fiberglassing ABS?

[Jesse J]

I got the MRP Fountain and it is ABS as described. I am wanting to reinforce the entire hull and would like to know what you do with this plastic to get the fiberglass to stick?

Thanks in advance

[JimClark]

my systemthree epoxy worked great

[bwells]

So I take it that resin won't stick? It seems like it would require a lot of epoxy being that it comes in tubes and not cans. If that is what it takes, okay.

[old guy]

use epoxy only do not use resin and ruff up the boat good with some 120 sand paper so it has something to bite to
Old Guy

[westbeach]

This topic has been covered many times. You need 3M spray glue to tack the f/g to the hull. Then some CA to seal the edges. Finally a layer of epoxy to harden the cloth itself. Randy @ BBY has a tutorial on how to do this on his website too. A little search goes a long way.

[Jesse J]

I just checked Randy's site... didn't see the tutorial?

[CornelP]

... it is actually a link to RRR

http://www.rumrunnerracing.com/feforums/showthread.php?t=22508

[Jesse J]

Yep I read that one when he was workin on it, thanks for providing the link though, its been a while! Reason I put this up "again" is cause the ABS is old and not as tough as fresh ABS. I don't want to ruin the plastic with procedures developed for new styrene.

In this case, where epoxy may not bond as well as it would with other materials, I think the 3M spray is the ticket - it won't partially melt the plastic like CA does will it?

[CornelP]

As far as I know, the 3M is perfectly safe on plastics. It is also safe on foam, so should be on ABS.

[Jesse J]

thanks for the info guys. I will be lining all the lift strakes with styrene triangle mold before the fg process, hoping to add impact strength to the angles exposed on the exterior.

[sailr]

Epoxy comes in cans too! Lots of sources for it. Epoxy can be purchased from West Marine.

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs...tial/0/0?N=377 710&Ne=0&Ntt=epoxy&Ntk=Primary Search&Ntx=mode matchallpartial&Nao=0&Ns=0&keyword=epoxy&isLTokenU RL=true&storeNum=95&subdeptNum=674&classNum=674#

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs...ial/10/0?N=377 710&Ne=0&Ntt=epoxy&Ntk=Primary Search&Ntx=mode matchallpartial&Nao=10&Ns=0&keyword=epoxy&isLToken URL=true&storeNum=95&subdeptNum=674&classNum=674

[Jesse J]

Exactly, I found a local distributor and will be picking me up a quart of resin and 1/5 quart hardener - he also talked me into the pumps that measure exact quantities saying that it is critical that they be EXACTLY 5:1.

As for the glass, he was saying 5oz, does this sound good? It is a pretty floppy hull right now and I am not really worried about the weight, would rather better stiffness than it being a little lighter. I may even end up having to add balast...

this is going to be scale right down to the speeds! Not looking for much more than mid-upper 20s.

[sailr]

5oz. FG is pretty heavy! Does he have anything lighter?

[CornelP]

For the mixing, just get a cheapo digital scale. I got a 500g jeweler one, with 0.1g resolution, good enough for resin.

[boater76]

Check this out. Im going to do this to my BBY Warzone Jr.

http://www.rumrunnerracing.com/feforums/showthread.php?t=22508