I have managed to piece together approximately a 300 square-foot barge type houseboat hall out of wood that I’m going to glass over with 6 ounce cloth, my question is coverage, 1 laying the cloth, 2 fill the weave
I have covered a skerry and a wherry so I know what to expect out of such a big pore just looking for square footage, my Mas jugs don’t say. Thx jim
James,
Square footage depends on the weight of the glass, the skill of the worker and the exact method of saturation (hand, vacuum infusion, etc.). That’s why the jugs don’t say.
Assuming a 60% epoxy to glass ratio (experienced worker, hand layup) and a 2:1 resin to hardener ratio , I make it to be 1.4 gallons of resin and .7 gallons of hardener for the wetting out the glass. Adding 16% for waste brings it to 1.6 and .8 gallons respectively. Might as well get 2 gallons of resin and 1 of hardener.
For filling the weave, that depends on if you want to paint it or varnish it. For paint, you can mix the epoxy with phenolic microballoons and fill the weave with that. That will use significantly less epoxy than filling the weave with unthickened epoxy, be lighter and easier to sand.
If it was me, I’d use microballoon mix to fill and fair and plan to maybe order more after I see how the initial layup went.
Finally, as I am not a professional epoxy worker (I don’t even play one on TV), this advice is worth everything that you’re paying for it and you use it at your own risk. On the other hand, the worst that will happen is that you run out and have to order more.
Have fun,
Laszlo
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2 gallons and some micro balloons sounds like a good place to start. I’ve seen a few different videos on micro balloons but never used them. I’ll do a bit more research and maybe when I’m ready to glass I’ll have a decent plan. Thx. Jim
Happy to help. Microballoons are dirt simple to use, by the way.
- Mix your resin and hardener as usual.
- Slowly pour some into a container of microballoons, stirring all the while to keep it smooth (like mixing cocoa powder and milk).
- When it gets to be the consistency of canned frosting or room temperature Nutella, it’s ready to use.
- Apply it to the unfilled glass with a squeegee like you’re frosting a cake. If it’s difficult to apply (doesn’t spread, rolls up during spreading), add a little bit more epoxy until it goes on smoothly. Cab-o-sil also makes it smoother and easier to apply, but it will be harder to sand.
- Make the layer as thin as you can while completely filling the weave. Don’t get obsessed with thin layers, though; it sands off easily if necessary.
- One layer should fill the weave. If you sand it with a longboard, you can combine filling the weave with fairing and paint prep all in one step.
Laszlo
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