Fiberglass questions

[drewmitch44]

Ok you might have seen that ive been opening up the bow of my boat. Today i found some wet foam under there. I started ripping up the deck and found that the foam was only wet up close to the bow. Im going to rip the whole floor up though. Someone recently replaced the stringers all but the bow part which was closed and raised. The stringers are new but i have the floor almost all the way off. I pulled about 200-300 pounds of wet foam from the bow. Whenever the stringers were replaced they added a cross board and there was no drain in the center. so water collected there and soked the foam. Well im going to have to reglass the stringers that are there and put a new floor back in. I have used the bondo brand resin and glass from wal-mart on the last boat and i got "ok" results. It might have been me but i like to think that that stuff and not me. What kind of resin do i need to use and is there a place locally i can secure these things? I will use the bondo brand again but id like to explore my options. What kind of resin is that anyways? and what am i supposed to be using? Thanks for any help guys!!

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Fiberglass questions

It can be difficult to know what the resin is, or who made it, it gets sold to companies that repakage it into the smaller containers that you find in the store. These companies can change suppliers frequently looking for a better price.

 

[drewpster]

Re: Fiberglass questions

how is one to know which is the best brand of resin to buy? There are several sources of cheaper "marine grade" resins. Should I just look for the best price and make sure it says "marine" somewhere on the label?

 

[oops!]

Re: Fiberglass questions

hey drew.
marine means money!
some one suggested that you go to a boat glass repair shop and ask them to sell you some resin and matt.
they buy it in bulk and might sell you some to make an easy buck.
you can also get some valuable information there, make new friends....ect ...ect.

other than that, in canada we have a place called acklands, mostly welders supply but they also carry glass and resin for autobody shops, marine too

cheers
sorry bout the foam
oops

 

[mspring]

Re: Fiberglass questions

I am about to glass in new stringers and I have been looking at that resin at Walmart too. The brand Walmart sells here in Florida is Evercoat. I saw the same brand at Boaters World for $27.00 a qt. So Boaters World thinks it is good stuff. At Walmart it is around $11.00 a qt. It says on the can it is thick for filling and laminating. I think that may result in less coverage but Im not sure. I am glassing a little at a time so the quarts are fine for me. They sell small packs of cloth also and my wife works at Walmart so she gets a discount.

 

[Robj]

Re: Fiberglass questions

That is expensive. Last time I bought resin at Wallyworld to finish a project they only had the waxed stuff. If you plan on doing multiple lay-ups you need unwaxed, or plan to do alot of sanding/grinding. The stuff I bought from a plastic supplier cost less than half that. I hear alot of guys buy from US Composites, but up north I think it would be a pain getting it across the border. I buy from a wholesaler in Vancouver.

Have a great day,

Rob.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Fiberglass questions

What you buy at retail stores is typically better resin than what's used to build most the boats. The low end resin used to make up the bulk of the boat is not as strong or water resistant as the type retailers use because the cheaper resins don't have as good of a shelf life. Most boat bulders use a better resin to skin coat the hull, but thats as far as it goes, the rest of the boat is the lower grade stuff.

 

[Old Salt Oz]

Re: Fiberglass questions

When repairing 'standard' resin layups we use epoxy resins, this has the advantage of more strength to weight ratio as well as up to 40% stronger bonding.

Also note:
Closed Cell foam will not soak up water and will also reduce the volume of water that can enter the hull in the event of a breach.

I hope this helps.

Avagoodchrissie......