Recommendations On Glass, Resin And How Much

I soon will be ready to glass my WeeToo and am looking for help on which and where to get the glass along with with resin / hardener. I have visited west marine’s Site but with so many products I would like to get the right one. I have no idea as to how much I will need to do the job. I think I would like to put 2 layers of glass on the keel. I was also wondering about the weight of the glass also. I have a heated garage. The canoe is 13’6” any help with Canadian suppliers would help but I’m not against getting products in the USA
Thank you

 

The standard is 6 oz glass inside and out on most cedar strips and it comes in 60 inches wide or 38 for standard E-glass. Extra glass should not be needed overall, but you may have some off cuts to run extra strips over stems and maybe even a strip along the whole bottom. A standard kit to build a 16 footer would include two gallons of resin and enough corresponding hardener. You may get away with half that on a smaller boat, but if you are ordering and having it shipped then get more than enough for the job as re-ordering more will cost more in shipping. And remember that hardeners are considered a dangerous good so shipping costs will reflect that. If looking at West brand resins, you will need to order the 207 special hardener for clear coating. With other brands, most usually order the slow cure as there is limited amount of blushing with slower cures. Just make sure the formulation is designed for clear coating. Where in Canada are you?

 

Warm the resin and hardener, as well as get your shop temp as high as possible. Once you have wetted your cloth lower it a few degrees, this will reduce outgassing .
Like Rod say's order more epoxy than you think you need. Check into buying resin in quantity.
It is so useful, and if you store it right (warm at room temp) it will last at least a couple of years. I just used some RAKA that was close to three years old.

Jim

 

Raka is as cheap as I've seen for small quantities of resin and cloth. (I bought a couple rolls from a place years ago for way cheaper then Raka.)
I used System Three Clear Coat on my last strippers, and System 3 something for fill coats.
The CC is the lowest viscosity resin I've found, it's like water which makes wetting tight weaves much easier.

When resin (or the hardener) gets old, it crystallizes, it can just be warmed and "melts" and re-liquefies and can be used.

 

Rod
I’m on Manitoulin Island. And thanks for the info. Is glass glass? Or do different suppliers have different qualities?

 

Good question - to my knowledge there are basically 2 glass FIBERS, regular and e-glass, with e-glass being slightly stronger, ie; 10%?.
But there are many different cloth weaves, and that's where it gets confusing. Each weave pattern will have it's own mechanical properties,
so you need/should know what weave is being sold.

 

Make that E-glass and S-glass with E-glass being the most common and S-glass somewhat stronger. The fiberglass yarns have to be treated with a sizing in order to get the various resins to saturate them properly. The most common sizing is volan sizing, though there are others like silane sizing. More strippers have been built over the years with E-glass and volan sizing than with anything more exotic, and with good results. These sizings are generally water soluable, so keep the raw fabric away from anything wet, and it is a good idea to handle the cloth with gloves. Anything that might wash off or contaminate the sizing, including oils from your hands has a certain potential to make spots which won't saturate properly when it's time for the resin to be applied.

 

For E-glass, there are two types of finishes, that I'm familiar with. of Volan and Silane.
Silane finish is compatible with epoxy, and Volan is made for Polyester, and Vinylester.

So if you order glass from a different supplier than your resin, verify what you are getting.

My $0.02.

Jim

 

Most suppliers will have different types of glass. Just let them know what you are doing and what epoxy resin you will be applying and they should be able to recommend the glass you need. Most common would be 6 oz E glass. I use basically either 4 oz or 6 oz e glass on all my boats. In your area, purchase from a kit supplier like Noah's marine or Bear Mountain boats as they would sell you the same glass that they themselves would be using in construction but check out price points at local fiberglass outlets to maybe save on shipping. Just make sure you explain what you are using it for. I have seen too many first timers use the wrong product to save a few bucks only to have a less than desirable result.

 

Thanks Todd, old age is getting to me.

 

Just to confuse things, I dug out my old glass info,
all of the following "could be" sold as "6 oz" and most have different material properties.