Filling divits in the hull skin?

[scottrbishop]

Hey all,

Spent the last 2 weeks taking out my transom and got a new one cut and epoxied yesterday. That was my first time working with marine epoxy and man is that stuff crazy! My first batch I wasted about 50$ worth in a smoking mess.

Now that the transom is in there's a few chips in the fiberglass that exposes the plywood in the hull skin. What sort fo compound should I use to fil these in? I also am going to need to glass over the top and down the side that connects to the splashwell. Any sugestions for the easiest material to work with? I'd like it to end up looking white like the rest of the splashwell, but color match isn't crucial.

Thanks! I've learned a lot from you guys.

 

[Mark42]

Re: Filling divits in the hull skin?

For the chips I would mix some epoxy with thickener and apply to the chips with a putty knife. Just make sure the chipped area is clean.

First time I worked with polyester resin I was glassing up a damaged car (I was 17 years old). Working with my bare hands and glass mat, my hands were soon covered with glass fibers and the resin was dripping off my hands and was setting up fast. Must have mixed in a lot of hardner. Ended up getting burned from the heat of the resin. Ran inside and stuck my hands under cold water until it set up. Took quite a while to peel off all that hardened glass and resin from my skin. Be careful.

 

[i386]

Re: Filling divits in the hull skin?

If you smoked $50 worth you must have mixed a pretty big batch. I would suggest mixing smaller batches. About 1/2 of a plastic sour cream container is about as big as I mix. You can go bigger but do it in a wide container so that it can't build up heat. 1/2 of a yogurt cup will smoke, but that same amount in a wider container won't.

 

[oops!]

Re: Filling divits in the hull skin?

picks wolud be great......

let me see if i understand....as far as the chips....is it chipped from the outside of the boat thru to the new plywood core?

if it is......you will need to add fiber glass to the chipped area....grind out around the chipped area, them add a few layers of glass......with either tight weave cloth (light) or thin matt as the final finishing layer.

then fill the area, marine tex or a gellcoat patch........there is a new product called patch aid ....from composits one. i saw it used on a repair.......totally invisible......

as far as tabbing in the transom,

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=234392
post 206....or 209.....has pics......

if you are using epoxy. just a layer or two to tab it in will do.

cheers
oops