The Gougeon Brothers on Boat Construction - WEST SYSTEM Epoxy

WEST SYSTEM ®
Products
This chapter describes the WEST SYSTEM products that are used in the procedures described throughout
the book. It is substantially updated from previous editions and refers to the current (2005) product line.
<strong>The</strong> WEST SYSTEM product line has steadily evolved over the years. New products have been added to
provide greater versatility. Others have been removed or superseded by improved versions. For example,
we may now refer to 207 Hardener or 209 Hardener for some situations, whereas earlier editions refer to
205 or 206 Hardener, the only hardeners available at that time. <strong>Gougeon</strong> <strong>Brothers</strong> is continually researching,
testing, and improving our epoxy formulations. We are also evaluating and developing new or improved
supplemental products. <strong>The</strong>refore, we recommend that you refer to the WEST SYSTEM User Manual & Product Guide
before starting any project. You can request a free copy from West System Inc. or your local WEST SYSTEM
dealer, or visit westsystem.com.
In the 1960s, when we began building boats professionally,
we had a few ideas about what we wanted
from our materials. We needed practical, low-cost, and
versatile methods. We knew how to work with wood,
but as boat owners, we also knew about the problems
of maintaining wooden boats. We wanted to build fast,
lightweight boats that were tough and strong enough
to survive the high loads of hard racing. We had limited
time and money, so our materials and methods couldn’t
be fussy or expensive.
After some experimenting, we found what we were
looking for. Post-World War II technological advances
had led to the development of epoxide resins. We began
using epoxy and wood together, building composite
structures with methods that had been used to construct
wooden airplanes. Realizing that a boat’s ability to stand
up to a single impact was not as important as its longterm
resistance to the daily assaults of wind and water,
we modified epoxy formulations until we found the
best balance between flexibility and high strength. In a
few years, we had worked out a safe and effective way
to build boats. Our materials were inexpensive, and our
methods balanced the benefits of using wood against its
shortcomings. We polished our techniques to reduce
labor and, at the same time, to establish safe handling
procedures for the new epoxy system.
Because we worked with the epoxy every day, we
became concerned very early about the potential short
and long-term health hazards of the new materials. We
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were very cautious in choosing ingredients for our
product. Just as we aimed for a balance between flexibility
and high strength, we looked for and found a
formulation that was effective and low in toxicity.
We began to market WEST SYSTEM epoxy and associated
products in 1972. Since then, we’ve continued to
improve our methods and materials and we’ve learned
a great deal more about them. WEST SYSTEM epoxy
seemed strong. We learned, after intensive test programs,
that its physical properties, and particularly its ability
to withstand repeated loads, are extremely high. Our
hunch that our boatbuilding techniques could be
applied to volume production of high-quality airfoils
was confirmed. During the wind energy boom of the
1980s, <strong>Gougeon</strong> <strong>Brothers</strong>, Inc. was a leading manufacturer
of laminated wind turbine blades, proving that our
wood/epoxy composite was and still is a competitive,
modern material.
Product diversification has been our way to make sure
that we can continue to build and sail boats. If our lab
generates data for wind turbine blades, we look at
boatbuilding applications. If we make modifications in
formulations or techniques, we test to see where they can
be used in boats. WEST SYSTEM epoxy has been intensively
studied, particularly for cyclic fatigue resistance, in
several laboratories, and it has been proven in the field,
so to speak, on ocean-racing boats. Our most recently
designed boats reflect years of engineering and production
with epoxy, wood, and other composite materials.