Re: Fiberglass tape

Posted by Laszlo on Nov 13, 2007

Mark,

What's causing that problem is the selvedge. It's an artifact of the weaving process and will be found on any woven glass. It's the finished edge which holds the cloth together. As Jeff mentions, if you cut it off, things unravel. Since it's thicker than the rest of the cloth, it absorbs more epoxy and you get a ridge.

What Jeff did with the cabinet scraper was pretty much the optimum solution. If done when the epoxy has only cured to the "green" (non-tacky, firm but still soft) stage, it's pretty easy to take care of. Even after a full cure, the cabinet scraper works very well.

There is an alternative - 45/45 biaxial glass tape with no matt. It isn't woven, so it doesn't have the selvedge. It's about 20% stronger for the same weight since the fibers don't cross and they share the loads more equally. It also follows compound curves better. 6 oz weight should work fine for all the CLC kayaks. The only downside is that it may not go completely invisible, especially the heavier weights. You wouldn't want to use it in areas that are going to be varnished.

Laszlo

In Response to: Fiberglass tape by Mark on Nov 12, 2007

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