Boat Building Forum

Find advice on all aspects of building your own kayak, canoe or any lightweight boats

Re: Strip: Is a fill coat recommended?
By:Al Edie
Date: 3/21/2012, 4:46 pm
In Response To: Strip: Is a fill coat recommended? *PIC* (Andrew T)

Re. scrapers, I have used a bunch of different types, and the best by far is a firm rubber one that I got from a plastics/composites supply place. The edge is rounder and perhaps a bit softer than the thin plastic ones, and works better on the glass. I definitely recommend against using the milk jug scrapers to smooth epoxied glass. The slightest roughness will catch the fibers in your glass, and once they are dragged out of position, they are more or less impossible to put back. Also, the thin plastic will not allow you to use adequate pressure to ensure that the glass is properly smoothed to the wood surface.

I recommend that you don't try to do your glass application at anything lower than 70F, and warmer is better, maybe much better, depending on how your ecopoxy behaves. As I recall, I did mine closer to 80F and everything went well with the MAS I was using. The epoxy will not wet out the glass transparently if the temperature is too cold, and you may also have more problems with bubbles.

Good luck,

Allan Edie

: Hello all.
: I'm fixing to glass the top of my deck here shortly.. Have planed
: and sanded 80, 120, 240 and seem to be smooth as silk :)
: This is my first time with these boats or anything like this, so
: obviously there's a few very small gaps here and there, a few
: staple holes, etc.. Cosmetically I'm not so worried about them
: this time around, I'm the only one who will notice and I can
: live with it... but.

: Do you pro's recommend a fill coat of epoxy before laying the
: glass? Especially for a noobie who probably has more air
: trapping spots than he thinks he does. And one who has never
: really worked with epoxy. I guess I'm more worried about trapped
: air pockets that will bite me later than anything else.

: P.S.
: I finally bit the bullet and ordered 25 yards of 44" wide 6oz
: glass and 3 gallons of Ecopoxy (2 gal. resin, 1 gal of clear
: hardener)...
: Yes, I said it, Ecopoxy.. After going back and forth with what
: brand to use I just did it dang it, no looking back! Mostly at
: the prodding of my wife who is on the "if it says eco, it
: must be better" band wagon... me not so much. Hopefully
: this wasn't a big mistake :/ I've read nothing bad about it
: (minus customer service) and only good from the very few people
: on the internet I could find that have actually used it.. Of
: course I'll will still follow all the safety stuff as if I were
: using any other epoxy. Figured this whole project was an
: experiment to begin with so why not keep it that way right?
: Although it's kind of an obsession now ;)

: I did make a hollow shafted canoe paddle with leftover wood scraps
: I'm going to practice on before going balls out with the stuff
: on my deck.

Messages In This Thread

Strip: Is a fill coat recommended? *PIC*
Andrew T -- 3/19/2012, 7:50 pm
Re: Strip: Is a fill coat recommended?
robert l -- 3/19/2012, 9:36 pm
Re: Strip: Is a fill coat recommended?
Robert N Pruden -- 3/20/2012, 12:14 am
Re: Strip: Is a fill coat recommended?
Bill Hamm -- 3/20/2012, 1:44 am
Re: Strip: Is a fill coat recommended?
Ian Johnson -- 3/20/2012, 6:41 am
Re: Strip: Is a fill coat recommended?
William Mayberry -- 3/20/2012, 8:57 am
Re: Strip: Is a fill coat recommended? *PIC*
Andrew T -- 3/20/2012, 7:40 pm
Re: Strip: Is a fill coat recommended?
Bryan K -- 3/20/2012, 9:12 am
Re: Strip: Is a fill coat recommended?
Andrew T -- 3/20/2012, 7:29 pm
Re: Strip: Is a fill coat recommended?
Paul Davies -- 3/20/2012, 7:39 pm
Re: Strip: Is a fill coat recommended?
Robert N Pruden -- 3/21/2012, 7:32 pm
Re: Strip: Is a fill coat recommended?
Jay Babina -- 3/21/2012, 8:43 am
Re: Strip: Is a fill coat recommended?
Bill Hamm -- 3/22/2012, 1:38 am
Re: Strip: Is a fill coat recommended?
Jay Babina -- 3/22/2012, 2:05 pm
Re: Strip: Is a fill coat recommended?
Robert N Pruden -- 3/23/2012, 1:48 pm
Jay...a question
Robert N Pruden -- 3/23/2012, 1:51 pm
Re: Strip: Is a fill coat recommended?
Al Edie -- 3/21/2012, 4:46 pm