Fiberglassing without a bag 101

[SoloRider]

Would you cut the board in the same way you'd cut a non-glassed board? In other words, do you have to take the glass into consideration when cutting, such as fraying or splintering?

Nope. No difference. It'll wear your jigsaw blade faster than cutting a non glassed deck but not so much faster than without. Speaking of jigsaws, if yours has an adjustable orbital setting put it on low. It'll still cut pretty clean and the orbital action will help the blade last longer than not using orbital at all.

[Nafertikus]

Cool. Thanks for giving me a han solo.



Intentional typos are teh tits.

[LeSueur264]

When putting a brush on finish on glass do you have to do anything differently than you would if it was just wood?

[flannelman]

When putting a brush on finish on glass do you have to do anything differently than you would if it was just wood?

no its not that different. but i would buy a squeegee blade for doing it. 5 buck and lasts a lot longer. with a brush, you may get hairs in cast in your epoxy, and that is no bueno. you can find 6 inch and 12 inch wide blades for spreading it. they arent "squeegee" per-say, but work with the same concept. there in no handle, just a tall wide blade. like for putty. that will work more than great because when you get to the ends of the deck, and need to move epoxy away from the edge, a brush wont do it easily.

[Daniel M.]

I prefer a bit more flexible squeegee/spreader, but I can use anything. I use the reg. west systems ones a lot and they're fine, a bit stiff but you can still bend them. When doing things with heavy concave, etc it's nice to have some flex though.

You can even make your own, the main thing you want to make sure is that you have a true flat edge to spread with, and that it won't snap on fiberglass etc.

Although they're not really expensive since you can use them over and over and over.

[SoloRider]

When putting a brush on finish on glass do you have to do anything differently than you would if it was just wood?

Wait a second, are you asking about epoxy or a finish, like poly, over the top of it?

[LeSueur264]

I was talking about a finish, but I just did my first practice glass job and from what it looks like the layer of epoxy you put on top of the glass is pretty much the same thing as a normal wood finish?

[SoloRider]

I was talking about a finish, but I just did my first practice glass job and from what it looks like the layer of epoxy you put on top of the glass is pretty much the same thing as a normal wood finish?

The problem with epoxy alone is that it'll break down with UV exposure so you need to go over the top of it with something else. Sand the epoxy down to remove any blushing but not so far that you cut into the fiberglass and then coat with poly. Use foam brushes and finish each coat with a light brushing to remove bubbles.

[flannelman]

yeah, i use wood glue to make the deck, then i use some poly meant form surfboards on the finished shaped and stained deck. then i lay out the glass, then hit that with some more poly. then i layer it with another layer to get rid of that fiberglass texture. then i use a finish coat additive to the last coat, and wet sand. the poly i use has a very very slight blue look (though it would make yellow look green at all), but i make predominately purple decks. the surfboard poly is about 22 dollars a quart, and has built in UV inhibitors, and is wax free so no sanding between coats. the top coat need a special additive, but thats just the wax. it cures fairly fast, but stinks. i imagine thats what the ninja turtles smelled when they fell in that goo to become mutants.

[Maxx]

So I just did another fiberglass job, and I keep running into the same problem of having the fiberglass have little unclear patches. There's random patches where its not totally white, but just not uniformly clear. I know it probably won't affect the performance, but I don't like the look. Why does/did this happen?

[SoloRider]

So I just did another fiberglass job, and I keep running into the same problem of having the fiberglass have little unclear patches. There's random patches where its not totally white, but just not uniformly clear. I know it probably won't affect the performance, but I don't like the look. Why does/did this happen?

Not enough epoxy is my first thought. What epoxy and glass are you using? How much epoxy do you use per layer of glass for your layup? Also, are you using a wet or dry application of your glass?

[Maxx]

Not enough epoxy is my first thought. What epoxy and glass are you using? How much epoxy do you use per layer of glass for your layup? Also, are you using a wet or dry application of your glass?

