Carbon vs. S-glass for '74 Sol-Cat

[Guest625101138]

Originally Posted by Sol Man

I have also heard that not disturbing the weave can be a real pain, as yet I haven't come up with any practical ideas on the subject. I would be very interested in your thoughts on the subject.

...
Well it's midnite here and work tomorrow so I'd better sign off for now, J.

Something to follow up tomorrow.

If I am cutting fibreglass, I run a piece of masking tape over the cut line and then cut down the centre of the tape. This avoids frayed edges and the problem of having strands of glass getting into the epoxy when wetting out.

The CF cloth I have purchased has a keeper thread along the both edges. This was pointed out from the supplier. My intention is to use the cloth full width so hopefully I will avoid the frayed edges.

Both ends of the cloth roll have masking tape now as supplied. I will mask along the cut line so my small offcut stays intact. I will eventually cut this up for making mounting points and will then detrmine if I need to do anything special. The problem with masking tape is that it is hard to remove without pulling the weave so the taped bit gets cut off once the epoxy has set. The 3M spray glue also hold ends in place.


Rick W.

[mydauphin]

Since the cost of all materials has gone sky high, I have played with many crazy ideas. I have also gotten fairly good with aluminum, and epoxies.

Here is what I would do next.

Treat aluminum like wood. Cut it like wood, use it for structure, transom. Cleat reinforcements. Weld it into a skeleton. Whatever. Sand it, acid clean, wirebrush, Then do the zinc chromate paint thing. Epoxy it into place.

I've used aluminum 1" wide strips to reenforcement behind glass.

Build shell over aluminum with roving. Then cover everything with epoxy again.


Light strong, flexible cheaper than carbon.


My next project is going to be a 14' bass boat x 4' beam, 2 foot with Aluminum frame, thin aluminum glued to frame with epoxy. I am looking for a target weight of 100lb. Only welding will be frame. Light so I can put on my truck, strong enough for outboard and the occasional Alligator.

[Sol Man]

An aluminum frame seems like a good idea from a strength stand point but I would think it would add a lot of weight. Wouldn't it be better to just use a molded spar (i.e. glass or CF over foam)?