Fiberglass Repair and Bonding

How-Tos & Esk8 mechanics How-Tos
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and wear gloves too. While resin is not that toxic, compared to the toluene found in things like ShoeGoo and all, there is potential to become quite sensitized to it after a while. Now, I tend to feel a light tickle in the back of my throat whenever I smell polyester resin, and it turns into a sore throat/runny nose combo the next day…
Also, because I sometimes had a bit of spillover resin on my hands, I used to wash that generously with acetone, but it’s actually not a good idea, as this allows the thinned resin to penetrate under the skin, and that makes it more toxic. Vinegar works well apparently.

There are some much nicer resins now, with very low VOC, even stuff made from flax seeds, less nasty than what I was using in my windsurfing youth…

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Yup. White vinegar works well :+1:

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Necro revival!

Im looking at doing some layers to the underside of my deck and while it doesnt have to be mint, it does have to be strong. Ive got the CF layer that I want to finish on and have been looking at a glass layer and found this.

I have no idea what im looking at so thought I’d ask the question of those that do…

Slainte

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Was more asking about the material amd specs, sorry if that was unclear…

  • Ultimate Impact Protection - Ultimate impact & tensile protection due to its ability to absorb load
  • Ultimate Impact Performance - 10% increased flexural performance compared to traditional S-Glass.
  • Carbon + Aramid - Higher tensile strength than commercial grade carbon & aramid.
  • High Clarity - Ultra high clear finish produces ultra white surfboards and also perfect for resin pigment colour laminates.
  • Superior Tensile Strength - Enhanced mechanical properties for superior tensile strength.
  • Strength to Weight - Up to 50% increased tensile strength compared to industry standard E-Glass.
  • Increased Compressive Strength - Up to 90% increased compressive strength compared to industry standard E-Glass
  • Up to two times the tensile strength of an E-Glass in a UD Laminate.
  • Up to 10% Increased Flexural Strength compared to Industry Standard S-Glass.
  • Up to 15% Increased Tensile Strength compared to Industry Standard S-Glass.
  • Up to 50% Increased Tensile Strength compared to Industry Standard E-Glass in Fibre to Fibre Comparison.
  • Higher Tensile Strength then Commercial Grade Carbon, Aramid, E-Glass and Industry Standard S-Glass.

Had some interesting statrments in there and i didnt know if it was all marketing or an actual thing

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Sounds like marketing to me.
Even if it is 10% better, I’d suggest you will struggle to notice that small difference. Method and application technique is likely to have more of an impact (fabric to resin ratio etc.)
I have used UD CF from aliexpress when I skinned a deck for LDP and it worked really well. 2 layers 200gsm each side in a vac bag. Peel ply and a bleeder fabric each side.

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HI, I’m about to order some material for making a fiberglass enclosure. I’m from Europe. Don’t know where to source the material locally so I found this website: https://www.easycomposites.eu/

I have read all the posts I could find, but I’m still not sure if I have the right materials selected. If anybody can chime in if those materials are a god fit for making enclosures pleas let me know. Thx
Oh and maybe a suggestion of how many layers to do and how much of the fiberglass and resin I need. I’m planing on making 2 enclosures.

EL2 Epoxy Laminating Resin

300g Powder Bound Chopped Strand Mat

200g 2x2 Twill Woven Glass Cloth

For the mold release:

Miracle Gloss Mould Release Wax
or
RW4 Spray Wax Release Agent 400ml

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I’m starting here.
Wax wise i’d get the tin because it’s cheaper.

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Don’t get the fast cure. Get slow cure.

Are you making a mold or not? Without a mold, I would not get chopped strand at all, I’d use exclusively various weaves.

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I’m planing on making a buck out of wood or foam, covered in tape and then just lay 3-4 layers of fiberglass over it. I don’t car so much how it looks, as long its strong enough. I thought chopped mat is easier to work with no?

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I’ve done the same thing, and chopped mat was horrible to work with for me. Actually, this is really good and you only need 2 layers, but I can’t find it anywhere else in the world:

https://www.freemansupply.com/products/fiberglass-reinforcements/fiberglass-fabrics/38-oz-fiberglass-cloth-style-1597

It’s 1288gsm (38oz) triple-weave and it’s super thick.

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For me fiberglass sucks to work with and the extra cost of Kevlar or carbon is worth it.

With or without a mold I find it’s good to let the resin start curing and hardening and can push it into place with peel-ply and it will stay put and get a better part then leaving it. There’s typically so much more resin than there should be and I’ll do layers of peel-ply on and off to suck up the excess

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Ok …so you are suggesting I us only woven cloth. Interesting. All I read so far was that chopped mat is so much easier to work with as it conforms to corners much better. So this is 1288g par meter? That is pretty thick. Any suggestions on which epoxy to use, or at least which parameters the epoxy should have. I get the slow cure hardener. That is for sure a good idea.

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Most fiberglass matt uses styrene binders to hold the random strands together.
Epoxy does not dissolve the binders like polyester resin does.

Look for a low viscosity laminating epoxy with a long pot life.

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Thanks. I read somewhere that there is 2 kinds of chopped mat. Emulsion bound and Powder Bound which is supposed to work with epoxy. See below.

image
image859×158 16.9 KB

Why does it have to be low viscosity? For easier wetting of the cloth? Any insight of how much epoxy I need for one enclosure? I’m planing on making two different enclosures. Should I get any special tools like those rollers for getting the air out?

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Low viscosity does wet out thick multiple layers much faster.

Ribbed rollers are for getting bubbles out, more so than saturating.
Bondo squeegees.

mixing cups with mixing sticks shaped to fit the corners

Recommend digital scale to weigh ratios exactly as possible

mixing by volume much more error prone.

insure it is thoroughly mixed. homogenous. no swirlys when viewed under strong light.
distilled white vinegar to clean tools.

Sharp scissors.
cornstarch for getting gloves on.

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Can someone tell me how much resin I need? Lets say I’m gonna do 3 layers for en enclosure approximatelly 30x60cm

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If you get it right you shouldn’t use more than a kilo.
Probably less.

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Ok. Thank you. So I’ll order 2 kg for 2 enclosure and that should be plenty.

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You should never follow this advice. Use the instructions provided by the epoxy manufacturer of whatever brand you buy. Almost no epoxies are mixed by weight. You mix them by volume most of the time.

also thick epoxy is just straight up annoying af to use when working with fiberglass because it will make the fiberglass stick to your gloves. It is not impossible to use but is a royal pain in the ass to work with.

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