Fiberglass Question
 

Hi
This is my first boat
My plans for the boat I'm building state to use 2 lengths of 60" wide
fiberglass for the outer hull and have the overlap across the keel for
extra strength.
The hull is 64" from gunwhale to keel to gunwhale. Do I lay both layers
down at once or do I lay one down at a time. If I lay one down at a
time what do I do about the 4" of hull that wont be covered from the
first layer

Thanks in advance


Peter

Fiberglass Question
 

Burly Pete wrote:
Hi
This is my first boat
My plans for the boat I'm building state to use 2 lengths of 60" wide
fiberglass for the outer hull and have the overlap across the keel for
extra strength.
The hull is 64" from gunwhale to keel to gunwhale. Do I lay both layers
down at once or do I lay one down at a time.

Hi-
You don't say what weight of cloth you will be using, and that will
make a difference. If you are using 6oz cloth you shouldn't have much
problem wetting out two layers at once if you are patient and using a
slow resin. Sometimes I have resorted to thinning my epoxy a few
percent (not much) to get faster wet-out.

It will help if you trim the selvage (edge) which is under the top
layer- messier to work with but it will leave less of a 'ridge'
showing.

What kind of boat are you building?
Cheers

John

Fiberglass Question
 

I'm building a Bear Mountain Rice Lake skiff 13' 9''
I'm using 6 oz fiberglass and West Epoxy 105/207. Being a newbie to
fiberglass I would prefer not to adjust my epoxy ratio for fear of
having a nightmare experience that I could post


Peter

Fiberglass Question
 

Burly Pete wrote:
I'm building a Bear Mountain Rice Lake skiff 13' 9''
I'm using 6 oz fiberglass and West Epoxy 105/207. Being a newbie to
fiberglass I would prefer not to adjust my epoxy ratio for fear of
having a nightmare experience that I could post

Peter:

Don't adjust your epoxy ratio for any reason. Diluting your epoxy after
it is mixed with a SMALL amount of solvent is OK- there was some
research by WEST that they published in Epoxyworks magazine in the
Fall, 1999.

See http://epoxyworks.com/indexprojects.html and look for 'thinning
epoxy' under the 'Epoxy Techniques' heading. You can also use heat to
thin epoxy, though that causes other problems (faster cure, bubbling,
etc).

It would be best to take some cloth scraps and do a few experiments- a
few dollars worth of epoxy in experiments is a good investment.

The techniques you will be using for your projects are the same as on a
strip canoe (I've built a number). I assume you have Ted Moores' (Bear
Mountain) book- it has most of what you need to know.

Cheers
John

Fiberglass Question
 

On that boat, I'd want to end up with a double layer of 6 oz. glass only
over the keel or at most across the bottom. To cover the entire boat with
that much glass is unnecessary weight. Also, it won't provide as clear a
finish.
Cut the two pieces of glass to shape ahead of time and position them on the
boat and get the wrinkles out. A little 3M spray adhesive is a big help
here.
Then, wet out the glass on the boat. Different folks have different
methods, but i like to pour a dollop of resin onto the boat and then
squeegee it around. The 6" yellow plastic bondo spreaders are good for
this. You'll only need a brush for dabbing a few remaining dry spots. I'd
mix resin maybe 8 oz. at a time.
Try to get the glass fully wet, but not filled, with as little resin as
possible. You'll fill it later. Too much resin will allow the glass to
float and reveal its wrinkles.

Don't thin the resin. That makes it weak and permeable. If the temp.
isn't over 80, you'll have plenty of time to do the whole thing in one go.



"Burly Pete" wrote in message
oups.com...

I'm building a Bear Mountain Rice Lake skiff 13' 9''
I'm using 6 oz fiberglass and West Epoxy 105/207. Being a newbie to
fiberglass I would prefer not to adjust my epoxy ratio for fear of
having a nightmare experience that I could post


Peter