Staple into fiberglass?

[Marada92]

Working on a project while its cold out and need some advice. I am replacing the wooden backing for the bow seatback. Coushin started pulling away this past summer enough to realize there was some rot issues. The seatback is or shall i say mostly "was" a frame cut from 3/4 ply made to follow the contour of the fiberglass bow than had 1/4" ply nailed to the frame as a backing. What I had intentions on doing is building another frame out of plywood.. sealing it with epoxy then instead of using plywood for the backing try to do a fiberglass back. This was the plan until I started removing the vinyl and foam and realized there is actually two sections of foam and vinyl that meet with a staple line about halfway down the seat itself. So this got me to thinking is there a way to staple into fiberglass? Thats the only thing keeping me from going the fiberglass route is needing to be able to reattach the vinyl. Ive attached a few pictures so you can get the basic idea of what it started out as. Sure I could redo it all with plywood but ive been wanting to play around with fiberglass and this would be a simple starter project that doesnt show so wont need to look pretty. So if anybody has ever stapled into fiberglass or know if its even possible id appreciate your help with this.
If the wood held up as good as the vinyl after 20 years I wouldnt have this problem.

 

[proshadetree]

Re: Staple into fiberglass?

You can not staple into fiberglass but you can staple into coated wood if it isnt to thick.

 

[Marada92]

Re: Staple into fiberglass?

I wonder if glueing or screwing in a plastic strip where that staple line would be could work. Same concept as a tack strip for carpeting to kind of give you an idea of what i mean. That way I could staple into the strip.

 

[proshadetree]

Re: Staple into fiberglass?

Sounds like a plan Old car builders use nylon to replace the tack strips on some of their rides

 

[Cadwelder]

Re: Staple into fiberglass?

I would go back with wood, most likely the orginal wood wasn't sealed with anything, so if you seal it good you'll get another 20 years or more out of it. The wood is a lot easier to work with.

Nice boat too by the way.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Staple into fiberglass?

So this got me to thinking is there a way to staple into fiberglass?

Ayuh,... Most staples won't penertrate Most fiberglass lay-ups....

You can always add a staple strip of wood though...

 

[tsennett]

Re: Staple into fiberglass?

I replaced the same cushions on my boat (1990 Sea Ray 180 OB) - you might be overthinking this- if you seal the wood, the cushions should last a long time, as long as they are protected from the sun. My cushions had rotted wood, but teh PO had not kept the boat covered for two seasons - left it open to rain and sun both summers - and at that point the cushions were already eighteen years old. I think if you rebuild with sealed ply you will get twenty years out of the cushions -but good luck whichever way you go.

 

[Denny1949]

Funny, my fiberglass deck and hull are stapled together, so it is obviously possible. I'm just not sure what technique or stapler was used.

 

[76SeaRay]

I have been able to staple through a layer of 1708 into marine plywood. However, I was using a Dewalt air driven narrow crown stapler but did manage 1 1/4 inch staples with only a few bent staples. If you do it this way keep in mind that you will fracture the fiberglass at the staple so you would need to add additional layers of glass over the staple to get a good seal.