Re: fairing deck hull gla

Posted by Mark Camp on Aug 23, 2004

As you work with the scraper you will learn (without really trying) several different techniques to remove the material without scraping the good epoxy. It is surprisingly easy. I have found that my two Warner scrapers were born with an instinctive knowledge of their business, cutting most of what needs cutting, sliding over that which doesn't, and always playing it safe if they are not sure. Unlike their boss who would be satisfied with even an acquired knowledge of *his* business.

The techniques vary depending on the situation. For example, to remove a single brush bristle or glass thread, you use one technique. To blend in a layer of glass with a nice, crisp, skillfully cut edge you use another. (Probably. I am not sure I have ever seen a layer of glass with a nice, crisp, skillfully cut edge, except in photographs, most of which Kurt probably fakes). To blend in a crummy edge with wild fibers peeling off in all directions and the epoxy already cured to the hardness of red kryptonite (this would be the standard situation in my garage) you go at it yet another way.

Sandpaper's nice too. I go back and forth, no pun intended. The scraper gives you a lot of control, makes no dust, and leaves a piano-like surface. In fact that is the worst thing about it...the surface where it touched and removed a ridge looks so perfect you think, dang, I went down to bare wood. 80 Grit belts spray-glued to foam rubber or a strip of plywood or both are, I would say, faster for hogging off a big mess of threads.

Sometimes I use the scraper to bevel the craters left by air bubbles, prior to pretending I am going to refill them later with glass, and you can't do that with sandpaper, although you can do it with a Dremel (R) until it dies of silicosis. (By the way, I just brought my Dremel back to life by madly spraying it through the gills with alcohol, but I recommend you unplug it first if you try this at home and be sure an adult is present. I let it dry out overnight, and now it calls me "Deputy Fife" and I play along and call it "Otis".) With sandpaper you would take some of the epoxy off the bottom of the crater and then you really would have to finish the job instead of just promising to. My hull probably has more former air bubbles than actual glass, which I prefer to think of as a weight-saving measure, or sometimes I tell folks its a faux-antique finish.

In Response to: Re: fairing deck hull gla by Doug Judd on Aug 23, 2004

Replies:

• Re: fairing deck hull gla by dave stanley on Aug 23, 2004