Sealing Boat Deck

[JJ450S]

I was wondering if fiberglass resin would work to seal the wood on my project crackerbox. I did a search of the forum and found most use west system or system III but that is not readily available in Oklahoma. I think fiberglass would add a little strength also but I don't know how the epoxy to glue the deck to the frame-work would hold up, i.e. compatability of fiberglass and epoxy (30 min). Any ideas?

Thanks

JJ

 

[Dr Hydro]

Hey Skipper.....To seal a wooden deck I would use what is called finishing epoxy. It is basically epoxy that is watery. I have some made by Pacer. If you can not find any just use 30 or 45 min epoxy and thin it with a little laquer thinner. As for the fiberglas resin, it gives you no strength. The strength is in the fiberglas cloth. I would use 2 coats of epoxy applied with a foam brush. What you want to do is put it on thick and then try to take as much off with the foam brush as you can. Block sand it between coats and it will come out slick as a bean. Good luck!

 

[SayMikey]

Hey Skipper.....To seal a wooden deck I would use what is called finishing epoxy. It is basically epoxy that is watery. I have some made by Pacer. If you can not find any just use 30 or 45 min epoxy and thin it with a little laquer thinner. As for the fiberglas resin, it gives you no strength. The strength is in the fiberglas cloth. I would use 2 coats of epoxy applied with a foam brush. What you want to do is put it on thick and then try to take as much off with the foam brush as you can. Block sand it between coats and it will come out slick as a bean. Good luck!

Been there done that keep resin as far away from 30 min epoxy as you can or you will end up with GOO that wont dry

 

[Krusty 181]

JJ, i seal wood with the same stuff as DR hydro , although once i have the wood wet with it i get a roll of dunny paper and roll it backwards (so it doesnt unroll)over the resin , it soaks off the excess and leaves a nice surface to continue on with

fiberglass resin you are talking about is probably polyester resin , again as doc hydro said no strength on its own ,

you can put epoxy resin over polyester resin(in a pinch)

but you cannot put polyester over epoxy as you will get soft messy crap

if you started with epoxy stick with it

and if you want to use epoxy resin with fiberglass cloth make sure you get the right cloth as there is a different cloth for each resin (different binder or something)

hope it helps

Andrew

 

[dave roach]

Hi JJ450S

Go to www.west systems.com and they can ship what you need to seal the boat.I use 105 resin and 206 hardener.

Dave Roach

 

[Dr Hydro]

once i have the wood wet with it i get a roll of dunny paper and roll it backwards (so it doesnt unroll)over the resin , it soaks off the excess and leaves a nice surface to continue on with

Hey Krusty....exactly what is dunny paper? I'm guessing we have something just like it but call it something else. Thanks and tell everyone in Austrailia hello for me......well maybe just Paulie and Rory.

 

[Krusty 181]

toilet paper

you know the stuff you wipe your ar*e with

:lol: yep

 

[JJ450S]

Thanks guys, I have heard one can use razor blade or a thin piece of square-edged plastic to thin the epoxy around evenly on the surface, does the foam brush and toilet paper technique work better? I think I am going to stay away from the fiberglass resin, I thought it might somehow soak into the wood that would be taking th place of the cloth and therefore make the wood stronger but if it is not compatible with common model epoxy I will stear clear.

Has anyone tried building a wooden boat using CA for the joints then coating the whole thing inside and out with fiberglass resin? If so what was the outcome?

Thanks

JJ

 

[Wesleys Custom Graphics]

toilet paper

you know the stuff you wipe your ar*e with

:lol: yep

I can go home today a little bit smarter! Way cool!

 

[Krusty 181]

Hey JJ

all the wood models i have built have been tacked with CA at some part of the build , but the joints are then filleted with epoxy , if its a critical part of it i would prefer to get the epoxy into the joint

ok to explain better for the U.S. boys .. a dunny in Australia was originally the outside toilet or outhouse , usually a hole in the ground with a pretty average seat ,with a wood shed around it

due to modern technology we can now cr#p inside ,i still call it a dunny , my mates do , and my missus hates it called that

thus through the powers of deduction the little roll of paper in there is dunny paper

 

[nitro_nemesis]

How much lacquer thinner do you use in part w/ the epoxy - say if I mix up a cup of about 1/2 ounce 30 min epoxy how much thinner roughly should I drop in to get a slighty thinner mix w/ out making epoxy water ??? I'll be working on sealing my latest rigger tomorrow and could use the info ! Will be my first attempt @ this.

Regards,

Mark T.

 

[Krusty 181]

Mark i would suggest you tried to get the right stuff first ,

i know it can be done but i have had no success thinning out epoxy , i have seen a mate do it with metholated spirits and with laquer thinner, but it stayed gooey for quite some time .

the stuff i have here is a runny resin ,but i also have different hardeners for different setting times ( you cant just add less hardener to epoxy to slow it down , believe me ive tried it , with bad results!!!)

so depending on how big the job is or how quick you work you have the right stuff for the job , makes life MUCH easier

the resin i use to seal with is kinda like 5w oil in consistency

Doc hydro may be able to help you out with thinning stuff out

 

[JJ450S]

Well I got it mostly rebuilt this weekend and got it sealed up, it will have all week to cure. I thinned out some epoxy with lacquer thinner as Dr. Hydro suggested and it worked out great for my first shot at it. I just mixed the epoxy and added what I thought was enough thinner and got to mixing, it took a while to get the epoxy saturated into the thinner but turned out great. I didn't have a foam brush so I just used a normal paint brush, no problems there.

Nitro-nemesis--- as for the ratio I used of epoxy to thinner I used the bottom from a one gallon milk jug as a container, it had a diagonal line across the bottom, I squeezed in enough epoxy/hardner to cover but not touch the diagonal line and to not touch the walls, so probably about 1/4 the surface area of the bottom in epoxy. I then added about 3/8 of an inch of thinner and mixed. Make sure you move all the epoxy around until there are no lumps or they will get on your brush. The toilet/dunny paper works great, I thought it would stick to the epoxy and make a mess but it doesn't, good thinking Krusty 181!

Thanks for your help guys, I hope to have her on the water late this weekend.

JJ