I am going to fiberglass my Weekender this summer.
I was thinking of glassing the boat bottom, deck, seat backs and bottoms and the two hatch covers and then leaving the lazzerette, cockpit floor, and cabin bulkhead un-glassed. I have already painted the cockpit bottom, lazerette and cabin bulkheads, but am willing to sand down if fiberglassing is recommended.
I still have the trimwork to do (rub rails, cabin windows, leeboards, etc.). to do. Hopefully it makes sense to do all of this after glassing.
Anyone have any opinions or ..."I wish I would have's.....". Also, any quick advice on purchasing of glass would be appreciated. I was going to just order from Raka. I was also going to use kevlar cloth on the keel and chines, but not sure how...if I need to overlap, etc. Not sure if the Raka stuff is polyester or not....many people seem not to like polyester resin.
My humble opinion is to glass whatever is exposed to the weather except the keel. This will stop checking of the plywood. You won't want to glass the keel. Just paint and repaint and repaint and re...
If you're going to use aramid (Kevlar), be aware that you'll need another layer of glass over it when it comes time for fairing because you can't sand it.
I haven't built my Vac yet, but based on using Kevlar on other boats, I'd say these boats won't really make the most of its properties, especially given the cost. It seems that most people on here who have used poly resin have regretted not going with epoxy in the first place. Plus, epoxy seems to bond with wood a whole lot better anyway.
Kevlar is unnecessarily over kill. An extra layer or two of regular cloth or one of the polyester cloths available, will provide good abrasion protection on the chines.
Areas that will see lots of traffic or abuse will need cloth, like the cockpit sole, the bottom planking and chines.
All the cloth does is provide some abrasion protection (okay a little moisture proofing too), if it's a thin laminate (a few layers of cloth or less), which this is.
Douglas fur does have a nasty habit of checking and often the only way to slow it down (if not stop darn near all of it) is with a well applied skinning of cloth and goo (epoxy).
OK, I'd like a bit of info also: I'm leaning toward not glassing my SuperSkip to save time and a bit of weight. How have people been finding the weathering of the INterlux 2-part straight over wood? My alternative would be to glass with very light cloth, try and use peel-ply to minimise fairing post-glass, etc. An extra week and probably 20-30lbs, I'd guess.
I look forward to your thoughts...
Mike
Ahoy,
Not sure about the weight factor. We are way over-weight, I'm sure. (By that I mean the boat, not the skipper and the crewâ though they, too, might need to lose a pound or two).
Rather than Peel-ply (we used some it as well), we found standard Rip-stock nylon a good alternative and much cheaper. We found our at a fabric store. I found it a lot safer to go to the fabric store accompanied by Miss Pat.
Fiberglassing the keel does not seem like a good idea to me. The keel, after all, hits a lot of rocks, sharks, and maybe a jet-skier or two. I would want to be able to inspect the damage and be able to effect any needed repairs. I would not want a fiberglassed keel retaining any water beneath damaged fiberglass.
Hey Mike, how about just sealing the wood with epoxy ? I'd be interested to know if the interlux will bond to epoxy that's still 'green'. Anyone know ?
Well, I guess I can be the test case here with a boat just finished. I put two layers of fiberglass on my douglas fir keel with a 20' long strip of 6" wide kevlar between them to protect the bottom of it from penetrating scrapes. Penetrating the fiberglass wasn't at all difficult with a sander, but penetrating the kevlar seemed impossible, so I feel pretty good about its abrasion resistance qualities. As far as water intrusion and rot, time will tell what we see with this layout.
John k.
Brian: I was wondering about that too. Interlux's primer is an epoxy primer, I believe, so I'd think it'd bond. If not, what about a thinned two-part primer?
Weekender builders Peter (Frolic) and Todd (Drakken) are both suggesting glass, even though Peter did not glass his SSkip. It is showing signs of checking already, but the paint was not too great and it's been in Texas heat.
Mike