Peel ply vs sanding

[John Teetsel]

The "Wanted: Advice from experienced sanders." thread and some of the pithy posts it garnered, reminded me how much I dislike sanding so I decided to do something about it.

I'm going the peel ply route. Basically, peel ply is a light weight dacron or nylon fabric that is laid over the wetted out fiberglass. The resin is squeegeed a second time to wet out the peel ply and you have a beer while everything sets up. Before everything gets rock hard, the peel ply is removed and you're left with a smooth, amine blush free, practically ready to paint surface. Doesn't that sound wonderful?!!

I tried a test batch last night using some fabric from a fabric store. The results were satisfactory, but the cost wasn't. About $6 a running yard for some dacron. I shopped the net and found various products from $7.75 to $2.57. The good news is that the real stuff, authentic peel ply called "Econo Ply J", in a 60" width by 25 yard roll is available from the manufacturer for $45 + shipping. (Probably spend that much on sandpaper anyway. :wink: ) Works out to about $2 a running yard and should be plenty to do even a Vacationer.

Check it out at Airtech Online.

https://www.airtechonline.com/airtechstore/product.asp?dept%5Fid=5&pf%5Fid=0075

[Barry Pyeatt]

This falls into the catagory of:

1) It sounds too good to be true! 8)

2) Where has this been all my life? :shock:

3) Why didn't someone tell me about this sooner? :?

or

4) Naw...I'm lovin' this sanding stuff, it keeps me busy at night! :roll:

Where and how did you find out about this stuff?

[Mark Gudschinsky]

I love the sound of this stuff! Less sanding and less time!

that's what I was looking for from the experienced sanders thread.

My goal is to get to some major epoxy work done Fathers day weekend, (I get to work on the boat all of Fathers Day.)

If this product gets here in time I'll post the results!

Thanks for the lead John.

[capt jake]

I know one fellow who bought inexpensive dress lining as a substitue for peel ply. He said it worked great and cost a fraction of the real thing.

[Guest Anonymous]

I think this came to my attention in the West System users manual. They call it "release fabric". http://www.westsystem.com/webpages/userinfo/manual/index.htm

For some reason we boat builders don't use it much, but the airplane guys wouldn't think of NOT using it. They do a lot vacum bagging and it's required to get a smooth finish with that process.

Jake, it was Tom Lathrop who offered the dress lining idea over at WBF. He said he got it from a local mill end outlet so the price was good. That's what I experimented with but it was too expensive at the local fabric store. The cheapest I could find was more expensive than the real deal though it was lots less than some of the peel ply I found.

The only problem I foresee is delivery time. "Please allow 5-10 business days after the order is shipped for standard delivery. Stocked product is generally shipped from Airtech or a local Airtech distributor within 48 hours of placement." Ah well, patience is a virtue.

[Barry Pyeatt]

OK....OK! Now I've got it. That is the sheet material that the fabricators put on the surface before they close up the Vacuumn press. I just wasn't familiar with the term "Peel ply". Yes, it saved a lot of work on their parts when they pulled the parts out of the press and the molds.

__________

I may not be good, but I'm slow! :oops: :?

[capt jake]

Hey Barry, shoot me your e-mail addres, I have some questions regarding our visit at teh boat fair!

Thanks,

Jake