted in heaven. Epoxy is used because enough coats will be waterproof for our application, where PRs are somewhat porous. Epoxy also does not dry as hard, it remains leathery tough where PRs dry very hard and become somewhat brittle from a structural standpoint. Epoxy will not take a surface buff very well, because it is just not hard enough. PRs with wax in the final topcoat get very hard and polish like mirrors. What some surfboard mfrs do is to use epoxy as the laminating material for it's strength and waterproof character, and top it off with coats of polyester resin for its hard, easily polished surface. Varnish dries very hard also, but it is tougher to apply than PRs, which go on just like our epoxy fill coats. Top that off with the fact that the leading spar varnishes seem to have a pronounced amber color and the conclusion (at least to me)seems obvious.

Further benefits might include

1) Less wait time to application of finish - The board mfrs crank them out shortly after the epoxy cures.

2) Faster buildup - perhaps one coat for a varnish like finish after sanding and buffing, or 2-3 coats for a deep "show" clear coat at the expense of weight.

3) Faster drying time - More hardener means less bugs and dust.

Hey guys, I'm thinking out loud here, but I think my course is set. I'll report on the successes or failures as I get there. John, thanks again for the flag, it was a very valid one . . .

Best Regards, Spidey