fibreglass materials

[oldie]

well am about to order fibreglass to re-do my transom and floor on 5.1 runabout, could someone suggest the best thickness fibreglass mat to use for this job, also best resins to use, i have only delt with surfboard resins, and need to order from supplier on gold coast, if someone knows of good fibreglass suplies on gold coast that would be great also. good fishing
oldie

[blaze]

I like to use 600 mat, what I do if I need a bit of thinner for working around corners is to split the matt to 300 and then just multi layer until I have the desired result. I also like to put a layer of roven woven onto transom as well and tie all layers at least 300 mm up the floor and sides of the boat, taper each layer as it is put on so there is a smooth seamless transistion. Also dont cut your matting, tear it instead as this also make for a seamless job
cheers
blaze

[SO70]

Buy the materials in bulk.
resin in 20kg pails.
a roll of 600g chopped strand mat.

[Wayne_Red]

Buy a box of those thin latex disposable cloves. Ask some advise before taking it on, not as easy as it seems. There has probably been some posts on here that would help.
When cutting the the old glass, buy some 1.0mm metal cut off discs for your 4-5" grinder. Alot faster and less mess.
Buy in bulk as suggested. 600csm as suggested.
Make up a roller to remove air bubbles. One 2" and one 4" long. a bit of 10mm threaded bar with a hole in each end and some bent fencing wire for a handle/frame will do the trick. You can buy them but cheaper to make.
Can I suggest you start a new post about your project and take some pictures as you go. It would be the easiest way to get good advise as you begin and make an interesting post.
Good luck. Regards Wayne

[oldie]

thanks, i will definately take photos as i have with trailer repair, the whole boat is project for me, i bought it for a steel! i spent 3 years selling quinies,haines,cruisecraft, yamaha, at a dealership and we always had wholesale boats coming through, not being in a position to buy a crazy new rig, i always thought id do one up, so here goes!! i have good friend, who is carpenter/site forman over looking my wood work so should help, and my surfboard shaper to over look my glassing so have good backing, i gues i dont know what im getting myself into, but will have a go!
going to modify boat so takes my new baby boy out in safety and comfort, also rod lockers, storage cupboards, my oldman just bought a quini 4.88 fish raider for 10k with 70hp yami, so whilst my boat is older, the glass will power over tin!!
oldie

[fishingjew]

Its good if you can get a cheap hull then modify to suit yourself some pics of mine before and after.

[BM]

Enjoy the itchy, messy, noisy job!!! :)

Good experience though....

When ordering your glass etc order in a few of the full body suits. These are very handy for removing the itch factor although they are uncomfortable on a warm day.

I was glassing the hull to deck join (laying on my back and working above myself) in the tight bow section of a yacht in 30 degree heat in January this year and even though the suit had me sweating like a pig I couldn't have done without it in terms of the resin drops everywhere...

Of course the styrene odour was overpowering even with a fan blowing and the hatch open but thats another story...... Mask only did so much and needle gogles to combat the watering eyes :( :( Don't want to do that sort of job again in a hurry............
Cheers

[Grand_Marlin]

Oh yes, the fun, the fun :-/

Laying upside down in the cabin with resin running up your arms ... sweating like a paedophile at a wiggles concert :o

Each to their own, but I prefer 450gsm mat.
Easier to bend and easier to get the resin into.

2 layers of mat on the floor and 4 layers (2 x 2) on the transom.

BUY DECENT FIBREGLASS ROLLERS ... a $20 deeper grooved 4" roller will make your life a hell of a lot easier.

Getting the air bubbles out of the profile means EVERYTHING to having a good job that wont delaminate.

Polyester resin is what I would use for the job ... Vinylester is an unneccessary cost.

Get advice about catalyst mixing rates, amounts of resin.

FGI wil have a website that may be useful.

For big areas like you are doing, use an 8" roller to put resin on.

Cheers

Pete

[BM]

In the warm banana bender areas I would go with 1% catalyst which will give you maybe 10 minutes to work with the brew.

