Carbon fiber layups - who does a second coat of epoxy?

[iridebikes247]

Figured I would post pictures of a few boats that used keith's cloth and 105/207 epoxy using the steps I outlined before. After a season of use the complete boat still looks great, the west systems is some hard stuff.


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Yeah thats it. Took me awhile to understand this but I learned real quick when I started making my own 6mm motor mounts. First set I never used a vacuum bag setup instead just relied on a few not so good clamps. They looked perfect, as most carbon usually does if most of the air is squeezed out before curing. After making the mount the 3mm screws would compress the 6mm plate just a little bit which kinda sucks. I didn't squeeze out enough epoxy in the 6mm plate making it feel very strong but it just wasn't the same as Dragon Plate's stuff, which is why I no longer make plate for high power/high stress applications.

Doing an inlay, you can get good pretty quick its not that hard. To properly make carbon fiber plate at this point in time I leave it to the pros and only buy cf from certain companies. If you're looking to get raw cf fabric I would talk to Keith Bradley, I've been using his cf for a few years and its the best to work with imo.

[kfxguy]

Op, I spray glue my cloth down on how ever many layers I'm putting down. Then I pour a generous am out of epoxy. Spread with a brush. Blot it. Use a bond spreader to make sure it's deep into the cloth. Then I soak up the excess with a high density foam roller. I find its a pain in the ass to try and wait on the resin to tack then put the cloth down. Once you put fresh resin on that it comes unstuck in places. From what I've read, the epoxy dissolves the spray glue anyway. Everyone has their own method that works. Do whatever works for you. I think I did a little writeup a while back on my method.

[Chrisg81983]

I have found the best way to do these darn inlays is basically how mike/I ride girls bikes described in his above post. Here are some that I gave done in the past.


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Op, I spray glue my cloth down on how ever many layers I'm putting down. Then I pour a generous am out of epoxy. Spread with a brush. Blot it. Use a bond spreader to make sure it's deep into the cloth. Then I soak up the excess with a high density foam roller. I find its a pain in the ass to try and wait on the resin to tack then put the cloth down. Once you put fresh resin on that it comes unstuck in places. From what I've read, the epoxy dissolves the spray glue anyway. Everyone has their own method that works. Do whatever works for you. I think I did a little writeup a while back on my method.

I used to do my inlays this way when I first started way back. The only problem is if the inside of hull ever gets wet it actually can make the spray adhesive that is still stuck in fibers blead through leaving a cloudy white film on surface. Once this is there its a pain to get off. Epoxy will dilute the spray adhesive but not dissolve it entirely.

[iridebikes247]

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^This kid is a prophet, doesn't help that I have an account on pinkbike.com though lol. The spray adhesive method is awesome and the epoxy does break down the adhesive, if you choose to use it apply as little as necessary. I too have had the problem with the spray adhesive on hatches and noticing the discoloration on an otherwise perfect layup.

If you can, experiment a little bit on either an old hull or something if you have the time and enough material.

[Chrisg81983]

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^This kid is a prophet, doesn't help that I have an account on pinkbike.com though lol

Ahaha looks just like u

[Rocstar]

I used to do my inlays this way when I first started way back. The only problem is if the inside of hull ever gets wet it actually can make the spray adhesive that is still stuck in fibers blead through leaving a cloudy white film on surface. Once this is there its a pain to get off. Epoxy will dilute the spray adhesive but not dissolve it entirely.

+1 I've tried the spray adhesive before with the same results. Bottom line, it's just not needed. I'd post pics of the ones I've done too, but they just look like Chris's....well almost as good.

[Chrisg81983]

+1 I've tried the spray adhesive before with the same results. Bottom line, it's just not needed. I'd post pics of the ones I've done too, but they just look like Chris's....well almost as good.

glad we are on the same page.....lol...

[lt130th]

This was my first hull inlay:

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[kfxguy]

Nice job!

[iridebikes247]

that looks awesome, very nice work.

[lt130th]

Thank you, gentlemen. That was a Pro Boat Miss Geico 29. You guys probably already know the work involved in getting all that old wood and glue out. Compared to that, the inlay was cake, haha.

[Chrisg81983]

Thank you, gentlemen. That was a Pro Boat Miss Geico 29. You guys probably already know the work involved in getting all that old wood and glue out. Compared to that, the inlay was cake, haha.

Lol I feel your pain.......I did one for my friend Eric and like you said it's more work prepping the darn hull.....