glass/epoxy float: my arch nemesis!

sluggo · Post by **sluggo** » Sun Jun 01, 2008 10:37 pm

when I glassed the hull a few weeks ago I had a bit of float in a couple of places. It surprised me as everything looked good after the squeegee. I didn't have the glass completely flat prior to wetting out with epoxy, as I thought the epoxy would help the glass hold to the hull. I'm using 2 layers of Style 1678, which is a strong 3.2oz cloth. It works well but is a bit tougher to wet out and a bit stiffer.

The fill coats got everything covered but I did do some sanding and managed to get through to the cloth in a spot or two. It's not done, so i can't say just how bad/difficult this may get. Anyways I recall having some problems like this with the kayak I built and boy was it annoying and hard, and involved a lot of small epoxy additions and sanding.

The spot of cloth I've uncovered so far is about 1cm x 3cm. The surrounding/adjacent epoxy isn't completely sanded flat yet either. Any brilliant suggestions on how to go about this is appreciated. I'm almost tempted to sand right through and then add small patches later. Not sure if I'd be able to find where I sanded through the glass later on though! But boy would it be a lot easier if I could just sand everything flat with the ROS and worry about the exposed spots later.

cheers

sluggo · Post by **sluggo** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 2:14 am

Hi,

I just thought I'd check again and see if anyone has any special tips or suggestions.

thanks

canoeblderinmt · Post by **canoeblderinmt** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 5:15 pm

Sluggo,
Floating cloth is indeed a bummer. If you are to the cloth and not through the cloth, I'd wash the area with Acetone and squeegee on a little more epoxy. If you are through the glass, you're on the right idea, you'll need to apply some small patches. Which are a pain to feather, but pretty well disappear if done right.

Greg

sluggo · Post by **sluggo** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 7:22 pm

Hi,
No, I definitely not through the cloth. It's such a pain and time consuming, especially when the immediately adjacent areas still need some sanding. But you're probably correct in that it would be faster than applying a patch.
s.