I have finished assembling my S&G Pygmy hull (Arctic Tern). I have now
to fiberglass it.
I have read the manual and also a lots articles and personal building
pages on the web, and I am still confused, fearing the fiberglassing
step.
Some call for painting epoxy prior to fiberglassing, some not.
Some use squeegee and bristle brush and others say rollers are the
best.
So, before doing it I'd like to have a final piece of advice from you
readers, the pros and cons of different fiberglassing approach and
tools.

Whatever technique you use, I think you should get some scrap wood
(like doorskins) and practice fiberglassing before tackling the boat.
Make several test panels (maybe 2 feet square), number them and try
different methods, keeping notes of how you did each one, how long you
waited between steps, ambient temperature, etc. This will provide good
practice and real experimental data on what actually works best for you
under your shop conditions.

Do not paint before glassing. Wash the hull down with water and a
Scotchbrite pad to get any amine blush off. Add a little household ammonia
to cut the wax if you want. Rinse thoroughly and let it dry. Wipe it down
one last time just before starting to glass.

If covering with woven cloth, I prefer to lay it on dry. Makes it easier to
fit corners. Start in the late afternoon as the temperature is dropping so
that air in the pores will not expand and cause bubbles. Pour a little
resin near the center and work outwards towards the edges with a squeegee (a
body putty spreader works fine). Heavier cloth may take a second fill coat
with a spreader to fill the weave after the first coat has started to
stiffen up. After weave is filled or if it is a light weight cloth apply
lay on a smoothing coat with a 1/8" foam roller and tip it off by very
lightly going over it with the tip of a dry brush to get any roller stipple
to lay down.

If you are finishing bright, give it a light sanding with 240 grit and apply
some UV resistant synthetic varnish. Otherwise follow the instructions for
the paint system you are using. I used US Paint High build primer and
Brightsides on the dinghy and it came out darned near perfect. Been outside
down at the pond for 3 years now and still looks like new.
--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

"Pagaie" wrote in message
om...
I have finished assembling my S&G Pygmy hull (Arctic Tern). I have now
to fiberglass it.
I have read the manual and also a lots articles and personal building
pages on the web, and I am still confused, fearing the fiberglassing
step.
Some call for painting epoxy prior to fiberglassing, some not.
Some use squeegee and bristle brush and others say rollers are the
best.
So, before doing it I'd like to have a final piece of advice from you
readers, the pros and cons of different fiberglassing approach and
tools.

Pagaie wrote:
I have finished assembling my S&G Pygmy hull (Arctic Tern). I have now
to fiberglass it.
I have read the manual and also a lots articles and personal building
pages on the web, and I am still confused, fearing the fiberglassing
step.
Some call for painting epoxy prior to fiberglassing, some not.
Some use squeegee and bristle brush and others say rollers are the
best.
So, before doing it I'd like to have a final piece of advice from you
readers, the pros and cons of different fiberglassing approach and
tools.

I can offer some pointers and non-pointers, having just finished up an
Arctic Tern (and starting on the 14' one for my son).

The long and short is I followed their directions. I used the roller to
apply epoxy, scraped and sanded it smooth with a paint scraper, then
draped the glass over the hull. Start in the middle, roll the epoxy on,
use squeegie to remove excess. Work your way fore and aft. Number #1 son
was the squeegie man while I rolled and mixed.

Here's my biggest glass mistakes.

I did not completely fill weave on follow-on coats, so you can feel the
glass weave a little when running hand over it.

I was in a hurry to get boat done prior to trip south in December, and
did the top of the hull in a cold garage, with the epoxy coating of the
topside not slippery smooth. Glass did not lay perfectly, as you roll
theglass it forced it to bunch a little in spots (vice sliding smoothly
when I did the bottom in the summer), and of course the epoxy was cold,
thick molasses. Top now looks like appalachians from a high airplane.
Structurally fine.

If I did it, anyone can. Boat is suh-weet! (Launched it this past weekend).

I assume you are using 6 oz or lighter cloth. If that is the case, there is no need to wet out the surface first, it will saturate quite easily. For the lighter glass like 6 oz I find it easier to lay the glass over a dry hull (fill all holes you may have with thickened epoxy first) and pour epoxy over it it and work it with a squegee. Go to http://www.boatbuilder.org/mudpeepsh...ndglassing.htm and I did a piece on a skiff I made, you may find something useful in it. Good luck
---Joel---

Pagaie wrote:
... I'd like to have a final piece of advice from you
readers, the pros and cons of different fiberglassing approach and
tools.

I've done four hulls, all starting with glass over dry wood. The only
problem I've had was when I tried to wet out two layers of satin cloth,
cut on a bias and laid in different directions. I don't recommend
that, although I think my biggest problem was that it takes longer and
after 20 minutes of rolling the roller got sticky and I didn't switch
to a fresh roller. If you over squeegee, you can get foam in the
glass, so try to not over do it. I only use a brush for inside corners
where nothing else will reach.

