Re: ? for MC16.5 Builders

Posted by Mark Camp on Jul 19, 2004

An update on glassing the Sharpie with two pieces of glass.

I did not overlap the glass along the keel line as instructions said. Instead, I overlapped the pieces of fabric, and wetted out the overlap, but then cut straight down the keel line through both layers of glass, with a utility knife. Then pulled away the two resulting waste strips.

The idea was to eliminate the hump from the overlap, and have a perfectly smooth joint where the two pieces met along the keel.

Right.

Anyway, after the ugly mess of unraveled strands reached the green state, about a day, I did find that the old carbide scraper pretty easily takes the mess off! I think I will end up with a nice smooth surface in spite of myself.

Now, I am not sure this scraped seam will ever turn transparent once I add fills coats. I guess I could tell via the spit test, but I haven't. For me, not an issue, as I will be painting the bottom.

What possessed me to try this approach? Well, during a prior step, that of taping the fillets, there is an overlap between the 4" and 6" tape. I never quite got the knack of removing the air bubbles from the overlap, and I came to dread the idea of overlapped glass.

I'm gradually learning, half by reading this board, half by just getting out there and hacking away. But the most important things I have learned in the whole process is that with stitch and glue, there is no problem you can create that you cannot fix, and that most of the problems are not worth worrying about anyway. My thanks to KM, Laszlo, Lee, Charlie, Joe, and all the other generous folks who have assisted in that learning process.

In Response to: Re: ? for MC16.5 Builders by Jon T on Jul 18, 2004

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