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I had previously thought that i had some problems with my fiberglassing, although now, i am thinking that what i had was normal... maybe!?
I have some good pictures that i could email to someone to look at for me. unfortunatly i dont have any web space to put them on... is there any other way to post them for today?
what i have is what i think ted moors referes to as the profile of the cloth still showing in my top surface, sanding appears to smooth the surface, but i wanted to ask and get advice rather than sanding into any cloth.
Erik, here are the pics you sent me but resized. It looks like the epoxy has been applied quite thickly but roughly. There doesn't seem to be any bubbles or floating glass. You should be able to sand without any fears. However, if you oversand, you might hit the glass in some places. The usual places are along the keel-line, the sheer and near the stems. Follow Ted's instructions and you should do fine.
If you have been sanding with 80 grit, it looks like it might be time to switch to 120 grit. All other comments and suggestions are welcome.
Erik, as a comparison, I am posting a closeup picture of one of my boats showing what the glass/epoxy looks like. This is 6oz cloth with a wetout coat and two fill coats of epoxy. No sanding and/or varnishing has been done. This is just the epoxy surface as it appears after application. You can see the reflection of the ceiling tiles and lightbulb. This was my fifth boat.
Last edited by Glen Smith on Thu Jan 19, 2006 12:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Erik, I did mention that it was my fifth boat. My first one looked a lot like yours. This stuff takes practice. Just be careful when sanding and keep the sander moving at all times. If there is one spot (or more) where you feel extra sanding is required, do it by hand instead of leaning the sander into it. If you remove less than the ideal amount of epoxy, you will have a slightly heavier boat. But if you sand into the cloth then add more epoxy to cover it up, you will have a slighly heavier boat anyway.
I have already gone around and done all of the high spots. so now i will do the regular sanding uniform and even. i guess when sanding i will just be carfull not to see white cloth?
That's right, attempt to sand evenly so you obtain a smooth surface and just remove the high spots. If you have applied enough epoxy you should be able to do this without hitting the cloth. Stop and clean/inspect the surface often. Some builders do the rough sanding with 120 grit paper then for the finer sanding they switch to wet sanding but either method will cut into the glass if you oversand. Take your time and don't be overstressed by this procedure.
last question, what is the best way to trim up all of the excess glass at the ends and sheerline? i have trimmed everything up with a utility knife, to within a half inch to and inch.
To trim the excess glass I have used a very sharp chisel and I have used a box-cutter knife (retractable blade type). The box-cutter knife requires more careful control. The chisel is more predictable. Trim it close to the wood then use some 120 grit paper on a wood block to clean it up.
I used a utility knife to trim along the sheerline. It worked OK. When trimming along the inside stem after glassing the inside, I found that a sharp chisel worked great (wish I had thought of that before trimming along the sheerline. The (sharp) chisel is a marvelous tool!
