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West Systems Hardner

It depends on what your going to do with it. The slow hardener is clear, the rapid hardener is brown. If your going to use it straight out of the can it's fairly obvious which one to use for your purposes. If your going to color it then I use the clear for light transparent colors. If I'm going to color it dark to fill cracks then I choose the rapid. Even the rapid hardener is not rapid like 5 minute epoxy. It takes a while to harden but it much faster than the 24 hours it takes the slow hardener. I often use 1 minute of 5 minute epoxy to fill cracks and voids. I will use the West system when I need larger quantities and cure time is not a problem.
 
I use West System 207 Special Clear Hardener because the 105 Resin and the 207 Special Clear Hardener cure clear and colorless. Doesn't distort the color of the wood. Also, more reliable color control when adding colorant to the mixture. Never had a problem with working time. - John
 
If you are filling voids in bowls, look at the G/flex 650 West System product. I just got finished with some maple burl pieces, using this to fill voids and it worked very well. The WS techs recommended it as it allows from flex/movement in the wood without cracks or gaps. It comes as two-part system in different sized kits, and takes tinting very well with all kinds of different tint media.
 
Grant Wilkinson said:
If you are filling voids in bowls, look at the G/flex 650 West System product. I just got finished with some maple burl pieces, using this to fill voids and it worked very well. The WS techs recommended it as it allows from flex/movement in the wood without cracks or gaps. It comes as two-part system in different sized kits, and takes tinting very well with all kinds of different tint media.
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Interesting-- Are you also familiar with the West 105/ 207 mentioned above? I would be curious to know the differences if you are aware of them.
 
I use both hardeners. The 207 is clear but very slow drying, overnight at the least. The rapid hardener is brown in color so it works well when the joint is either unseen or I'm coloring it with dark colors. I think rapid is a miss nomer because it's not rapid in terms of 5, 10 or even 15 minute hardening. It takes several hours to cure to the point that you can cut, sand and polish it. Both work very well for me within those limits. I always keep some 5 minute clear epoxy handy for chores that I need to rush. I use mostly JB weld because that's easy to buy around here.
 
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