: Hello all,
: About to order glass for a hybrid.(Explorer)The boat will see regular weekend
: use for day trips and occasional camping. It's for my daughter, maybe a
: little rough handling.
: What glass schedule would be good. Thinking Raka 5oz in/out on hull. 3 or 4oz
: in/out on deck. What do y'all think?
: Thanx in advance. Steve
: P.S. any ideas on tinting epoxy?

Hey Steve,
This post has really been here since Friday with no responses? Well, I'm not the one to ask about the glassing schedule, but I do think it would work fine the way you described it as long as you add extra glass in the most damage prone areas. Use Nick's book as guidance for such areas. I would also tend to stay away from Raka's 5oz., only because I've always had good luck with plain 6oz fiberglass. But that's just my opinion, many builders here have used the 5oz with success. On my next glass order, I will try experimenting with some S-glass for better impact resistance. I used 4oz plain weave inside/out on my hybrid deck, and it turned out fine.

I have, however, colored epoxy using System 3's paste pigments with Raka epoxy to much success. Although it was trial and error, okay maybe more error, but finally asked the question on this board and emailed System 3, and found that I needed to add more pigment to the mix. Lots more. The System 3 tech told me that you can add as much colorant to the epoxy as you like, since it's also resin based. What a difference! Now I can get deep, thick, rich colors by using lots of pigment, and it doesn't seem to affect the integrity of the epoxy.

Fiberglasssupply.com sells System 3 epoxy pigments in several colors for $8 each. The price is a bit steep, but with all of these colors you can mix just about anything imaginable. Another thing I learned is that if you mix two colors, say red and blue to make purple, and after mixing thoroughly, it just doesn't look right, add a small amount of white, and watch the color come to life. Works great! I bit the bullet and bought all of these, except green, and have quite an arsenal of colored epoxy ready for mixing. Just make sure you mix your resin and hardener first, as you normally would, then add the colored pigment. Mix that in quickly and thoroughly before it starts to kick, I have had a large batch harden before I could use it all, because it takes awhile to mix this stuff in good. Using two popsicle sticks (the original epoxy stirrer and a fresh one with pigment) makes it alittle easier. Then, when you think it's all mixed, dump all of the colored epoxy into a clean cup or you'll end up with streaks of pure colorant from the sides and bottom of the original mixing cup. Well that's it, keep us posted on what you're creating.
SMF

PS What's an Explorer? Is it someone's S&G kayak design or a SOT or ???