Use a brush to precoat your glassing area and to wet out your glass on a wet out board. Roll the glass well (as mentioned) to get all the air out. If your roller is pulling the glass up then you don't have enough resin.

Make sure that prior to glassing you grind back through the flowcoat to the glass so that when you glass, you are glassing new glass to old glass with nothing in between. Stagger your layers so each layer goes further than the next and ripping (as mentioned) is a better way to apply the glass as it bonds better.

I might post a transom job that I did recently. Its on another site but I'll post it here if you like.

Cheers

[Edencraft]

Best place for you to get your materials is FGI in Labrador. Get 20L of unwaxed polyester resin with a 40min gel time. The gel time is ussually worked out at 1.5% catalyst at 25 degrees. You will need to buy some MEPK catalyst when you get the resin and atleast 5L of Accetone for cleanuo. I would get a couple of wetout rollers, ice cream containers, paddle roller and check roller while I was there and maybe some Q Cell for mixing up a good quality bog for coving. I would use 600 chopped strand mat plus some triavial or biaxial on the transom. A laminating schedule of 600CSM - Biaxial woven rovings - 600CSM - 600CSM will give you a reasonable laminate. Do not use 1% catalyst as you will never get a true cure as every polyester resin data sheets I have ever read recomend not using below 1.25% but personnaly I never go below 1.5% at work and can't see any reason why you would need to.

Ensure you fillet your 90 degree corners ie where the laminate meets the hull sides and bottom.

Ensure you have a clean flat surface to start with by removing any flowcoat and give the whole area a clean with accetone before starting.

[BM]

Do not use 1% catalyst as you will never get a true cure.


Might pay to ring a company I am associated with down here in Vic thats been building boats and light aircraft for 20 odd years and builds $100,000 worth of fibreglass bus components per month. According to these guys 1% catalyst is no problem.

But I guess opinions will always vary in any trade.

Cheers

[Grand_Marlin]

Just dont do what my idiot labourer did ... he was told to mix at 2% ... but only mixed at 0.2% :o

This does have the advantage of extending your gel time from 10 - 15 minutes to about a week ;D

Cheers

Pete

[BM]

Oops!!!!!

I have seen a few "hot brews" that were mixed a tad too much on the hot side....

Gloves on and run it outside and hose it down nefore it erupts into flame... The stench of an overheated brew is nasty...

[blaze]

had my off sider pass me the flowcoat one day and asked "is it mixed right" answered yeh what do reckon. Flowcoated the deck of a 6m boat from cabin wall back and still not dry a day later. Said to mate talk me through how you mixed it, he said picked up stirer and started stirring, oh crap forget to put the catyslst in
cheers
blaze
ps
I reckon any one that plays with glass has a story to tell

[oldie]

thanks,
picked up some supplies today, whether permiting i'll have a crack tomorrow?!?

ive had good advice off the bloke who i have shape and glass my surfboards, i already know that glassing aint the funnest job, but saving myself coin.
the floor area ain that wide and very straigh forward, the transom will come after that, so i guess if after doing the floor if im over it, ill get someone to do transom, but feel its worth ago once in your life, bought the boat for 500 with trailer electrics etc, so once i fix it up, with the motor i bought at auction, and materials ill be on water in solid 5.1m cruisecraft looking runabout, good enough for taking my newborn bub fishing and sking, he'll prob be 4 years old before its in the water!!!hahaha

bring it on!!!

oldie

[BM]

You'll be right Oldie.

Glassing is fun, you need to work with a bit of pace but it is enjoyable. A bit of an artwork really.

If you have gloves and a plastic suit on you don't get covered in resin and you'll have no issue.

Make sure you roll out all your air voids as they will weaken the structure if they remain. Make sure you radius any square timber edges as you cannot glass around sharp corners.

Cheers

[oldie]

well ply is cut out thanks to my carpenter mate taking charge! it took him one cut only to get curve of stringer and floor, so tomorow we glass, and repair a few areas along the way,it pays to shout a good mate a case to overlook your work, and then help him drink em during bthe afternoon! will post some photos
oldie