Al

Glenn Ashmore wrote:
Do not paint before glassing.

I think he was referring to doing a sealer coat of epoxy on the plywood
prior to glassing. Your instructions indicate that you're assuming that
he has done a sealer coat. I wouldn't want him to wash bare plywood with
water and amonia. ;-)

"Brian Nystrom" wrote in message
...
Glenn Ashmore wrote:
Do not paint before glassing.

I think he was referring to doing a sealer coat of epoxy on the plywood
prior to glassing. Your instructions indicate that you're assuming that he
has done a sealer coat. I wouldn't want him to wash bare plywood with
water and amonia. ;-)

Good point. :-) To me paint is paint and epoxy is epoxy. (But that does
not include "epoxy" paints.)

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

It is also very important to make sure the room you work in does not
get warmer after applying resin. This causes it to bubble. Also you
need to work at recommended temperatures. Usually between 60 and 90
degrees. Temperature regulates how thick your resin is as you apply
it. Too, cold, too thick and hard to work, too warm, it sets up fast
and you don't get much done before you need to refill. I like to stay
between 60 and 70 degrees F.

Don't try to push too hard when squeezing resin around, just try to
get excess. Don't try to go too fast, work the area for a little bit
to be sure and let the glass soak up all the resin it can.

Also it is easier to apply all glass cloth at once, but not critical.
Otherwise you will end up with more sanding, and bad edges because the
edge of the dried cloth you go over may stick up and make a rough edge
and more work later on cleaning up.

I know this sounds scary, but you will be amazed out how easy it is.
The only thing you can do wrong is not mix your resin correctly which
will make a never drying sticky mess you will have to clean up.
Everything else you do wrong can be fixed later.


On 13 Apr 2005 08:54:06 -0700, (Pagaie) wrote:

I have finished assembling my S&G Pygmy hull (Arctic Tern). I have now
to fiberglass it.
I have read the manual and also a lots articles and personal building
pages on the web, and I am still confused, fearing the fiberglassing
step.
Some call for painting epoxy prior to fiberglassing, some not.
Some use squeegee and bristle brush and others say rollers are the
best.
So, before doing it I'd like to have a final piece of advice from you
readers, the pros and cons of different fiberglassing approach and
tools.

Lessons I've learned:

Don't let your resin cure in direct sunlight. You'll get lots and lots
of bubbles. Warmer temperatures increase cure times and are even
required on some resins. I speculated my issues have something to do
with the suns rays getting magnified and causing the top surface skin of
the epoxy to cure faster than the lower and air bubles not being able to
work their way out of the resin naturally.

Maybe it's written somewhere that I read and just forgot. I've read the
data about the wood temp contributing to bubbles and the best time of
day to work with resin. I personally never had any issue withs bubbles
at any temp as long as it was not in direct sunlight when layed up.

But placing it in direct sunlight within the first hour or two of cure
has given me bad results enough times I won't do it anymore.

I want to try curing in sunlight through a clear platic tarp to see if
that has any influence but have not opportunity. It's been warm in my
neck of the woods so I'll put the hull outside but in the shade until
it's no longer real tacky. Cures faster than my workroom and very few
bubbles. Then when it's just a little tacky (the epoxy surface is no
longer runny and will not deform with a soft touch), I'll move it to the
sun to speed up the rest of the cure.

--
Matt Langenfeld
JEM Watercraft
http://www.jemwatercraft.com/

wrote:

It is also very important to make sure the room you work in does not
get warmer after applying resin. This causes it to bubble. Also you
need to work at recommended temperatures. Usually between 60 and 90
degrees. Temperature regulates how thick your resin is as you apply
it. Too, cold, too thick and hard to work, too warm, it sets up fast
and you don't get much done before you need to refill. I like to stay
between 60 and 70 degrees F.

Don't try to push too hard when squeezing resin around, just try to
get excess. Don't try to go too fast, work the area for a little bit
to be sure and let the glass soak up all the resin it can.

Also it is easier to apply all glass cloth at once, but not critical.
Otherwise you will end up with more sanding, and bad edges because the
edge of the dried cloth you go over may stick up and make a rough edge
and more work later on cleaning up.

I know this sounds scary, but you will be amazed out how easy it is.
The only thing you can do wrong is not mix your resin correctly which
will make a never drying sticky mess you will have to clean up.
Everything else you do wrong can be fixed later.


On 13 Apr 2005 08:54:06 -0700, (Pagaie) wrote:


I have finished assembling my S&G Pygmy hull (Arctic Tern). I have now
to fiberglass it.
I have read the manual and also a lots articles and personal building
pages on the web, and I am still confused, fearing the fiberglassing
step.
Some call for painting epoxy prior to fiberglassing, some not.
Some use squeegee and bristle brush and others say rollers are the
best.
So, before doing it I'd like to have a final piece of advice from you
readers, the pros and cons of different fiberglassing approach and
tools.