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Rhapsody-NS27 · 11-06-2011, 23:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by knottybuoyz

Sorry, forgot to add I'm going to have a new panel cut to match my elec. dist. panel I built last winter.
Front Panel Express:*Custom Front Panels with free Front Panel Designer

That's a very nice looking panel.

**knottybuoyz** · 16-06-2011, 05:10

One of the things about building your own boat is you learn things, fast. For instance, epoxy and fiberglassing. So far the largest piece I've done is probably a seam that's 6" wide by 4' long. No big deal, you're mixing up maybe 3 oz of epoxy to do that seam.

We got to a point last night were we decided to glass the lower part of Frame E. This is the main bulkhead between the engine room and the fwd cabin. We only need to do the lower section for water integrity and structure. It'll be pretty much hidden so we tried some of the really heavy fiberglass I have for the hull. It's a good chance to practice.

We also used our epoxy Dispenser/mixer with the static mixing nozzels and it worked perfectly. (I'll post a pic later).

This lesson for us was about the ever increasing size, volume and cost if you screw up rules of epoxy and fiberglass. Although not HUGE it's still a couple of square yards.

I had to cut the glass from two different supplies. One on a roll I just bought recently and one that was folded in a box I bought a couple years ago. The folded stuff just wouldn't lay down (see pic above). The newer stuff laid right down and wetted out very easily.

I used the peelply/release film and squeegee technique on this part. It'll save some sanding later on.

Up close both sections appear to be fully wetted out. We used about 1.75 litres of epoxy all together. It was very warm in the shed +30 degs C so we worked in small batches. After measuring and mixing (the Admiral did that part) we poured it into a paint roller pan to increase the area and keep it from kicking off to quickly. The plywood was coated first then the glass laid on top. Once that was thoroughly wetted out with a roller we placed the peelply over top of that and squeegee'd it out. Last step was the release film (in this case I used vacuum bagging plastic but will switch to cheaper plastic from now on). All the bubbles were squeegee'd out and this is the result.

We'll find out how well we did tonight. Standby...

Rhapsody-NS27 · 16-06-2011, 05:54

This is cool watching all that wood grow up into a boat!

Very exciting, even just from watching.

delmarrey · 16-06-2011, 08:56

FYI- I've always been told not to fold fiberglass for structural use due to the sharp bending of the glass will rupture some of the fibers. And if one has to lay glass into a sharp corner then to use the 1 oz. stuff with several layers at 45º to each other.

Target9000 · 16-06-2011, 10:28

I have a question about glassing. I've seen people work with it a few times but I've never really used it myself. When you turn a corner with fiberglass, how do you get it flush to the wood? I watched one guy screw up a hatch cover by folding the top sheet of fiber down over the edge and wetting it out to the edge of the hatch. Where the bend in the fabric was created a big air bubble. What is the correct procedure?

BTW Knotty, this project is awesome.

**James S** · 16-06-2011, 11:03

You radius the edge first...if the final product needs to be square...you can either build it up pf er the radius or filler after.

**atoll** · 16-06-2011, 11:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Target9000

I have a question about glassing. I've seen people work with it a few times but I've never really used it myself. When you turn a corner with fiberglass, how do you get it flush to the wood? I watched one guy screw up a hatch cover by folding the top sheet of fiber down over the edge and wetting it out to the edge of the hatch. Where the bend in the fabric was created a big air bubble. What is the correct procedure?

BTW Knotty, this project is awesome.

about the only way to get glass around a near 90 degree outside corner is to use chopped strand mat and tear it to size along the corner before wetting it out,and do the same from the opposite direction.

then covering it with multiple layers of light weight tissue,should hold it till it cures.

alternatively vacume bagging it will hold any shape.

**knottybuoyz** · 16-06-2011, 15:18

I'm pretty sure this is a failure.

Not 'nuff epoxy.
Plywood sucked it all up.
Needed some clamping pressure.

You pick.

The side with the newer fiberglass worked fine. At least now I know I won't be using it on the outside of the hull. If I thought I could vacuum bag or infuse the entire hull I might but right now that's just not doable. That glass is too heavy.

DeepFrz · 16-06-2011, 16:00

Rick, about the heat, another trick is to set the tray in a bucket of ice to help keep the resin from kicking.

**knottybuoyz** · 16-06-2011, 17:25

Thnx Frz. Kicking too early wasn't an issue this time.

Looks like I'll be spending some more quality time with my power planer cleaning up that mess.

delmarrey · 16-06-2011, 21:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Target9000

I have a question about glassing. I've seen people work with it a few times but I've never really used it myself. When you turn a corner with fiberglass, how do you get it flush to the wood? I watched one guy screw up a hatch cover by folding the top sheet of fiber down over the edge and wetting it out to the edge of the hatch. Where the bend in the fabric was created a big air bubble. What is the correct procedure?

BTW Knotty, this project is awesome.

You just have to use 1 oz FG and use several layers. Here are some window frames that I did with a 3/8" off set. It's wrapped from the outside all the way into the inside.

And back to Rick................

**knottybuoyz** · 17-06-2011, 16:21

Moving on, more exciting seams being taped and glued.

More tomorrow, standby.

**knottybuoyz** · 18-06-2011, 08:04

Ok, let's try this again.

This is the flipside of Frame E, the side that'll face into the head and v-berth. Cosmetics are a bit more of an issue here so we took our time and thought it through a bit more.

What I did....

I saturated the plywood and let it sit for a good 10-15 minutes
laid the cloth out and thoroughly soaked it with epoxy working from the center outwards
placed the peelply on top and again worked it from the center outwards

I had plenty of epoxy dripping from the edges this time. The peelply shows me where there are dry spots which I can easily go back and add some more epoxy. There weren't many this time. I decided to leave the plastic film off to see how it works without it. I guess that's just an old habit.

Port side, it's the opposite side here that caused the problems before. None this time. This side is also glassed up to the bottom of the window frame because this is where the head/shower will be.

Up close port side

Stbd side, not one bubble in sight.

Up close stbd side

We'll pull the peelply off tomorrow and see how we did.