bubble in fibreglass

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Peter Kotowych
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Location: Midland, Ontario

bubble in fibreglass

Post by Peter Kotowych »

Hi,

I fibreglassed the outer hull yesterday and unfortunately I have a slight bubble
in the glass. Is there any way to fix it or is it just to be considered a beauty mark.
It is not huge, but noticable.
tks
pk
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Cruiser
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Re: bubble in fibreglass

Post by Cruiser »

The first thing commenters always say is " A picture would help" ... depending on the size, an easy fix is to drill a small hole on either side of the bubble, put a little catalyzed epoxy in a disposable syringe or dropper, push the epoxy in one side until it squirts out the other. It will fill the air space and then just slap a piece of tape over both holes and let it cure.

I did this on several smaller bubbles, think < .5 " and it worked great.



Brian
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Re: bubble in fibreglass

Post by alick burt »

I agree with Cruiser
I had loads of these on my first boat and spent ages injecting them all worked a treat.You have to drill a small hole for the air to come out as well as one to pump the resin in and tape over it when done to stop it coming out till it is set.
Cheers :wink
Alick
Peter Kotowych
Posts: 145
Joined: Sun May 09, 2004 8:10 pm
Location: Midland, Ontario

Re: bubble in fibreglass

Post by Peter Kotowych »

Hi guys,

Thanks for your help.
I'll try and get a picture of my problem.
I found a worse issue, it is more like a fold in the glass, where
somehow it was not properly flattened to the hull.
Very frustrating
Again, thanks for your assistance.
Pete
I love wood!
Peter Kotowych
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Joined: Sun May 09, 2004 8:10 pm
Location: Midland, Ontario

Re: bubble in fibreglass

Post by Peter Kotowych »

Howdy,

I'm sorry, but I can't handle posting a picture of the longish bubble in the fibreglass.
I understand your suggestion to drill 2 holes to apply epoxy
This would fill the void.
That's fine, but what do you do after that. You still have a bulge in the fibreglass
Can you sand it down without making the glass look terrible.
Thanks
Pete
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Re: bubble in fibreglass

Post by Cruiser »

Really wish there was a photo, sometimes one persons "serious" issue, isn't really too bad ... other times the opposite is true.

If you have all the epoxy on and there is a "crease/ripple" ... DO NOT TRY AND SAND IT OUT. That is spelled out in Canoecraft. All of your options depend on your vision of the completed canoe. Some people will simply leave the crease/ripple and not worry, it is not a real structural issue, it is one of aesthetics.

If you are fussy and can't let a ripple stay ( that would be me), then you need to get a decent scraper and slowly level the ripple. If you cut through cloth, you will need to address that after you get the area level.

Once you have the area leveled, you can access what needs to be done to redress the area. If you simply reached and ruffled some of the cloth, you can just rebury with 2 coats of epoxy. If you have removed a section of cloth, you may need to patch the area with a new piece of cloth .... redo the epoxy in that area and feather to match the surrounding finish. Feathering to match is not as hard as it sounds, just get a decent scraper, preferably with a carbide blade and work slowly/carefully.

Those would be the 2 extremes ... without the pic it is pretty hard to figure where you are. Most ripples I get can be simply scraped level and are fine with a little additional epoxy to bury.

As an aside, this is the scraper I got and works really well for me:

http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.a ... 3456,43390

If you figure out how to post pics, we could likely give you better comments.

good luck ... oh ... these are just my thoughts, there will likely be more from other folk, the fun is you get to chose what makes best sense for you

Brian
Peter Kotowych
Posts: 145
Joined: Sun May 09, 2004 8:10 pm
Location: Midland, Ontario

Re: bubble in fibreglass

Post by Peter Kotowych »

Thanks Brian,

I'll try and work on that pic thing.

I want to remove the blemish.
If I am levelling it off by scraping, there is no reason to fill the void with epoxy first, correct.
I'm sure I will go through the cloth, so I will level it off and put a new piece of glass in as you suggested.
Thanks again for you input.
I'm away for the weekend, so the pic won't come for a few days.
Pete
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Re: bubble in fibreglass

Post by Cruiser »

If you are going to try posting a pic (there are several posts on how to do that in the forum), you may want to hold off till you can show us the problem. There is a lot of experience here and you may get better advice once we can see the issue.

For posting pics, I have found Photobucket makes it easy, it was recommended when I had to learn to post pics. Free account and I use for all sorts of stuff now. I couldn't find the post, but maybe some one else on the forum will chime in with a link.


Brian
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Patricks Dad
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Re: bubble in fibreglass

Post by Patricks Dad »

There is a post in the FAQ/Announcements section on this forum on posting pics. Here's a link to it:

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=1150

I use Facebook for all of my photos and it works well for linking things from there to this site....
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Peter Kotowych
Posts: 145
Joined: Sun May 09, 2004 8:10 pm
Location: Midland, Ontario

Re: bubble in fibreglass

Post by Peter Kotowych »

Hey,

I am signed in to photobucket.
Now it is 'loading my album'. It has been going on forever.
Is it downloading every picture I have in my computer?
It just says "Bulk Upload'.
Any idea what is happening
Thanks again for your assistance.
tks
Pete
I love wood!
Peter Kotowych
Posts: 145
Joined: Sun May 09, 2004 8:10 pm
Location: Midland, Ontario

Re: bubble in fibreglass

Post by Peter Kotowych »

Hello,

If a picture is a must, I can send one directly to someone who will give me their
personal e-mail address.
It's the only way I can figure out how to do this.
Mine is pkotowych@gmail.com
Thanks again
Pete
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Jim Dodd
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Re: bubble in fibreglass

Post by Jim Dodd »

Peter
My guess is you are right. Photobucket is downloading the works. If you can stop, I would.

Jim
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Re: bubble in fibreglass

Post by Cruiser »

Posting these pics that Peter sent me ..... to be honest, I think just scrape flat, bury it in epoxy and call it a day.. now that people can see, let the suggestions roll.

Image

Image
Peter Kotowych
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Location: Midland, Ontario

Re: bubble in fibreglass

Post by Peter Kotowych »

Hi Brian,

Thanks for posting the pics and for your opinion.
I just can't leave that blemish on the canoe.
Pete
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Cruiser
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Re: bubble in fibreglass

Post by Cruiser »

That bubble isn't in an area I would class as high stress (and it really isn't that bad), so scraping it flush and filling the gap with epoxy should work fine.

If you decide to scrape it flat, make sure any epoxy underneath is also sanded rough enough for the new epoxy to bond. Also, after you add the new epoxy and it cures for a day, I would use the scraper to level again, rather than sandpaper. Depending on what you end up with after scraping, you may have to do a few epoxy applications to get it fully level, depending how fussy you are.

You may even get a few other suggestions that will work better.

Good luck
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