Fiberglass Fairing material advice needed

Submitted by abl1111 on Thu, 09/16/2010 - 16:03
Forums: 
Maintenance, Repairs, Changes, and Upgrades

I have an old Scot, #877, that I am restoring after a squall a few years back. I had restored her to new a few years before the squall but Mother Nature doesn't take much into consideration when she's pissed off !

Anyway, I have done enormous structural repairs myself - and am up to filling and fairing - all cosmetic, none structural. I've used in the past a material called Duraglass for this, but want to know if anyone has an easier, more stable and durable product in mind.

Don't mean to be rude, but please respond if you're a DIY'er that has hands-on experience with glass work with professional, OEM quality results...

The scene: I've scarfed in just about one side of the boat, in (3) sections - each section including 6" of topside and 6" of hull - all heavily glassed in. The exterior seams have also been glassed in place and now it's time to hide those ugly seams with a fairing compound. I will be shooting her with Awlgrip or Awlcraft 2000.

The seams are probably in total 40'x 3" x no thicker than 1/4" deep. One other area, the " good side " had some rotted balsa near the chain plate so I ripped it out from the top and replaced 3'x 1' of core and glassed all in place. This too needs to be faired...

Thanks !!!! It's been 8 years, but next Spring - I'm in !

abl1111

Wed, 09/22/2010 - 17:16

? No one ?

sawyerspadre

Mon, 09/27/2010 - 05:03

Great question, but maybe posting pictures would be helpful in seeing where you are starting.

Since a Scot is made from the outside-in, and the glass is applied inside the gelcoat, many of us have no experience with how to fair and refinish the gelcoat.

What was the condition of the boat that led to that much re-glassing on the outside? Are you asking about large areas of the boat, or more manageable repair areas?

Phil Scheetz
FS 4086

abl1111

Wed, 09/29/2010 - 05:25

[IMG]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y49/abl1111/CopyofDSC00198.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y49/abl1111/DSC00032.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y49/abl1111/DSC00059.jpg[/IMG]

As you can see it has been a long haul. My boat was a MINT and got crushed !

As mentioned, I am in the fairing stage of things - the heavy lifting is done. Now it's finesse work. I need advice on fairing compunds, sanding/fairing blocks - again someone who has done serious glass / finishing work.

Thx

abl1111

Wed, 09/29/2010 - 05:27

No idea why the pix did not show ?!

Any help ?

Dave812

Wed, 09/29/2010 - 05:57

When you pasted the photos here they are formatted as links to another site (photobucket) not photo files that can just be opened. The html has [IMG} on both ends of the link, you can go back and edit those out and it should work as a link to your photos. If not anyone wanting to view them can just cut and paste the url into another window and they do open.

Regarding the repair, you might find this step by step fiberglass repair helpful, http://sailrace.blogspot.com/2010/05/hull-repair-part-2.html

The main point I would pass on is the patches should be glassed on both inside and outside. I would guess from your photos it has been glassed on just the inside.

abl1111

Wed, 09/29/2010 - 18:13

Thx for posting pix.

I did get the pcs from another hull that was soaked everywhere balsa was located ( fore and aft deck and entire floor )/ Initially, I bought that hull to resto, but realized quickly that my heavily damaged hull was still a more solid candidate for a resto.

So, I cut out the pcs I needed, stripped the hull and ...well... hull # 2828 is no more ( I did call FS a few years ago to tell them this news. They like to know where the hulls are, or aren't )

I've have read two pertinent West System manuals cover to cover - much of what I've done has been learned from those theories although I've used poly, not epoxy.

Pix don't show it, but currently all glassed on inside and out outside. Structurally, " she ain't going anywhere ! " I'm onto the cosmetics phase ...

I have never used a fairing board and plan on making one - actually a few to maximize a smooth finish for paint.

For lack of a better product, I used a poly product, Duraglass to do a first fairing coat. And, am leaning on an Evercoat product for final fairing.

This has been a very labor intensive job ! I resto'd this boat when I first bought her. Too much of my energy and TLC was put in her then to just let her die now. And - out of respect and admiration for the older woman I bought her from, Grace, who was in her late 70's when she realized she couldn't sail her anymore !

So, my project continues !