First Time Fiberglasser- Couple of Questions

[Justin-KS]

I have a 73 Ranger, and Im in the process of replacing the deck. The stringers seemed fine, dry shavings and all, so it think im getting off with just doing the deck.

The boat is only 44 inches wide, and im using 1/2 inch plywood. so how many layers of cloth do I need, how heavy of a cloth, and lastly how much epoxy. The floor area will be around 27 sq/ft.

I was planning to order off the us composites website.

Thanks for any information!

 

[ondarvr]

Re: First Time Fiberglasser- Couple of Questions

One layer of 10 oz cloth will work fine. Some people just coat the bottom side of the plywood with epoxy, its best to use a cloth here to, just helps it last longer.

Cloth is weighed by the square yard (10 oz's per square yard), add up the number of square yards and weight of the amount of glass you need to cover everything and multiply that number by 1.5, this will give you the amount of epoxy you need in pounds.

 

[Justin-KS]

Re: First Time Fiberglasser- Couple of Questions

ok sounds simple enough, but what does a typical gallon of epoxy weigh? everything I see just gives the fluid ounce content.

I found in one thread where a guy stated 1oz of resin to 1 oz of cloth per square yard, so in my case 10 oz of resin per square yard, is this about right?

Also, is it 10 oz of resin alone or 10 oz of combined resin and hardner per square yard?

 

[danond]

Re: First Time Fiberglasser- Couple of Questions

Buy two gallons. If it's not enough, get a few more. You won't know how much you need until you start using it. Depends on temp, the stuff you buy, etc. and it's not a critical thing (buy more than enough to get started, less than you need to finish).

You can always order more. It's tough to unload the stuff you don't need, though.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: First Time Fiberglasser- Couple of Questions

I coulda swore fiberglass is oz/sq.ft ..

Use only enough resin to wet the glass out. different types require different ratios ( IE mat normally takes 2x resin to oz .. 1.5 oz fiberglass will require 3 oz resin per square foot )

YD.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: First Time Fiberglasser- Couple of Questions

Cloth and other stitched or woven fabrics are by the yard, mat is by the foot.

The amount of resin is determined by many things, a properly done cloth, roving or biax laminate should be in the 50% glass range by weight, mat is in the 35% glass range.

Using any of these in a single layer over wood will require slightly more due to pre-coating the wood and then using more resin over the final layup to help fill and hide the glass pattern.

 

[Justin-KS]

Re: First Time Fiberglasser- Couple of Questions

Ok, i think Im getting a better idea of how much epoxy i need.

Thanks for the help guys! Already loving this site tons of info on here!!