Epoxy Gurus...help!

[Guest]

Point understood.

[asianflava]

Dean BINGO!!! 1/8" material is too light on the exterior without a backup- material or glassing. Your least expensive method might be backing it up with another layer of 1/8 luan, there is a point at which you need to decide what is most to your advantage, expensive glass cloth, or cheap luan...laminated to it. Doug Hodder

It is backed up by foam. A sandwich of 1/8ply, with 3/4 insulation and 1X2 framing in between, glued together with epoxy thickened with microfibers. I have to figure out how I will glue up the top though. It will probably be glued up but not technically a sandwich structure since the epoxy won't be spread across the whole panel.

[Guest]

Flava,
That's right... Weren't you the guy that bagged your sides?
Well any way... It sounds like you've already got the backing in place.
If it were me, I'd plan on glassing my roof, if the wood wasn't going to be skinned with metal. (Before tonight, I was also planning on glassing my sides too)
How did you like using the Micro-Fibers to thicken your epoxy?
I've used them, but I'm not sold on them. I've found that I like using fine wood dust instead. (Gives me a better chance to make the epoxy match the wood)
I didn't like how white it made some of my glue lines on some laminations that I did.. Sure, the lines are barely visible, but I can see them because I know that they are there.

Doug,
I don't get over that way too often. The last time I took that road was on a trip to the Reno Air Races, but I'll definately look you up the next time I'm headed that way.
It appears that it may be time for me to go get my eyes checked again.
I just realized that your boat isn't a Malihini, (Hawaiian for newcomer or guest, unusual or rare) it's a Malahini. I don't know what that means, I don't even know if it's a Hawaiian word or not, but I also realized that is the model design name, not the actual name of your boat and I just quite can't make out the name that you chose.
(Sorry for the confussion I may have caused earlier)

[steve wolverton]

Eric & Asian,

I found it's easiest to hang the glass over the sides dry. I used a jigsaw, circular saw case, and two pieces of tape on the ends to hold mine up.



I mix epoxy in a dixie cup with popsicle sticks. I applied it to the sides by pouring it onto the sides, and spreading it with a bondo spreader.



Some people do apply fiberglass/epoxy that has already been wetted out, but it's sticky, difficult to manage, and I wouldn't recommend it for your construction. You're dealing with nice smooth curves, not hard to reach, or difficult bends. You'd also need a wet box (place to actually wet out the cloth before moving it to your project) and that's a whole other mess of worms. Just forget that it exists.

Steve

[asianflava]

Flava,
That's right... Weren't you the guy that bagged your sides?
How did you like using the Micro-Fibers to thicken your epoxy?

Well..... I was going to bag my panels but in the 11th hour I decided not to do it. Being is this the first time doing panels this large, I decided I'd better try it first before I added more complexity to it. I ended up putting weights on the panels while it cured up.

The Micro-Fibers worked out OK, the problem I had was having to mix up a bunch of small batches. I only had a quart container so I had to mix up a couple batches per panel. Yeah it was white, and hard! It won't show up at all in my tear, especially since I will skin the whole thing.

[Eric Adams]

Eric & Asian,

I found it's easiest to hang the glass over the sides dry. I used a jigsaw, circular saw case, and two pieces of tape on the ends to hold mine up.



I mix epoxy in a dixie cup with popsicle sticks. I applied it to the sides by pouring it onto the sides, and spreading it with a bondo spreader.



Steve

Very nice!!! Where and what kind of epoxy/glass did you get? How much of each did it take? I am a lil "tapped out" on $$ and am looking for the best deal.

[steve wolverton]

Very nice!!! Where and what kind of epoxy/glass did you get? How much of each did it take? I am a lil "tapped out" on $$ and am looking for the best deal.

6 qt. kit = $76.00.
4 oz x 60" cloth x 10 yards = $52.50
Raka.com

That's more than enough epoxy to do the cloth and should give you plenty of leftover to seal up your wood and glue if you choose.

Steve

[Eric Adams]

Very nice!!! Where and what kind of epoxy/glass did you get? How much of each did it take? I am a lil "tapped out" on $$ and am looking for the best deal.

6 qt. kit = $76.00.
4 oz x 60" cloth x 10 yards = $52.50
Raka.com

That's more than enough epoxy to do the cloth and should give you plenty of leftover to seal up your wood and glue if you choose.

Steve

Noticed they had a "350 Hardner" which was blush-resistance. Sounds intreguing. Wonder if US Composites is cheaper????

[steve wolverton]

Noticed they had a "350 Hardner" which was blush-resistance. Sounds intreguing. Wonder if US Composites is cheaper????

I've never used the 350, only the 600somethings that comes with the standard kit. I've applied it in the desert at 10% humidity, and I've done it with it raining (if you notice in the pic of my teardrop above with the tarp behind the camper to keep the rain off) and I've never had any amine blush problems. I guess it's better to be lucky than good.

Steve

[Steve Frederick]

Noticed they had a "350 Hardner" which was blush-resistance. Sounds intreguing. Wonder if US Composites is cheaper????

I used both Raka and U.S. Composites...I like the Raka 350. U.S. Composites stuff was cheaper, but, I found it cured too slowly, and unreliably.