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Fiberglassing


ecgossett

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After glassing my hull, I noticed signicant issues with getting the class to lay with no wrinkles as I got closer to the bow. In fact some had to be cut off because of the wrinkles.

I'm getting ready to glass rudder & board and don't want similar problems.

Does anyone have tricks of the trade for getting the cloth to lay down uniformly on surfaces.. With the tape not to many problems except occasionally in this regard.

- Edward

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what kind of glass? E Glass is preferred for sheathing. S Glass is stronger by weight but doesn't like to take compound curves.

If you arrange the glass so the weave is on a bias it will go around tight curves with no wrinkles. Take a patch and wrap it around the stem with a fabric weave parallel to the stem, then turn the patch 45 degrees and try it - bias is easier. Oh yeah, and I do the sheathing layup dry, as in position the glass over bare wood. Tug a little, and smooth with a brush - NEVER smooth with bare fingertips unless you want raw, bleeding fingertips (fiberglass is an excellent skin abrasive). After it looks good, start with the epoxy working from the center out to the edges and ends.

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I like to start in the middle then work backwards toward the stern. Then I will proceed to the bow. I will take a bond spreader and rub out the glass dry first ahead of myself before wetting out. Then I will wet out the smoothed area. I proceed in that manner and you can glass the entire surface without having to turn the fiberglass on a 45 or cutting out any wrinkles. Just remember to tug and smooth out ahead of yourself with a dry spreader first. It works great. You can see more pictures and details in the photo gallery and on the boat building blog at www.ncboatbuilder.com

Jason

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The key for me has been to wet out the bottom and side at the same time. If you wet out the entire bottom before starting on the side, you will definitely have to cut slices in the cloth. In the middle picture above you can see where I started in the middle and worked backwards. Before working forward I smoothed and pulled out all the wrinkles with the spreader. Work slow, don't get in a rush, use a hardener which will give you plenty of time. It was warm in my shop late last summer when I glassed this boat. I used System Three Slow to give me a lot of working time. With the slow I can glass one side then the other, go back with a second coat of epoxy and even go back again with a coat mixed with micro spheres / balloons for fairing. All before the epoxy setup. Saves a lot of time and sanding this way. Working the glass with the spreader is similar to scraping a balloon string to give it a curl. The glass seems to conform to a new shape when you work it with a spreader while it is dry.

Jason

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