Need help from any of the GlassMasters

[Diegoboy]

Ok, I was glassing the outside of a wooden boat hull, I used light FG cloth and all purpose FG resin.


It spread well and much to my surprise, it wicked into all the cloth fibers well. The problem is that I believe I didn't use enough of the hardner as after 1.5 hours, it's not hardening nor is it even getting warm.

The questions are:
Will it eventually harden?
If not, what can I do?
Do I need to act now before the problem is compounded, or should I wait before doing any of your recommended solutions?

I thought about spreading just hardner on the entire hull, or Do a second coat with the proper amount of hardner.

Please advise!!

[iamandrew]

Hi
How did you know you didnt mix in the right amount of hardener?
ive had some bad expereinces in not mixing up the right ratios, and ended up using Suringes to get the ratios right, since then all good :)

How big is it? can you remove it? is this all purpse resin expoxy ? or polyester? Id probably assume its polyester resin.
maybe acetone the whole thing off the boat!

[Boaterguy]

i had resin like that, even when using extra hardener.
hang it up or put it in the sun (none up here these days) for a day or two it should stiffen up

[rcboatmanwithkids2880]

Had same problem 18 months ago with a hull that i ddin't end up building , just put it out in the sun light for about a week or two as i did at the time . You may also want to add a bit of hardener to most moist sections of hull with a small hobby paintbrush , No big drama , i feel .....

Brad
Oz

[hazegry]

hes all good now he brought it to my house and I got it off and cleaned up his hull. I dont think it was sticking to the hull well and if he had left it he would have had issues

[Diegoboy]

It's polyester resin. I know the ratio wasn't right because I just guessed and it's still the same consistancy and temp from when I started to 4 hours later. I sent a text to Hazegry who pulled off all the cloth and cleaned up all the resin with acetone. It's back to square one.
Thanks for all the input, as it was almost too late for this hull.

[LuckyDuc]

That was nice of you Hazegry. Diegoboy, I have learned to test the resin on a sample prior to spreading it on the entire hull. I learned the hard way too.

[LarrysDrifter]

If you get the ratio off again, heat the resin can with the cap loose for ventilation with a small room heater or something similar. When the resin is warm (little extra runny), mix up a "hot" batch and apply a coat over what is already there. This will set off the previously applied resin/hardener mix. It also doesnt hurt to heat up the hull prior to glassing too. The heating is of course done when its below 60 degrees. I learned alot about fiberglassing with poly resin from building gas stations where we have to glass sumps and extensions onto in ground fuel storage tanks. People say you should lay matting with epoxy resin, but poly works great too. Ive never had any failure with poly when it comes to FE. Ask Skullcracken and Tunnlevision how strong amd durable thier hulls are. Not bragging by any means, just giving examples.

[Diegoboy]

That's a lot of very good info, I'm glad the hull survived this ordeal, but it still needs to be glassed. I will keep these tips in mind for round 2.
Thank you guys!!

[Varmint]

Best to make sure if you are working in the artic regions as I am now (under 50 or so) that you add a little extra hardener. Up to about 3% will work, too much and it turns to gum and never really sets up right. Normal is about 1.5-2% by volume. Is this a single coat? If it is use a finishing resin or get some surface curing agent. It is parafin wax in styrene. Moisture prevents polyester from curing on the surface which aids in further applications of resin, no need to scuff sand. If you are doing multiple laminations use a surfacing resin for the last layer.

[properchopper]

Ok, I was glassing the outside of a wooden boat hull, I used light FG cloth and all purpose FG resin.


It spread well and much to my surprise, it wicked into all the cloth fibers well. The problem is that I believe I didn't use enough of the hardner as after 1.5 hours, it's not hardening nor is it even getting warm.

The questions are:
Will it eventually harden?
If not, what can I do?
Do I need to act now before the problem is compounded, or should I wait before doing any of your recommended solutions?

I thought about spreading just hardner on the entire hull, or Do a second coat with the proper amount of hardner.

Please advise!!

Mix two crushed up Viagra pills into the resin. Hardens as expected (sorry, couldn't resist )

[properchopper]

Turns out I just ran into a similar situation - I slightly over mixed some West G-Flex and it did cure at the bond points but the surface was slightly sticky/gummy. At Varmint's advice I looked up this stuff :

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&storeId=11151&partNumber=593774&langId=-1

A little pricey, so I just wiped down the surface with my favorite solvent, lighter fluid, and it nicely removed the very minor but annoying sticky feeling. I'm reinforcing the bond points with fiberglass cloth anyway so I'm confident the strength will be fine.