Peter B wrote:
What's CPES, for the uninitiated - clearly a US product. Is it something like what we call Everdure, which is a 2 pack, deep penetrating, epoxy type, antifungal and wood preserver...?
CPES is Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer (or Sealant).* It is a two-part epoxy mixed 1:1 and had the consistency of diesel fuel.* It penetrates deeper into the wood than any other epoxy on the market.* It is manufactured by Smith & Company.* It can be purchased directly from them or from re-sellers like Jamestown Distribuors or Rot Doctor in Seattle, which is where we get ours.
http://www.rotdoctor.com/products/cpes.html
It is a "miracle" material for anyone with a wood boat or a boat that has wood on or in it.* Needless to say it is a favorite for the GB owners crowd, particularly the members with woodies.* We use it primarily under brightwork (now), as a sealant for window frames we are refinishing,* to prep interior surfaces like bulkheads and whatnot before painting, and so on.
The way it works is that it is so thin it penetrates down into the wood cells from the surface and then cures, thus sealing the cells pretty much forever against moisture intrusion.* Like most epoxies it is not UV resistant so it MUST be covered by something that is--- a finish like varnish, Bristol, etc. if you want a bright finish on wood, or paint. We have used it in one instance with no finish over it-- our teak shower grate--- but the grate lives in darkness most of the time and in the ten years or so since we reworked the grate there has been no deterioration of the CPES "finish."* But this it a clear exception to the rule.
*CPES is intended only for bare wood.* It accomplishes nothing if put on over an existing finish.
it is also NOT an adhesive epoxy.* In other words, you don't want to be using it to glue things together.* It's not made for that--- it's made to be very thin and very penetrating.
I recall that Carl (Delfin) some years ago when the topic of CPES came up, said that you can make a similar product using off-the-shelf ingredients.* I don't recall what his formula was, but a search of the archives might come up with it.* Or perhaps he'll see this and repeat his forumula.
In any event, if CPES is unavailable in your area-- or if it is but you don't want to pay the price, it's not the cheapest stuff on the planet--- it might be that Carl's formula will get you to the same result.* I don't know if Carl's formula gives you every single property of the commercial CPES but if memory serves he said it is a very acceptable substitute and I believe he's used it himself with excellent results.
Here is one example of the effectiveness of CPES.* A number of years ago the friend who bought the surplus LCM pictured below for his new barge service in the San Juans built a pilothouse on top of the existing lower house.* He made it out of plywood and it was intended to be cheap and purely functional to provide an elevated vew over the loading ramp when approaching island shorelines to unload building materials, cement trucks, construction equipment, etc.* Aesthetics were not a consideration.
We had recently learned about CPES and I told Gary about it.* He went out and bought enough to apply several coats of it to his new plywood pilothouse before he primed and painted it.* The boat sits outside in the weather year round.* He owned and used the LCM for a good seven or eight years or more (if memory serves, Carey can correct me if I'm wrong) and just recently sold it.* While he and his wife may have repainted the pilothouse during that time, so far as I know the structure itself is as strong and watertight as it was when he first built it.
-- Edited by Marin on Monday 23rd of January 2012 02:49:43 PM
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