Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Thanks, Eric, for a great tip! I have not enjoyed any of the steps in this build requiring FG tape on a fresh fillet so I am looking forward to trying your technique when I get to the pesky transom installation next week. I’ll leave feedback on how it works for me.
Yes, in order to add the third dimension to the 2-D fiberglass cloth you will need to do a lot of tugging and stretching of the fabric. I spent nearly as much time smoothing the fiberglass onto the shell with a paint brush and strategic stretching as I did wetting out the fabric with epoxy. I helper would have expedited the process…
Certainly applying heat will help you get the wires out, but it may be unnecessary. I had 10 or more wires around the bulkhead/ hatch stiffener area which refused to budge so I just snipped them flush and sanded them smooth. Of course this leaves an 18 gauge dot of copper visible through the fiberglass, but I find this no more visually detracting than all those dark colored stitch holes which are equally visible.
The previous picture shows one of the bad spots after sanding with 120, and I am planning to gingerly sand with 220 and call it “good”, unless consensus says I should continue with the 120. I would likely sound through the outer veneer to get 100% smooth.
The above picture shows one of the larger tearouts (about 5mm square) after a couple coats of epoxy. My plan was to get it to fill in a bit better then sand of nearly all the epoxy on the smooth wood, hopefully leaving a nicely filled chips/divots. I’m not sure how this is going to look under the glass.
