Jamestown fiberglass cloth

reinbilt · Post by **reinbilt** » Mon Nov 22, 2004 4:25 pm

In the past I've always used Episize 6oz. cloth. My local retailer sells a 60 inch wide by 10 yards long roll for around $140.00. I noticed in a sale catalog from Jamestown a roll of 6oz., 50 inches wide, and 10 yds. long for $56.76. Has anybody used this cloth? Hard to believe there could be such a cost difference between the two. I should also mention I use West epoxy. Thanks for any feedback!

Glen Smith · Post by **Glen Smith** » Mon Nov 22, 2004 6:05 pm

The cost of fiberglass can vary quite a bit from one vendor to another. Here in Canada, the best price I could find was from Noah's Marine and I must give them a "thumb's up" for the service. The last time I placed an order, I got a call the next day to ask me if it would be clear coated. When I replied "yes" the representative said that they had a problem with the cloth in stock in that some of the fibers remain visible after wetting out. He then asked me if I could wait for them to receive another shipment. I agreed to wait and the glass arrived by courrier service a few days later, bravo!

Peter Kotowych · Post by **Peter Kotowych** » Mon Nov 22, 2004 6:33 pm

I got my glass from Composite Canada in Toronto.
1-905-629-3178
It was very reasonable in price. I tried to find my receipt but of course could not.
I believe it was about $118.00 including shipping. I ordered 11 yards of 6 oz cloth. I requested that it not be folded and it was shipped wrapped around a hard cardboard tube with corrugated cardboard and plastic around that. I could not have been more pleased.
I have also bought products from Noah's and they are a good company to deal with too.

Pete

Glen Smith · Post by **Glen Smith** » Mon Nov 22, 2004 6:46 pm

Hi Pete, at Noah's I can get 11 yards of 6oz 60" wide E-glass for $99 including shipping and tax.

Dave B. · Post by **Dave B.** » Mon Nov 22, 2004 8:27 pm

Flipping through the Wooden Boat Mag I stumbled across a advertisement for East System Epoxy (Nov/Dec 2004 page #19), where they sell 6oz x 60" cloth for $5.15/yd.
FYI,

Dave

Peter Kotowych · Post by **Peter Kotowych** » Mon Nov 22, 2004 9:42 pm

Hi Glen,

You win!!

But $118.00 Cdn is still better than $140.00 U.S.

Pete

Glen Smith · Post by **Glen Smith** » Mon Nov 22, 2004 9:44 pm

Hi Pete, what's this about US currency? I'm in Canada and the price I quoted from Noah's is in Canadian currency.

Peter Kotowych · Post by **Peter Kotowych** » Mon Nov 22, 2004 10:25 pm

Hey Glen,

You are right about the Cdn money, but Reinbilt was quoting U.S. I believe.
You have to show me how to post a pic on this site so I won't have to bug you all the time.

Take care,
Pete

Glen Smith · Post by **Glen Smith** » Mon Nov 22, 2004 10:41 pm

Hi Pete, first of all, you cannot post pictures straight from your home computer. Your photos must be stored in a publicly accessible computer. This could be done through your Internet Service Provider if you have "free" website space included in your service. Another way is to upload your photos to a website that allows photo storage and linking. Not all photo storage sites will allow you to link your photos to other sites however. I now use http://www.photobucket.com/ for photo posting. You can open a free account and upload your photos to their website. Once uploaded, select the photo you want to post and resize it if is a very large photo. Photos that are so large that they overflow off of the screen are a pain and take a lot of bandwidth. Once the photo is ready for posting you right click on the photo then click on properties. Highlight Address URL, right click and choose copy. When you want to insert the photo in your message you click on (Img) located above then right click and choose paste. This will copy the photo URL and then you click on Close Tags located above. These are the procedures using Internet Explorer and they will be different if using another browser. The next step is to click on (Preview) located below to see if everything is fine. Make any necessary corrections then click on (Submit) located below.

Good luck.

Its Me · Post by **Its Me** » Tue Nov 23, 2004 7:39 am

Raka has good prices and a large selection.

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

TK · Post by TK » Tue Nov 23, 2004 8:15 am

Jamestown fiberglaas comes folded and rolled but not on a spindle. You can only get one length or one lot, they will not cut it. Sometimes when it is foldled it spreads the threads at the fold. Better to get it rolled!

TGK

Jeff in Farmington, MI · Tue Nov 23, 2004 11:40 am

Regardless of where you get your fiberglass, you should inquire about the "finish" which is applied to the cloth that you are buying. The finish is a chemical bath which enhances the bonding between the resin and the glass. All glass cloth has a finish applied, but different finishes can produce very different results when trying to produce a clear hull. After a close call with the wrong stuff, I took it upon myself to do a little reading on the subject.

There are two main finishes that you are likely to encounter when shopping for glass boat cloth. The most common appears to be Volan. It is a chromium based finish which has been around a long time, but can impart a green tint to the final product. Now, I know that many, if not most of you, have used Volan treated glass cloth for your canoes, and have reported no complaints (we discussed this in a forum thread last summer). I'm not an expert, but I have to assume that the green tint can appear in varying degrees, depending on the manufacturer and the process they use. It might also vary with each batch, so one piece of cloth may be fine and another may look green.

I believe that the preferred finish for fiberglass cloth on a cedar strip canoe is "silane". Silane finishes produce a clear laminate and does not contain chromium. I have no idea whether the chromium based finishes present a health risk to the boatbuilder, but its absence from the silane finish is, to me, just one more advantage.

The first glass I ordered had a Volan finish. Fortunately, I wetted out a piece of the cloth on a test panel made from scrap cedar, and discovered the green tint before I glassed my canoe. I contacted the supplied, who was willing to take back the unused material and send me some silane coated cloth. After receiving the new cloth, I was able to compare the raw materials side by side. The silane coated class even had a much whiter appearance!

If you are interested, a simple web search will turn up a lot of information regarding fiberglass cloth and the finishes that are available. A particularly good start is the John R. Sweet Company [url]http://johnrsweet.com/index.html
From their home page, scroll down to "Information Pages", then "Fabric Finishes".

reinbilt · Post by **reinbilt** » Tue Nov 23, 2004 1:49 pm

Thanks to everyone for your input. Jeff, that was some good technical advice. I think I'll stick with a proven brand at least on the two canoes I'm building this winter.

The Bear Mountain Boat Shop

Jamestown fiberglass cloth

Jamestown fiberglass cloth

Posting photos

Jamestown fiber glass