Nitetimes....West System has a variety of catalysts for the epoxy system...#206 is used for structural uses...can be thickened with colloidal silica, microballoons for gluing joints....also have thickeners that make it like bondo, will fair and work easily, but not a lot of structural strength...but for top coating, use #207....It has a slight amber cast and a built in UV inhibitor...All top coat epoxies need to be protected with something...whether it is Varnish as Dave mentioned, or clear coat...my preference...I think the advantage to the clear is it is tougher than the varnish and doesn't need the annual maintenance like on a boat....but I think the annual thing is only if you are exposed to the sun a lot...my boats are garage queens or under a cover most of the time...check out
www.westsystem.com ... epoxies provide lots of working time and are very forgiving as compared to the older polyester systems...there are a lot of epoxy resins out there...I don't know what HD or Lowes has...I only count on the stuff that I build boats with...it ain't cheap....but it is developed as a system and the results are very repeatable time after time....I know this though....I can pressure wash my tear or boats, and paste wax it or hit it with a commercial polisher just like a car, no wax buildup in the grain, or hazy finish....Yeah....I've got some problems, dust etc......I'm just a yahoo building in a garage, and I do what I can...but I think it is a pretty respectable finish...most of my problems on the tear come from trying to get things done prior to Minden, in a hurry, cutting corners that I shouldn't have cut, my boats aren't like that....next tear will be better......Whatever you decide...I'm sure it'll turn out great.!!!....Just my opinion and experience....Doug