Need quick advice on Deck Glassing

[Signal 20]

I figured I would make a seperate thread for this quick question due to no one ever answers the questions I leave in my build thread anyways.

I am almost done glassing my stringers so the next step is going to be cutting a new deck out of plywood and glassing it in. I was planning on using a fillet compound of resin and wood flour then 1708 biaxal tape to tab the deck in. Then layers of 2oz CSM followed by 18oz Woven Roving with a final layer of CSM to get a smooth surface.

Heres my question. I dont know if I am not getting some trick, but I have had a terrible time wetting out CSM. I hate it. Wetting out Woven Roving and Biaxal seems 100 times easier. So I was considering just using acouple layers of 1708 Biaxal to glass the deck. I know its alittle more expensive, but its much easier to use and needs less resin. Is there anything completely wrong with this idea and would I be making a mistake?

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Need quick advice on Deck Glassing

The fast way to wet out CSM on a flat surface is to wet out the area first with a fuzzy roller, then place the mat down and pour resin on it, move it around with the fuzzy roller as needed. This should make wetting it out go fairly fast

 

[Signal 20]

Re: Need quick advice on Deck Glassing

The fast way to wet out CSM on a flat surface is to wet out the area first with a fuzzy roller, then place the mat down and pour resin on it, move it around with the fuzzy roller as needed. This should make wetting it out go fairly fast

That deffinetly sounds like a good idea. It will probably work better then how I'm doing it now with a cheap paint brush and dabbing it on. Do most people cover the bottom of the deck with fiberglass or do you just saturate it with resin and let it cure? I was planning on just covering the bottom of the plywood I'll use for the deck with Epoxy and let it cure. I wasnt going to use any cloth or fiberglass.

 

[drewpster]

Re: Need quick advice on Deck Glassing

Unless you are dabbing in tight corners a brush is really not the best tool. A deep nap roller will make it go quicker. It seems like your using too much until you realize how much resin CSM uses. Use the largest roller you can on big surfaces and go down to a 4" or 3" on ribs or stringers. You will get the hang of it, you just have not been using enough resin. You may want to use a bit less MEKP to begin with to give you a bit more work time. I use a paint tray and disposable liners and a deep nap fuzzy roller. (the cheap ones) Don?t bother cleaning them, just toss them as you go along.
It is also a good idea to set it up so that you wet out the CSM layer at the same time as anything you are putting roving on. The wet CSM will help the roving hold in the corners better. It will also use less resin as the roving soaks some of the resin out of the CSM.
I coated the bottom of my deck with epoxy before putting it down. A very light fiberglass cloth (surfboard or finishing veil) will make it even more water tight, but a couple of coats of epoxy is far better than nothing.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Need quick advice on Deck Glassing

Epoxy will work longer than polyester without glass, but both will last much longer with a layer of glass.