Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

In an attempt to get as much info available to as many people as possible...read these manuals if you are wanting to use epoxy in your build, and are unfamiliar with it's use. They don't take long to read and you are really going to educate yourself. As I find online manuals I'll add them here. But this is a great place to start to familiarize yourself with the materials, terminology, and potential trouble shooting. Doug

http://www.raka.com/UserManual.html

http://www.westsystem.com/webpages/userinfo/manual/

http://www.woodworkingtips.com/etips/etip29.html

The following site is the full West Systems site...this has info on other products and some trouble shooting tips and pointers. Problem solver guide is under user information.

http://www.westsystem.com/

Doug, I am going to move this thread to construction tips and techniques and put a sticky onit...we probably should have done this long ago........
madjack

Juneaudave posted this link in his thread about building his stripper.

http://michneboat.com/Fiberglassing%20-%20101.htm

Looks like it belongs here.

It seems Doug's link to the Raka user guide has changed, it gave me a 404 but can be found here now.

West has added some very worthy stuff....

Here is a How-To by Ted Moores on applying fiberglass on a stripper canoe. Ted has written the bible for cedar strip construction "Canoecraft".... Fiberglassing a woodstrip hull

The second article is by Tom Pawlak on applying varnish over epoxy...Varnish over Epoxy

Here is the online user manual for Top Secret Coating's TS-100 one part Epoxy. If it does everything it says it does, this is a great way to go.

http://www.topsecretcoatings.com/CC-TS- ... ons-HB.doc

Main page:

http://www.topsecretcoatings.com

I was reading the Index and checked this company out. The results are less than flattering.

http://www.complaintsboard.com/complain ... 42161.html

We use TS 100 at work on our cooling towers and other outdoor equipment. No problems as long as it goes on super thin. I used my company email and hinted at a 25 gallon order to get some samples, I fealt like I knew more about thier product then they did. Thier rep kept telling me a 50% reduction rate war too thin. After 5 emails he suddenly agreed that a 50% reduction would be best to seal plywood. I'm not too impressed so far, will update after doing tests with samples.

There was a post in 'TD Construction Tips and Techniques' as "Fiberglass"
by mallymal back in 042412 as a thread for info purposes, that referenced
this fiberglassing forum:

http://www.fiberglassforums.com/

Just thought that a mention here would be useful.

Cheers,
Norm/mezmo

What about changing the title of this sticky to something like:

"Epoxy User Manuals Online & Fiberglass(ing) "

as a way to try and corral all the fiberglass(ing) info and
questions that are starting to show up quite frequently now - to
have it more 'centrally' located?

'Original' Info could be posted here, or links to other threads on
the TnTTT forum here concerning fiberlass(ing) could be
cross-linked by posting the link to that thread here in the sticky.

'Just trying to think of a way to make it all more accessible
and useful.

Cheers,
Norm/mezmo

I'd say based on some of the questions I've seen asked lately regarding use of epoxy....people aren't reading what info is out there to begin with. It seems to be easier to have someone go through all the work of giving them the same answer that was given out the last time someone didn't want to read about it.

Wolffarmer wrote:Juneaudave posted this link in his thread about building his stripper.

http://michneboat.com/Fiberglassing%20-%20101.htm

Looks like it belongs here.

I just finished reviewing the Fiberglassing 101 site and was hoping you might be able to help me understand a couple things.

1 - He is making 6oz mixes of the Epoxy and hardener; I am guessing that while he is doing the "wet out" and the "filling" he must have to mix the epoxy and hardener several dozen times. Basically is he just apply this mixture to about one square foot at a time?

2 - The photo in the paragraph titled "Now, Fill 'er Up.." looks like he has completed the "wet out" process and possibly the "filling" process as well. But, it also looks like he the canoe has no fiberglass on it. The photo makes it look like it was stained and finished.

I guess I'm confused on whether this fiberglass coating is applied after the wood is stained and finished or some additional step was taken to make the hull look like that in the photo?

Or does the fiberglass cloth become transparent when the bonding is completed?

If I apply this fiberglass coating on my "woody" does this mean I can no longer call it a woody?

Nope, it is still a woody. Yes, apply any stain or dye before the epoxy, but not another finish. what would be the point? Yes, the cloth becomes absolutely invisible. We have cloth imbedded all over ours. Yes, I mixed dozens and dozens of mixtures while doing ours, so as to not have it get too hard too fast. I actually did most of ours in the winter, so it actually took a really long time to harden, and I could mix a bigger batch. But mostly I was frugal. I didn't want to mix more than I needed so I didn't have to buy more, so I mixed more smaller batches than larger ones.

Thanks again, that clears up a lot of things. I kinda suspected that the fiberglass cloth became transparent and the project has to be finalized before applying the epoxy treatment. But, it is better to get a direct answer than to speculate.

Whenever possible, we applied the epoxy when stuff was still flat and horizontal. I.e. the sides before we attached them to the floor. That way we only had to do where it lapped over from the roof to the sides as vertical. It is MUCH harder to work with epoxy when it is vertical. And don't forget all the edges! All surfaces of the wood must be covered for it to be protected. That includes the edges of the ply. I added some colorant (available from RAKA, where I got my epoxy and glass) to make it grey color. That camouflaged the ply layer edges around the doors and at the door hatch. Finish the color you want before you epoxy, but not the build! Epoxy when horizontal.