Steve Smith

It works just great for that use, as it glues the loose surface fibers down and into the bulk of the wood. You can see a lot of pictures of impregnation into sound and lightly rotted wood at www.woodrestoration.com. Incidentally, Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer and its acronym CPES, are both copyrights/trademarks of mine, representing *my* product. Please use caution in judging similar-named products by what-I-say about MY product, for I see nowadays a number of such that call themselves some kind of "penetrating" product, and even my trademark CPES is becoming to be used in a generic way. Please do not use my names to refer to other competing or similar products. I can tell you what mine does and does not do. and how to best use MY product, and maybe clarify some information about some others. As an adhesion-promoting primer for latex paint, a couple days should be allowed for the solvents to evaporate back out of the wood to avoid occasional solvent-vapor-blistering of the latex topcoat; that applies to any solvent-borne undercoat.

From Jim Katen: I'm very familiar with CPES having personally used gallons of it in the past. I don't know who the Rot Doctor is, though. I used to get mine from Steve Smith, the man who invented it in the early '70s. I met him once and he took me on a tour of his research/manufacturing facility. The man is a tad strange, but he's a chemistry genius. Again: I don't know where he is now, but he used to be in Richmond, CA near where I used to live. I was looking for a way to repair my redwood gutters at the time. Everyone I talked to told me to go visit Steve Smith. He had a big warehouse on Channel Ave where he, literally, stirred up his concoctions in big vats. He showed me around and explained his inventions with the enthusiasm of a small child. He had CPES, an epoxy filler material, several varnish replacements, several urethanes and a really cool rubber compound. He was like the Willy Wonka of the coatings world. Hi, there! I'm Steve Smith, still alive-and-well at Smith & Company in Richmond Ca. I package CPES for the Rot Doctor under license, as well as sell it factory-direct (just to clarify). You can find my CPES and Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer (both ©) on the Internet; this is not an advertisement. Rather, the above thread was brought to my attention by my new UK distributor; I did not know this forum existed, and I'd like to clarify and fill in some pieces. I admire everything said about me and about what folks are doing with the technology of wood restoration. I admit to being a tad strange, although I always thought of myself as more than a tad so. The the Willy Wonka of the coatings world, yes, I suppose so; I accept. Drop by if you are in the Factory neighborhood; directions are on the website. Best regards Steve Smith ps Now that I have joined, if anyone has a technical question about the technology of wood restoration (which I modestly lay claim to inventing in 1972 and establishing the Science thereof circa 1985) questions may be asked and I will do my best to answer them. To repeat, I am not here to advertise; I am here to offer technical support in this field.