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(Parallax) wrote in message . com...

Did some filling with epoxy and installed the upper transom gusset.
Am now ready to paint the interior tonight. Any thoughts on
reinforcing joints with fibreglas tape?

Reinforcing with woven tape is a good idea. Fillet the angle first with
epoxy filler; this avoids trying to force the tape into a sharp angle which
it won't accept anyway. Work all the air out from under the tape; various
rollers are available for this.

As for epoxy, I once ground out all the blisters, refilled them and
faired and epoxy coated and then painted a badly blistered 23' boat.
It was the most complicated thing I have ever done, more complicated
than any of the physics courses I took. Epoxy is nice to work with,
much better than the smelly regular fibreglas resin. My skin seems to
have no problem with epoxy. My epoxy resin is 10 yrs old and left
over from that project.

Well, if your epoxy is still working, go for it! DIY osmosis treatment is
an impressive first project, respect due for trying it. What with that and
your current project it seems you are really a closet boatbuilder, best carry
on! BTW, regarding your woodworking skills; practice really does make perfect,
and don't disregard the old fashioned hand operated plane. A low angle block
plane with a sharp iron is still the most used tool in the boat joiners tool-
kit. Check out books and articles on 'spiling' (spileing?), if you haven't
already, for tips on how to get those awkward angles and curves onto the
workpiece.

The point about epoxy sensitization is that the effects of exposure seem to
be cumulative. So, no problem for years, then... After the problem has started
there appears to be no going back; I've heard of a yard owner (maybe on this
group) who has to vacate his shop altogether when eoxy is being used. Strangely
polyester with all it's known toxic and carcinogenic constituents and additives
has little effect. Imagine the concentrations inside a chain locker, for
instance. Yet workers spend hours inside such places glassing up, flowcoating
etc.

An interesting product would be fibreglas tape, say 4" wide in a bag
pre-impregnated with resin that would catalyze on exposure to water.
It could be used by home boat builders or by boaters in an emergency.

David

Pre-preg is a whole other subject, which I know nothing about!

HTH,
Adrian.