JEM Watercraft

Hi there can you please give me an idea how much epoxy i should apply over fiberglass cloth
I have no experience with epoxy or fiber glass do I apply more than 1 coat do I sand smooth before painting any help appreciated.DK coming along well.Think this may be addictive I am thinking I'd like to build a house boat next.can you suggest plans from anywhere?

My way of glassing a boat is to epoxy saturate the wood ( put a coat of epoxy on the wood to let it soak in ). Then lightly sand the wood to get rid of the whiskers ( small pieces of wood epoxy soaked and raised like the whiskers on a persons face) If you don't sand they will grasp the cloth and cause runs in it.

Then the cloth is put on the boat and a coating of epoxy is applied to wet it out. Normally that is followed the next day with one or two more coats of epoxy to fill the weave. They are a day apart so the epoxy sets before the next layer is applied.

The amount of epoxy is just enough to wet it out and make the glass transparent ( disappear ) so the wood shows threw.

Chuck.

Chuck - for the first coat, how long before you sand? Is the epoxy still tacky, or do you let it dry firm and just get the second coat on within 24 - 48 hours?


Thanks.

Graybeard wrote:Chuck - for the first coat, how long before you sand? Is the epoxy still tacky, or do you let it dry firm and just get the second coat on within 24 - 48 hours?


Thanks.

If you sand it while it is still tacky you will have a BIG MESS on your hands. Let it cure ( usually overnight) then just a light sanding and wipe it down with a clean cloth.
Make sure the cloth is clean , no oil or anything on it.

Chuck.

spencer66 wrote:Hi there can you please give me an idea how much epoxy i should apply over fiberglass cloth
I have no experience with epoxy or fiber glass do I apply more than 1 coat do I sand smooth before painting any help appreciated.DK coming along well.Think this may be addictive I am thinking I'd like to build a house boat next.can you suggest plans from anywhere?

Apply just enough epoxy to make the fiberglass turn transparent.

Follow the weave fill instructions in the plans. 3-4 thins coats with light sanding in between coat gets you a very nice finish to varnish or paint.

Houseboat plans: http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/r/plan ... eboats.htm

Graybeard wrote:Chuck - for the first coat, how long before you sand? Is the epoxy still tacky, or do you let it dry firm and just get the second coat on within 24 - 48 hours?


Thanks.

The epoxy needs to be cured to a hardened state. How long depends on the epoxy cure speed selected. I build with medium and can usually sand in 12 hours when it's about 70 degrees during the day.

Thanks for the advice I think I'm on the right track can't wait to launch few mates reckon she should be christened smashing a bottle of beer on the bow.Hope I've built her strong enough!

Take a glass cutter to the bottle, and scribe lines around it.

Always game the odds in your favor

I like the idea of the glass cutter!! project coming along well seem to have afew runs in the epoxy though.