: I thought I understood the process, but now I'm not sure I understand
: anything.

: Patsy

The process is flexible. You can treat the outside and inside as two seperate projects. Go ahead and glass the outside. Take you time and get it all right and proper. The advantage is that you don't have to worry about tacking a deck on the thing, so any shrinkage will have less cosmetic effects. On the inside I would suggest cutting your own "tape" from glass cloth. I used the supplied tape with my Pygmy and the edge can be a bear to sand smooth into the surrounding surface (epecially if it is just epoxy coated wood). If you make your own tape, the edges should feather cleaner making it much less noticible.
Use at least one fill coat, maybe two depending on how much you can see.

As far as chemical bond and physical bond goes, there has been much debate on what is real and what isn't. Chemical bonds are better, but that doesn't mean that the mechanical bond isn't strong enough (make sense???) Careful and methodical execution of your application will give you and your recipients a craft that will last for many, many years. That is what really matters in the end. Just make the thing look as good as you can, give it up (to the new owners), and start your next one.

Just remember that it doesn't matter how it turns out, IT IS ONE OF A KIND!!!!! Made by you with love, sweat, and swearing .