Fiberglass Tip ?

[ol'guy]

I read this somewhere on the net (I don't think I've seen it in the group) and it was one of those "why didn't I think of that?" kind'a things. I have NOT had a chance to try this but I think it makes sence.

When your ready to glass your hull, spray the hull with spray adhesive (3M type). When the adhesive becomes tacky, lay your glass cloth on the hull. smooth out the glass, working out any wrinkles and bubbles. Let the adhesive set up (it only takes a few minutes). Now that the cloth is stuck to the hull, you can brush on the epoxy or poly. in thin coats. No more cloth sliding around, no more bunching up and wrinkling and no more bubbles.

At least it sound good to me!

If anyone out there has tried this let, us know if it works as well as it sounds.

[LtDoc]

...now he tells me.
- 'Doc
:)

[ziobrop]

Members of our club like to use pantyhose. for small boats, cut off the leg and stretch it over the hull.then apply your resin. works great, though wives and girlfriends start to ask questions when asked for old pantyhose.

only propblem is they only make pantyhose so big, so its not going to work on my 6 foot frigate.

[Bootneck]

Another approach is to spray a sheet of wax paper and lay the cloth on that, smoothing out the wrinkles. When you are ready to use it, cut it to size, peel the cloth off the paper, and smooth the cloth down. There is enough residual tacky adhesive for it to stick, even weeks/months later. There are a couple of added advantages to doing it this way. It is easier to control the adhesive overspray (I am pretty messy, and don’t want the adhesive all over my models). The cloth (still on the paper) cuts easily with scissors or a knife, with no fraying, to give straight lines, curves or any other shapes. The leftover pieces are easily stored, still on the paper.

Clive.

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

I used to use a primary "bond" coating of resin on my hulls.
Bond coating is a layer of resin that stays soft and flexible, and tacky when cured.
A primary coat would sit, tacky on the hull, I could apply the fiberglass, cut it to fit, and then brush in the next bond coat, and later finish coats of resin.
One of the difficulties that arise, is that the first coat of resin over the cloths does not always soak through enough to bond to the hull, or the previous layer of resin.

This is why the instuctions recommend coating the hull with resin and then pressing the cloth into the resin using your brush.

I find that using a brush is most of the problem.
Get a box of disposable rubber or nitrile gloves. Not only will they protect your hands for the casual contact with resins, but once the hull is coated, and the glass is on the hull, you can put your gloved hands onto the hull, and push the fiberglass into the resin. Instead of pulling and pushing the wrinkles around like what happens with a brush, your hands can hold one side of the fiberglass in place while the other hand smooths out the wrinkles and squeegees the air bubbles and resin throught the fiberglass cloth.

Some of my best hulls have been done this way, and I will continue to work it this way. One of these days I will get the perfect hull. (air bubbles seem inevitable) ;)

[Tregurtha1013]

I read this somewhere on the net (I don't think I've seen it in the group) and it was one of those "why didn't I think of that?" kind'a things. I have NOT had a chance to try this but I think it makes sence.

When your ready to glass your hull, spray the hull with spray adhesive (3M type). When the adhesive becomes tacky, lay your glass cloth on the hull. smooth out the glass, working out any wrinkles and bubbles. Let the adhesive set up (it only takes a few minutes). Now that the cloth is stuck to the hull, you can brush on the epoxy or poly. in thin coats. No more cloth sliding around, no more bunching up and wrinkling and no more bubbles.

At least it sound good to me!

If anyone out there has tried this let, us know if it works as well as it sounds.

I've done this and it does work as well as it sounds. Makes it much easier. The only thing is if you are working with a HUGE hull get another person to help you lay down the cloth initially. Trying to lay cloth on a sticky 12 foot hull isn't fun as you cannot be in two places at once. :-)

[CG Bob]

I did this to a Midwest Bass Boat kit in the early 1980's. The model was r/c, and I ran it till I got transferred in 1987. I left the boat at my parent's house for several years. In the mid 1990's I collected the model, and ran it for a while. There were a few areas where the glass cloth became de-laminated from the hull planking. The cloth came off in several sheets. I eventually removed all of the glass cloth from the hull, and sealed it with some epoxy finishing resin over stain. The spray adhesive blocked the resin from penetrating the wood grain and resulted in the bond failure.