help with fiberglassing

[phatso]

Big hello to anyone reading this,

to start with, i am very new to this sort of thing,ie using a forum, so please, feel free to jump in and help at anytime !

I have a 9 mtr cabin cruiser that i purchased in need of repair. It is ply with fiberglass over it. It had rot in a few places, mainly where the bow rail was, all of which i have cut out and replaced with new wood, all glued and screwed with the right materials. Iam now up to the fiberglassing part and i havn't got a clue how to go about it. Is there anyone who can describe to me a step by step approach to this ? I have put up some photos so, hopefully you can get a idea of what i am trying to do. Any help with this and a lot of other things along the way, would be very much appreciated.

With thanks, Phatso.

[Flightmanager]

Hi Phatso ,

Looks like you have quite a job ahead of you !! From experience , heres a few tips that may help :

1) Keep it clean !! After sanding the surface , wipe the prepared surface down with acetone . This will remove any dust or grease that may be on the surface.

2) Wear protective gloves at all times. Resin will burn your skin as it starts to cure , and acetone will dry your skin out like nobodies business ! A good barrier cream is advisable also.

3) Ventilation. Resin and acetone create toxic vapours, try to avoid breathing them as much as possible.

I have never attempted such a large scale repair , but have done many smaller ones. My personal preference is a layer of woven mat for the first layer , followed by a layer of chopped mat for subsequent layers. Finish off with a layer of gel coat.

A Google search for " Fibreglassing" or "Fibreglass Repairs " will get you a wealth of knowledge , read up as much as you can before you start , resin aint cheap , and it will go " off" quickly if not mixed properly.

Perhaps you could post a series of pics in " The Workshop" part of the forums so we can see how it is progressing !!

Ross

[phatso]

Hey Phatso..

I am tackling a much smaller glassing job than yourself (See Workshop)( Extra storage bin for Freedomsport)

But I think your best advice would be to call a local fibreglass place and they should be able to point you in the right direction on what Matting you need and how much resin etc.

A rule of thumb is 1 square meter of 450gram matting equals a litre of resin.

I will send you a PM with the details of where I went ,but sure you can find somewhere closer to yourself.

Best of luck

Thanks for that, i'll check that out. It sure is a daunting task.

[phatso]

Hi Phatso ,

Looks like you have quite a job ahead of you !! From experience , heres a few tips that may help :

1) Keep it clean !! After sanding the surface , wipe the prepared surface down with acetone . This will remove any dust or grease that may be on the surface.

2) Wear protective gloves at all times. Resin will burn your skin as it starts to cure , and acetone will dry your skin out like nobodies business ! A good barrier cream is advisable also.

3) Ventilation. Resin and acetone create toxic vapours, try to avoid breathing them as much as possible.

I have never attempted such a large scale repair , but have done many smaller ones. My personal preference is a layer of woven mat for the first layer , followed by a layer of chopped mat for subsequent layers. Finish off with a layer of gel coat.

A Google search for " Fibreglassing" or "Fibreglass Repairs " will get you a wealth of knowledge , read up as much as you can before you start , resin aint cheap , and it will go " off" quickly if not mixed properly.

Perhaps you could post a series of pics in " The Workshop" part of the forums so we can see how it is progressing !!

Ross

Thanks Ross, i'll will put some pics in the workshop as i go along. As you can see, i have a job on my hands !