Resins

[swimmin' for shore]

Is there a difference between the resin used for coating your marine plywood and the resin you coat epoxy and filler with? I'm a little new to this, but we'll get it figured out or sink trying.

 

[Rudderman]

Re: Resins

If you're talking about epoxy, then theres no difference. You can coat marine plywood or filler with unthickened epoxy. <br />In a gluing application, you simply mix "powdery stuff" (colloidal silica or microfibres) with the epoxy to make it thicker and fill gaps better.<br /><br />If you can tell us what your particular application is, we'd be able to help you better.

 

[swimmin' for shore]

Re: Resins

Rudder, thanks for answering. I'll be working with various items here, and all of this fiberglass work is brand new to me. I have a 1967 Thunderbird, 21' long. The stringers are good, the deck is out. A lot of what I am looking for, I've been able to read through other threads, but the basics are that I know to cut my wood out to size, and then coat it before I place it back over the stringers. I'm not exactly sure what to coat with. As an end result, I will carpet the floor across, but I want this deck to last for awhile. Maybe you can give me an idea of what to coat with, and what to use to feather the sides of the flooring in with the side of the boat. Thanks again.

 

[jim dozier]

Re: Resins

If you are just working with fiberglass and no wood you would use polyester resin. If you are working with wood and fiberglass use epoxy resin. Epoxy will stick to wood better and is a better moisture barrier than polyester. Remember epoxy resin will stick to both old epoxy and old polyester resins, but polyester resin will not stick (well) to old epoxy. Epoxies come in laminating and penetrating resins which are low viscosities (thin) and epoxy-adhesives (glue) is basically just a higher viscosity thicker resin. The epoxy glue is usually 50:50 resin:catalyst. The thinner laminating resins are usually something like 5:1 resin/catalyst. As mentioned in the posts above you can thicken and/or reinforce resins with thickeners and fibers.

 

[Realgun]

Re: Resins

Is there a difference between the resin used for coating your marine plywood and the resin you coat epoxy and filler with? I'm a little new to this, but we'll get it figured out or sink trying.<br />

Actually no, Laminating epoxy is like water so it will flow into the gaps in the fiberglass mat cloth etc. Then there are thicker epoxys that can be used to laminate but are desiged to be thicked or used to glue two pieces of whatever to each other. <br /><br />Now you can use the thin epoxy to glue but you want to use a filler so the glue will not run out of the gap and stick insted of flow away. <br />Silica- good at bulking epoxy<br />microballons- good for bulking and easier to sand.<br />Glass fibers- longer stronger shorter easier to sand and smoother.<br />Hope this helps.

 

[swimmin' for shore]

Re: Resins

Realgun, thanks for the info. Sorry to sound so slow about this, but I work for the government, so I'm way too poor to buy more than I need. Probably to poor for a boat, but it's slightly cheaper than a wife. So let me try to straighten this out in my own head. Here's what I have, and I'll add questions as I go.<br /><br />1. Cut marine plywood out to size. <br />2. Resin the wood all around before putting it into place on the stringers. Do I use a thickened resin here? <br />3. Screw the new deck down to the stringers. <br />4. Glue the edges of the new deck to the sides of the hull. What is the right product to fasten these together? I've heard to use a kind of caulking for flexibility of the deck, and then fair it into the hull and deck. Is this right? <br /><br />Ok, that's where I am. If I'm missing anything here, please give me an idea. After that, I'm tossing around the foam idea, as it looks like a very good idea. I'm also tossing around putting some kind of matting over the top for strength, but I'm going to carpet it when all is said and done, so is this really necessary? What kind of matting would you use, if any? Any replies are greatly appreciated. Fortunately, I'm at sea for at least the next 3 1/2 months and probably more, so I have plenty of time for research, but I want to get hot on it when I return. A boat sitting in the yard won't do me a lot of good.

 

[lark2004]

Re: Resins

1 yep thats good,<br />2 yep resina ll round, use a thin resin first that will penetrate the wood fibres better<br />3 two lines of thought on that, some will say screw the floor down, others say to glue it down with an epoxy 'bog'(resin mixed with fibre to thicken it)<br />4 Many boats I've seen re-floored here in Australia are glassed into the hull, talk to repaires about this, as it may depend on the brand of boat you have. Also most people will glass the top of the floor even if they are putting carpet down.

 

[Realgun]

Re: Resins

<br />1. Cut marine plywood out to size. <br />2. Resin the wood all around before putting it into place on the stringers. Do I use a thickened resin here? <br />3. Screw the new deck down to the stringers. <br />4. Glue the edges of the new deck to the sides of the hull. What is the right product to fasten these together? I've heard to use a kind of caulking for flexibility of the deck, and then fair it into the hull and deck. Is this right?

1. Yes<br />2. Coat the wood with a light epoxy not the thick stuff. Do bottom twice be sure you get edges Just paint it on like Paint. <br />3. Then after you screw deck in.<br />Or thicken the same epoxy with milled or ground glass fibers (5 lbs is like 13.00) 1/8" or longer glue the floor and screw in place.<br /><br />4. Thcken the epoxy up with the same glass fibers till it feels like peanut butter and bond it to the hull very strong!<br /><br />Thats what I did. Then on the top part I epoxied 1 coat like the first step. Then epoxied glass cloth of 6 oz from edge to edge with an extra 6 inches up sides. 2 coats of epoxy. 1 to encapsulate the glass cloth and 1 to fill in the cloth holes? dips in the cloth.<br /><br />Now I have not done the glass part yet however as soon as i get my hands on some money I will.

 

[swimmin' for shore]

Re: Resins

Hey. Thank all of you guys. I don't want to get all sappy on you, but I'm just beginning to learn about boatwork, fiberbglass, etc...Quite honestly, this has been a daunting task, to say the least. I think I have a beautiful older boat,(21' 1967 Thunderbird-cathedral hull) and I want to do right by it. This website, and all of your help has been more encouraging and informative than anything I've found anywhere. I bought the boat for 500 bucks, figuring that if the motor didn't start, I could always resell the trailer to recoup my investment. When the motor turned over, I wasn't entirely sure if I should be happy or cry. There's a lot of other work to do to the interior, and I still haven't even figured out what kind of motor I have. Anyway, with all of the information I've read on and you guys have helped me with, I'm ready to get back home and take on this task, and get this boat where it belongs-back on the water. Thanks again. James

 

[CalicoKid]

Re: Resins

James you're doing the right thing. Practice the work in your head before jumping in. When you get your materials maybe you could mock up some small scraps to simulate the joints and fillets etc. Remember, there are no shortcuts...