ready to glass!

[markfitz]

OK, I'm almost ready to glass. I spent about an hour on the site trying to find a definitive list of what I need to buy to glass a weekender, and it seems that little list doesn't exist, or at least I couldn't find it. I know that I want to go the epoxy route, but that's about all I know. I know RAKA was recommended, but when I look at their site, all I get is confused. Can anyone tell me what to buy, and how much of it? Thanks!!

[Frank Hagan]

For my Weekender I used "about" 20 yards of 5.5 oz fiberglass cloth 38" wide and "about" 4 gallons of epoxy.

Fiberglass Cloth:

I found a good deal on the fiberglass cloth at Hamilton Marine way back in 1999 ... less than $3.00 per yard, IIRC. I actually bought twice as much as I needed since it was so cheap. I see that their current price is $3.93 a yard (see http://www.hamiltonmarine.com/CatIndex3.html and use the index at the left to go to the Fiberglass Cloth and Mat page).

Larry at RAKA will have something in the 5 - 6 ounce range that will work. On his site, I see he's got "plain weave" 6 ounce cloth in 38" width at $4.40 a yard at his site: http://www.raka.com/FiberglassCloth.html. You'd save about $10 by ordering from Hamilton Marine, but that might not be worth dealing with two vendors.

Epoxy:

RAKA's 3 gallon kit on his page at http://www.raka.com/EpoxyPricing.html is $129.00; that's a pretty good deal. He does give you a full three gallons ... 2 gallons of resin and 1/2 gallon each of the slow and fast hardener. Its a good way to buy it, as you can use the fast hardener when its cooler, and the slow hardener when its warmer. Ask about adding another gallon of resin and half gallon of hardener for a 4 gallon "kit". They should give you a pretty good price on it. (All the options are confusing, but I used the standard 127 Resin and 610 and 606 Hardener that come in his kits).

Accessories:

I recommend getting the following accessories from RAKA:

"Handy Epoxy Dispensing Pumps" ... get the three pack for $10

"Mixing Pots ... 16 oz" ... get 10 of these for .50 each

"Foam Roller Covers ... 9 inch" ... get a few of these, but they are pricey at $2.00 each. I ended up using the ones at West Marine, and I think I paid this price anyway. Don't try to use the 1/4" foam rollers you get in Lowes or Home Depot ... they soak up too much epoxy and create too many bubbles during use. The epoxy foam roller covers have less than about 1/8" of foam, and work well.

From RAKA's "Fillers" section, get a pound of Pine Wood Flour ($3.50) and a 5 qt bag of "Fumed Silica" for $9.50. You will mix this into the epoxy to thicken it for making fillets, like along the keel. The Pine Wood Flour makes a "honey oak" color paste; choose the Maple Wood Flour to make a mahogany colored paste.

I recommend getting the following accessories from Walmart, Michael's or another craft shop:

Tongue depressors ... wooden sticks for mixing epoxy. They are .50 each from the epoxy guys, but you can get 200 for under $5.

Chip Brushes or Foam Brushes ... find the cheapest ones you can. You'll not want to worry about cleaning them and won't feel bad just tossing them.

Bondo Auto Putty Spreaders ... from Walmart, KMart or an auto parts store are one of the best ways to apply epoxy. You pour a little out on the surface, and use the spreader to spread it around. When the epoxy cures, you just bend the spreader a bit and it pops right off, so these are reusable.

I think that's the essential list of materials to glass the boat. Others will chime in with the must-haves.

[warthog5]

I buy all of my disposeable gloves thru Harbor Freight. $3.50 per 100.

I also buy my chip brushes thru them.

[Frank Hagan]

Gloves should be on the list! I buy from Harbor Freight also, when they have the gloves on sale. They are cheap gloves, and I've had boxes where I could only use about 2/3 of them without them splitting apart. But even with that kind of waste they are cheaper than anywhere else I've found.

They also have chip brushes cheap. I've tried to find a wholesale source for them, thinking we could do a group buy here and pass them along, but so far haven't had any luck.

[rolandblais]

to tailcoat on the great info here, I used raka epoxy, with no blush hardener, and have been very happy with the results.

Peace,

Roland

[markfitz]

This would be a great thing to add to a FAQ somewhere! Unless it already is, and I missed it. We already used bondo to filet the cabin to deck, and also on the seats and footwell. Is that terrible? Would it be better or worse to go over that with a slightly larger filet of epoxy and fumed silica, for instance?

[Frank Hagan]

The Bondo will be OK, as long as you glass over it with epoxy. You just need to keep water away from the Bondo, as it will deterioate if it gets wet. I used a lot of Bondo inside my cockpit to round things out, and so far I haven't had any problems (Bondo was put in 1999 - 2000).

I will add this to the FAQ! It is a good subject, especially when people chime in about how they saved money on things like mixing sticks and latex gloves.

One other thing to get ... white vinegar. Your grocery store or a place like Smart and Final are good sources for it. It cleans up uncured epoxy pretty quickly. The alternative is acetone, which is a bit more aggressive to latex gloves. I ended up just buying cheap things and tossing them rather than trying to clean epoxy off of them (brushes, roller covers, etc.) But for those occasional drips and spills you can't beat white vinegar for cleanup!

[markfitz]

isn't alcohol also a solvent for uncured epoxy?

[Fintan Murphy]

Another couple of things to get if you want.

1. A couple of tyvec disposable suits (with the hoods). You will get epoxy on you, and you on the epoxy, so the suits protect you.

2. A case of your favourite beer. You will need the empty cans as filleting tools

3. A sharp craft knife. It is easier to let the cloth go proud of the edges, and when the epoxy goes off, but before it is fully cured, slice it off with the knife.

4. A couple of pint measuring jugs, (kitchen stores etc. will have them). I just poured out the mixed epoxy a bit at a time from a jug, and spread or rolled it out. They will harden overnight and can be squeezed to crack out the old epoxy, and are as good as new for the next day.

5. A friend. I epoxied with my dad and it went more than twice as fast as one would be spreading out while the other was mixing more epoxy. You get into a rythm so that the next batch is ready just as the previous jug is empty

6. lolly pop (icikle ?) sticks and a staple gun (hand powered). Once you dry fit the glass, hold it down with the sticks stapled ot the edges. Set the staple gun to only punch halfway down the stick. This is enough to hold the stick, and give you enough staple proud of the stick to pull it up with a plyers (once the epoxy is cured). Sorry, just saw that Frank mentioned tongue depressors - same thing.

And finally, don't wash your hair for a day or so before spreading the epoxy. Once you scratch your head with the epoxy covered gloves on, (and you will scratch your head), it washes off far easier from greasy hair rather than clean shiny hair. (DAMHIK) :roll:

[Jan Williamson]

I found a handy little idea using the vinager. I had a container of unscented baby wipes, but any kind of those kind of wipes will do. The box type is better than the canister pop up type. Anyway this container had been left open and they were all dry, so I just poured in about 2 cupes of vinager and closed the lid. Now when I am done with an epoxy job, they are right there ready to use.." Very handy! I use to use acetone, but found the vinager to work just all well. And cheaper. As long as the epoxy hadn't hardened.

Don't have to worry about chemicals with vinager too.