I'm using biaxial glass with west systems epoxy. I don't know exactly how much I use but I think I put plenty of epoxy down, like after everythings all soaked up and stuff, I lay down a little more epoxy. I don't know what dry/wet application is but I just put epoxy on the wood, lay down the glass, then put more epoxy on top.

[SoloRider]

I'm using biaxial glass with west systems epoxy. I don't know exactly how much I use but I think I put plenty of epoxy down, like after everythings all soaked up and stuff, I lay down a little more epoxy. I don't know what dry/wet application is but I just put epoxy on the wood, lay down the glass, then put more epoxy on top.

That's a wet application, dry application is where you put the glass down on the dry wood and then add epoxy. If you're using plenty of epoxy, try spreading with your hands(wear nitrile gloves) instead of a spreader to help work the epoxy into the layers.

[flannelman]

So I just did another fiberglass job, and I keep running into the same problem of having the fiberglass have little unclear patches. There's random patches where its not totally white, but just not uniformly clear. I know it probably won't affect the performance, but I don't like the look. Why does/did this happen?

could you take a pic. i might be able to help if i can see the amount. right now the fix would be to use another coat of epoxy (that is why i use poly resin, its a third the price.) the glass should clear. it just didn't because it wasn't saturated. maybe the wood soaked up the epoxy.

[Maxx]

Yea...

[flannelman]

it looks like you didn't have enough resin. if you did a dry application, then the resin soaked into the wood. i always put at least one coating on the wood, let that cure, then dry apply the FG. hen i let that cure, and sand it down to get out the flaws in the resin. i also use poly resin for surfboards, so they are uv resistant and very clear. on the main body of the board, the little tinge of white might be the epoxy itself. my canoe looks like that.

to fix this (hopefully) put another coat on top of what you have. i do that to hide the texture, but in your case it will make it clear. your FG isnt saturated. hope that work. just remember, wood is very porous, and will soak up a lot of your resin, or epoxy.

before you do any of this, wait for some more advice. and look around.

[Maxx]

it looks like you didn't have enough resin. if you did a dry application, then the resin soaked into the wood. i always put at least one coating on the wood, let that cure, then dry apply the FG. hen i let that cure, and sand it down to get out the flaws in the resin. i also use poly resin for surfboards, so they are uv resistant and very clear. on the main body of the board, the little tinge of white might be the epoxy itself. my canoe looks like that.

to fix this (hopefully) put another coat on top of what you have. i do that to hide the texture, but in your case it will make it clear. your FG isnt saturated. hope that work. just remember, wood is very porous, and will soak up a lot of your resin, or epoxy.

before you do any of this, wait for some more advice. and look around.

What you said about the wood absorbing the epoxy made sense. I think I'll do that next time, lay down a layer of epoxy before fiberglassing. What do you mean by sanding out flaws in the resin?

[flannelman]

What you said about the wood absorbing the epoxy made sense. I think I'll do that next time, lay down a layer of epoxy before fiberglassing. What do you mean by sanding out flaws in the resin?

i use a squeegee to spread the resin, and that sometimes leave some vertical lines. it try to get rid of the larger hills and bloopers. then i put on a several thin coats and then a finish coat. once again, poly is a lot cheaper and i can afford to use lots of layers of it.

[lngbrdngdude305]

im new to fiberglassing and i have a couple of questions:

1. once the resin has cured completely can i paint over it..if i can what do i have to do to prep the surface..

2. this is prob a dumb question but..i could still lay down grip tape on a glassed board right?

[LeSueur264]

im new to fiberglassing and i have a couple of questions:

1. once the resin has cured completely can i paint over it..if i can what do i have to do to prep the surface..

2. this is prob a dumb question but..i could still lay down grip tape on a glassed board right?

1. Yes, all I did was spray a layer of primer over it and it came out fine.

2. Yes, but if I were you I would put some sort of finish over the glass before you grip it. Just to give it a little protection.