> Hi All, I received a catalog from Newfound Woodworks the other day and
> found something I'd like some info on. They list peel and ply tape for use
> at the shear line to help reduce sanding. Anybody out there used it? How
> does it work?

Peel-Ply is a woven polyester or nylon fabric. It is usually about 2-3 oz in weight, plain weave and has been scoured, heat set and treated with a release blend. The peel-ply is the last ply down in a laminate sequence. After cure, and just before the next bonding or laminating operation, the peel-ply is removed by peeling it off. The resulting surface is rough and needs little or no sanding. It also leaves a thin layer of resin on top of the last structural ply, so that if you do sand, you won't be hitting the glass or carbon immediately. A peel-plied and then sanded surface results in just about the best secondary bond strength possible.

Peel-ply is also great for smoothing ply drop-offs. If, for example, you have a place where a ply terminates on the surface of a laminate, Put a strip of peel-ply staddling the ply edge. After cure, peel it off. The peel-ply bridges the drop-off forming a smooth transition of epoxy. Use as little epoxy as possible to wet-out the peel-ply.

For the best cosmetic appearance, do not wet-out the peel-ply all the way to its egde. If you do, the edge will leave a ridge of epoxy. Instead, stop wetting-out just short of the edge. The result is a very smooth termination of the peel-plied area.