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Re: Strip: First fiberglass
By:Kevin
Date: 3/19/2013, 9:57 pm
In Response To: Re: Strip: First fiberglass (Thor)

Hey Thor, I know there has been some great advice, so I decided to weigh in on this after looking at the pics.

Let me first respond to your questions

#1&2 Question: Yeah depending on the hull shape at the bow and stern it can be tricky to get complete cover of fabric without wrinkles.
I would cut the fabric so that I could gently run my hand down the side of the hull to make sure it is flat. I would cut the fabric to create a "duck tail" about 1/2 to 1 inch above the stem (drying fitting). When applying epoxy, I would brush the epoxy up to the stem working each side at the same time creating this duck tail. After the epoxy has set I would trim the duck tail, and sand to the contour of the stem and then apply bias-cut cloth two or three inch tape.

#3 Question: Do you put fiberglass tape down the length of the hull/stems? I would recommend at least applying the fiberglass tape
pass the stems and on to the keel by at least a foot. It is your option to do a light weight layup or heavy duty ,or an expedition type layup. It's durability vs weight. I have done an expedition lay up with a second layer cloth on the bottom with two layers of tape covering the stems and part of the bottom of the hull. My last kayak I built, I decided to do a light weight lay up by only applying fiberglass bias-cut tape from the stems to about two feet on the keel bottom. I wanted to insure I had extra layers during beaching.

Other tips:
The second pic shows some separation at the sheerline. This is common. Just cut out the separated fiberglass and feather sand. If it's big separation, like the size of the quarter, I would fill it in with a little cut piece of the fiberglass. Remember here on the sheerline, you will be putting bias cut tape when you epoxy the hull to the deck. You wil have a second opportunity to fix this during the deck/hull gluing.

The third pic looks like not enough epoxy or you have pleading/wicking due to contaminants on the surface. In building my first kayak I made the mistake before applying the seal coat of epoxy, I used a tack cloth to wipe down the hull. I had to keep sanding and doing fill coats until every pin hole and/or pleaded area was fill in with epoxy. Clean your hull with water and dry with a old beach towel. Also after you lay down fiberglass and it has set up, clean the hull with water again to remove contaminants before doing fill coats.

I know there are different ways of doing fill coats and seal coats. I have found the following works great for me. I use a similar techinque that Nick describes in his books: To minimize bubbles, apply seal or fill coat epoxy with falling room temperature.

Fill coat or seal coat process:
Step 1- I brush on epoxy about a foot or two square by pulling the epoxy with a chip brush across the hull and down the sides.
Step 2) I use a polyurethene roller to even it out by rolling from bow to stern, or length wise.
Step 3) With a fairly dry brush at a 45 degree angle, I tip off the tiny bubbles running length wise (bow to stern)
Step 4) After completing the deck/hull, I use a heat gun to smooth out any bubbles that my pop up.

Good Luck K.Greer

Messages In This Thread

Strip: First fiberglass *PIC*
Thor -- 3/18/2013, 8:44 pm
Re: Strip: First fiberglass
Robert Horstmann -- 3/19/2013, 1:28 am
Re: Strip: First fiberglass
Etienne Muller -- 3/19/2013, 5:13 am
Re: Strip: First fiberglass
Dan Caouette (CSCWC) -- 3/19/2013, 5:54 am
Re: Strip: First fiberglass
Thor -- 3/19/2013, 8:28 pm
Re: Strip: First fiberglass
Bill Hamm -- 3/20/2013, 1:39 am
Re: Strip: First fiberglass
Etienne Muller -- 3/20/2013, 5:12 am
Re: Strip: First fiberglass
Dan Caouette (CSCWC) -- 3/20/2013, 9:26 am
Re: Strip: First fiberglass
robert l -- 3/19/2013, 11:17 am
Re: Strip: First fiberglass
Etienne Muller -- 3/19/2013, 6:26 pm
Re: Strip: First fiberglass
robert l -- 3/20/2013, 1:44 am
Re: Strip: First fiberglass *PIC*
Etienne Muller -- 3/20/2013, 5:48 am
Re: Strip: First fiberglass
JohnAbercrombie -- 3/20/2013, 12:11 pm
Re: Strip: First fiberglass *PIC*
Thor -- 3/28/2013, 10:08 pm
Re: Strip: First fiberglass
dave g -- 3/28/2013, 10:56 pm
Re: Strip: First fiberglass
dave g -- 3/28/2013, 10:59 pm
Re: Strip: First fiberglass
Thor -- 3/19/2013, 8:19 pm
Re: Strip: First fiberglass
Kevin -- 3/19/2013, 9:57 pm