TOPIC: Project starter kit....

Happy New Year Folks !

As part of my 2013 boat resolution (30 percent Honey-do, 70 percent boat-do) I have been putting together my list of materials that I will need :

8.7oz woven cloth
1.5 oz chopped mat
435 Polyester resin
MEKP hardener
Surfacing wax
Resin roller (what width is good ?)
2lb polyethylene cross linked closed cell foam (rib & stringer forms)
Acetone or alcohol
Fairing compound

Already have :
Nitrile gloves
Harbor freight respirator (do I need charcoal ?)
Crap load of sandpaper

Question #1:

Resin pot (shelf) life ?
I've read the resin is good for years if stored in a cool place
Manufacturer says it only guaranteed for 3 months.
What is everyone's experience ?

MEKP hardener is another story
I read it's good as long as you keep it out of the sun .
Comments ?

Due to the fact that my first project has many holes cut-outs, and cracks
I'm going to need quite a bit of the material, and will have to get the materials by flying it under the eagle eye radar !!!
So I plan getting the resin and hardener last…. Pending comments ????

Good start. I would go with 1708 cloth, its pretty universal. You can make your own fairing compound using resin, milled fiberglass, 1/8 chopped strand, and cabosil. There are many ways to do the fiberglass work, you just need to find the way you like.

Just tell her it's for her birthday present. She won't fight you until she finds out what the stuff is for. Found this on the web. Though someone might enjoy it. My suggestion would be to use her name and add, "The Love of my Life" after it.

ROFLMAO

Hey PSU,
Pardon my fiberglass work "lack" of knowledge….I'm sorry if these questions sound trivial to you all ?
Looking on line it looks like 1708 cloth is a cloth and mat sewn together.
After reading, in the research tab, about fiberglass repair, the process is mat, cloth, mat, cloth, mat in layers (thickness dependent)
So with the 1708 cloth, because the mat and cloth are already together, I would just need (2) 1708 cloth layers and a final mat layer ?
If that's the case ? Price wise it looks like the 1708 cloth is a little less expensive than the cloth and mat separately… per square foot.
(depending on where you buy ? Or pretty much a wash ?)

Speaking of the "fiberglass repair" in the research tab. Nowhere does it say what OZ cloth or mat that was used ?
I assume…. The higher the OZ, the thicker it is. (I'm basing off of some of the US Composite thicknesses).
How do I know that (5) layers, alternating, that the repair, (in the tutorial) will be too shallow of flush, or protrude above flush, depending on the OZ mat & cloth that I have ?
I figure you'll all say "experience". But my fear is: I'll make it protrude, and sand back to flush, and in the process sand off the last finish layer of mat, and be in the layer of
Cloth ? Is that bad ?

Robert,
just so you know ? I bought my wife a hammer drill for Sweetest Day once... but she really freaked when I said I was going to buy her a dump truck for Mother's Day ?
Maybe the Birthday is the way to go ????

Chuck, having only completed one project involving major fiberglass work I hardly consider myself an expert. The gang down at US Composites was very helpful with any and all questions I had, always shot me a straight answers and never tried to "over sell" me their product(s). Like u I did as much research as possible before starting, almost to the point it got confusing with so many different opinions and methods.

The 1708 biaxial cloth (with mat) is preferred by so many because it makes layup so much easier, and still has good strength qualities. There are situations where something else may work better material wise, but the experts (at US Comp) could advise with greater accuracy there.

Maybe post some pics of the problem areas, I'm sure the gang didn't mean to trivialize your questions.

When it comes right down to it probably most of us just what you might say dabble in it. I'm only working on my second boat. Many of the Fiberglas repairs are most likely to do with transom, floors, stringers or bow wear repairs. Of course I could be wrong. I had a lot of fiberglass repair on automotive. And on the hammer drill, GOOD SCORE. You just might be pushing it with a dump truck.

Chuck

Yes, thats the good part about 1708 its got the csm layer and the mat in one cloth. As far as usage and layers, I guess it would be better to know what you are exactly doing. When I did my transom, I tabbed it in with 1708, and put two more layers of 1708 on top of that. I call that good for my GT150.