: Need advice on repairing fiberglass: RE- Pygmy Coho. The minor scratches I'm
: comfortable with smoothing. but what does one do for gouges etc? If there
: is a book that you would recommend, please do.
: 1. Have 2 gouges 3/8" X 1" - rock removed resin fill; cloth is
: exposed and abrated; wonder if wood is crushed under the cloth. No
: apparent damage on the inside surface. 2. Deep scratches into the cloth
: weave. 3> Impact damage: 4" x 2" area where cloth weave is
: now visable - weave was invisable before. did I delaminate it?
: All answers appreciated, Thanks,
: Dennis

Gouges that do not hit the glass layer can be sanded to remove the varnish, then coated with one or more layers of resin, and sanded smooth. Of course, if you can create a gouge in the resin withour hitting any glass fabric you have got a lot of extra resin on there.

For the remaining three questions the cure is the same: If there is no water leaking under the glass don't do anything until the end of the year. You should make all fixes at the end of the season so your resin and varnish will be able to sit and harden for those long winter months. Even when it is cold those materials still "cure". Within reason, the longer you wait the stronger and harder they get -- so why not let them do this over winter when you are not paddling? Come spring you just evict the stray spiders and put the boat in the water.

If there is a chance of water penetration through the outer layer of glass, or for end-of-the-year repairs: use 80 grit sandpaper or coarser to remove all the glass from the affected area. A finer grit is a waste of your time. Go down to the bare wood. As you get through the glass cloth -- particularly if it has delaminated, the coarse sandpaper will actually snag on the fabric and pull it away from the wood a bit. If you don't use a lot of pressure but just let the sander do its job, you won't remove much wood. Also, be alert and move away from the exposed wood as soon as the glass comes off. Try to get off all loose glass and then go about an inch beyond, so you are sure you are on an area of sound glass.

Switch to 120 to 150 grit sandpaper to smooth the exposed wood and then go 2 inches beyond the wood to rough up the surrounding resin. You want to "feather" the area between the exposed wood and the rest of the boat. Think of this as a scarf joint in the glass cloth -- a 2-inch-long taper through the thickness of the glass and resin. Just sand the wood enough to remove any deep scratches from the coarse grit paper you used first, and then concentrate on the edges. You want to avoind any high spots. You will be cutting through the glass cloth and the weave will become visible, but don't worry. It clears up later.

Take some masking tape and use it to surround the area you are working on. Put it about an inch beyond the "feathered" area. This is particularly important if you are doing more than one repair at this time. If you forget this step you'll have a hard time remembering where your repairs are! (Trust me on this! )

Get some scraps of glass cloth, lay them on the hull, and cut them so they fit rather well inside the outline of your masking tape. Set them to a side.

Paint on a layer of epoxy resin to seal the wood. You can go 1/2 inch to 1 inch into the "feathered" area if you want to be sure you get all the bare wood.

When this cures, hand sand any high spots or runs with your 120 to 150 grit sandpaper. This should be just a few seconds.

Then, paint the area with a coat of resin, going almost up to the tape. Lay on the precut patch, and use your foam brush to poke it into the resin. you can put a light layer of resin on top at this time -- and that should be all you need to wet it out. The tackiness of the resin should be sufficient to hold the glass cloth in place. If the edges come up don't worry.

When this resin has hardened, put on one or two more coats, as needed, to fill the weave. Then sand the whole patch. You can use a straight board like you did for fairing, or you can just eyeball it, and pay more of your time near the edges of the patch. You can sand right through the masking tape, which will give you an indication of how deep to sand. When the tape is gone you are back at about the same level as your original finish. Use some solvent to remove any remnants of masking tape, then wash with water and dry before varnishing.

If you have a puncture that goes through the wood and damages the interior glass you do the same thing. If the wood has discolored, use a saw to cut out the wood affected. With a stripper, stay inside the glue lines. Work slowly up to the glue lines with a knife, plane or chisel to remove the remainder. Your hole should be exactly equal to the width of the replacement strips. Cut some scrap strips to fit, glue them in, and after the glue has hardened you can sand them to the proper curvature. With a plywood boat you cut as accurate a patch as you can from any matching scraps you might have. Masking tape will hold small parts in place until the glue hardens. Bigger pieces need to be clamped, or held in with staples, so they stay flush. Otherwise you sand a lot to remove the high spot. Then sand and feather as above before covering iwth glass cloth patches.

The tapered overlap of an inch or more of glass on all sides of the damaged area gives you excellent strength.

Hope this helps

PGJ