Fiberglass help

[boater76]

I was going to lay some more glass down on the inside of my glass hull. Do I put down expoxy or something before I lay the glass down then when that dries coat the top with epoxy then as well or what?

Ken

[sailr]

Yes, you are correct. I usually coat the area I'm glassing with epoxy. Then lay the fabric down and work it as well as you can into the resin you put down first. Next, saturate the fabric with epoxy. Be sure you do not leave any areas with bubbles or are not fully saturated.

[Cat-Boi]

if your hull is epoxy glass, use epoxy- preferably west system marine epoxy available at west marine (105 and 207 epoxy). if its polyester, then use polyester resin. remember to sand with 120 first, then wash out the dust, let dry for a day or two, then the hull is ready for additional lamination. use a ribbed roller also available at west marine to roll out the wetted cloth once in place so no bubbles will be left.

[BakedMopar]

Upon talking to Louis at Fiberglass Hawaii he said that its okay to use epoxy on polyester hulls. BUT once you go to epoxy stick with it. I was also told that epoxies stick better to polyester than some polyester resins sticks to cured polyester. Polyester resins are usually non-waxed based for laminating and wax based for finished coats. Laminating resin will stay tacky and surfacing will not. You can only sand the finishing resin, but due to the wax contant it's not sutable for laminating.

Well thats about how it was explained to me and it somewhat makes sense. I am NOT and expert so take it with a grain of salt if you will.

[Cat-Boi]

I would agree with that as well when it comes to polyester, west system is the best epoxy I have used with the longest life. I think the age of the polyester is a factor as well. new vs. long cure.

[Chilli]

I have applied glass as sailr has described above. Recently I tried applying a layer of resin to the working area and then immediately applying it to the cloth outside of the boat with a small sponge touch up roller, making sure the cloth was well saturated. then I transfered it to the boat. and used the roller to work out bubbles and excess resin to a nice finish. Using the second method, I had less problems with the edges of the FG cloth fraying and a nicer finish with less wasted resin. Mask the edge of the work area in the boat with masking tape 1/4 inch past the edge of the cloth. When your done rolling, peel the masking tape and you will have a nice clean edge. Make sure you use disposable gloves and mask the exterior of your boat well no matter what method you use.

[boater76]

Not sure if it is polyester resin or epoxy. I plan to get glass from hobbytown today and I have 60 minute professional loctite epoxy.

[boater76]

Not sure if it is polyester resin or epoxy. I plan to get glass from hobbytown today and I have 60 minute professional loctite epoxy. What kind of roller do I use? Get one from walmart?

[Jeff Wohlt]

You can also use waxed paper to lay it out and epxy then flip and lay in boat with paper up...leave to set then peel the wax paper off.

[FloatDaBoat]

I just finished using the last of a quart of 3:1 ratio medium cure epoxy resin that I purchased from US Composites (their house brand) in Florida THREE years ago, & it still performed flawlessly. It's cheaper than West System Epoxy too, if you've got to pinch pennies like I do. They also carry everything imaginable related to marine laminates at reasonable prices (including West System stuff).

[boater76]

Is there anyway to keep the fg from fraying after you cut it and before you put it into they boat? It is a pain in the you know what.

[Jeff Wohlt]

Spray the edge to be cut with 3m77 adhesive or go cheap like me and use hairspray! You can also slightly spray the cut piece and lay it in the boat to get it adjusted get it set right then add your epoxy.

Also, the best cutter is the round wheel cutter like for fabrics from Walmart.

[Gerwin Brommer]

When I last had to work at the Dutch Laboratory for Aviation- and Space Research,
I met someone I know from the days I was a little kid.
He showed me the "fibre-lab" and the fibre"warehouse" .
We talked about fibres/laminates, epoxie-injection, etc etc etc.
He told me a trick they also use :

http://images.google.nl/imgres?imgurl=http://www.sewthankful.com/media/SULKY/TotallyStableBLACK2036.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.sewthankful.com/SulkyTotallyStableBlack2036package.html&usg=__4I_jpogaizCPuAKsB39tMb7hPFo=&h=583&w=406&sz=87&hl=nl&start=3&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=5ecQUwpgp35ZqM:&tbnh=134&tbnw=93&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dtotally%2Bstable%26hl%3Dnl%26rlz%3D1T 4GPTB_nlNL304NL305%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1

Small strips ironed on the edges where you wanna cut.
I tried it yesterday, and it works fine.
Make sure you buy a light quality.

[CornelP]

I use quite happily the TESA or BISON spray adhesive (cheaper than 3M) for both edges and positioning. As for the cutter, a rotary OLFA is the best investment I've made this year... I even cut the 0.8mm plywood on contours with it...

[boater76]

I found some 20 min devcon epoxy on ebay. Most everyone around me carries the Loctite junk. I have bondo 3m fiberglass it has a larger weave than the hobbico brand stuff. Should I use a brand with a smaller weave or doesn't it matter.

[CornelP]

The smaller the weave, the less sanding you do later......