As a relatively new boat restorer, I have seem to have endless questions about everything and contradictory answers in many of the books, etc. that I have pored over.
I emailed the folks at West System yesterday morning with a question: "How hot is too hot to use 410 Fairing Filler?" I was disappointed not to have an answer in my inbox today when the phone rang.
Instead of emailing me an answer, they called to give me the answer and see what other questions I might have. Ha! Little did he know I would ask questions for 20 minutes, but I got 100% of my questions answered and have an explanation on the how's and why's of each.
In case you're in the same boat as me (excuse the pun), their toll-free support line is: 866-937-8797.
Bly
West System - Impressed with their support!
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CharlieJ
- Wood Whisperer
- Posts: 649
- Joined: Fri Aug 19, 2005 7:42 pm
- Location: South coast of Texas, Matagorda Bay
I've been a user of WEST epoxy since 1976. I've ALWAYS been impressed with the help I've gotten.
We once had a project in the shop to repair a life sized crucifix from a Convent. The AC system had gone bananas and the face on the cross was damaged- cracked.
We decided what course to take to repair it, then I called the Gougeons to verify and /or see if I should do anything differently. They kicked it around and called me back, telling me that my fix was what they'd do, so I did it.
I also know of a builder in the northwest who was having serious problems getting the epoxy to cure properly. Meade Gougeon got on a plane and flew out to diagnose the problem. That's when I found out that using a kerosene heater in a tight place wasn't a good idea from a curing point of view (much less from a breathing one). The heaters were generating enough air borne moisture it was drastically slowing the cure. But the point is that they couldn't diagnose on the phone so someone actually went on site.
Yeah- it's slightly more expensive than others, but not THAT much more, and after all this time I never have surprises from WEST. I have and do use other brands, including MAS and RAKA, both of which do well, but the WEST is my stand by.
We once had a project in the shop to repair a life sized crucifix from a Convent. The AC system had gone bananas and the face on the cross was damaged- cracked.
We decided what course to take to repair it, then I called the Gougeons to verify and /or see if I should do anything differently. They kicked it around and called me back, telling me that my fix was what they'd do, so I did it.
I also know of a builder in the northwest who was having serious problems getting the epoxy to cure properly. Meade Gougeon got on a plane and flew out to diagnose the problem. That's when I found out that using a kerosene heater in a tight place wasn't a good idea from a curing point of view (much less from a breathing one). The heaters were generating enough air borne moisture it was drastically slowing the cure. But the point is that they couldn't diagnose on the phone so someone actually went on site.
Yeah- it's slightly more expensive than others, but not THAT much more, and after all this time I never have surprises from WEST. I have and do use other brands, including MAS and RAKA, both of which do well, but the WEST is my stand by.