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Strip Planking 15: Fiberglassing the Hull [video]
This video shows the fiberglassing of the hull of the microBootlegger. I'm applying one layer of 4 ounce E-glass with a coat of epoxy resin. After the wet-out coat of epoxy starts to set up I apply a thin fill coat.
Before I started I turned the heat in the shop up to 80° F (27° C). After rolling the glass on to the boat I let it all warm up for several hours. I also put a work light behind the jugs of epoxy to warm them up.
By the time I actually started applying resin, both the boat and the epoxy were quite warm. This lowered the viscosity of the epoxy and allowed it to soak quickly into the cloth. Because the shop was so warm I had to work quickly as not only does the heat effect the viscosity of the resin, it also reduces its working time.
I mixed small batches of resin so it would not set up too much before I had a chance to get it on the boat.
After I finished wetting out the cloth, I inspect the boat to look for starved spots, then squeegeed off the excess resin. I slit cut into the edge of a paper cup makes a good tool or "grunge cup" for removing the epoxy from the squeegee.
After another inspection, I left the boat for a few hours until the resin had set up enough that it would not float up on the fill coat.