Cant use epoxy resin with fiberglass mat?

Discussion in 'Materials' started by willfishforbeer, Jul 17, 2006.

  1. willfishforbeer
    Joined: Jun 2006
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    willfishforbeer Junior Member

    I've heard you cant use fiberglass mat with epoxy resins. Is this true?
     
  2. JC47
    Joined: Feb 2006
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    JC47 Junior Member

    You will need to purchase stitched mat to work with epoxy. I use Vectorply products currently doing layup with with quadaxil product with the mat stitched to it. Regular mat has a binder in it that the polyester resin dissolves when it is whetted out, that is incompatible with epoxy. Good Luck

    JC47
     
  3. willfishforbeer
    Joined: Jun 2006
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    willfishforbeer Junior Member

    Thanks alot!
     
  4. fiberglass jack
    Joined: Dec 2005
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    fiberglass jack Senior Member

    there is a chop strand mat for epoxy you can also get chop strand carbon also it has a different binder than the mat that you use with polyester cost alot more
     
  5. FastLearner?
    Joined: Jul 2006
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    FastLearner? Junior Member

    Where would one find these products? Thanks.
     
  6. fiberglass jack
    Joined: Dec 2005
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    fiberglass jack Senior Member

    most fiberglass dealer will have it or order it for you
     
  7. JR-Shine
    Joined: May 2004
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    Location: Vero Beach, FL

    JR-Shine SHINE

    We test all the mat we order for its compatibility with our epoxies. Our 1708 for example works with any epoxy. Most of the time, you do not need mat when working with epoxy. The mat is there mainly to provide a decent bond between two layers of directional of woven cloth. With epoxy there is no bonding problem, so you just use the woven or direction right over top the previous layer. The mat will just give you some bulk – which is sometime helpful but most of the time just results in more weight for the same strength.

    Joel
    Boatbuildercentral.com
     
  8. Doug Lord

    Doug Lord Guest

    Epoxy compatible mat

    Here is another source for epoxy compatible mat:
    Fiberglass Mat
    Address:http://www.shopmaninc.com/mat.html Changed:2:35 PM on Monday, July 4, 2005
     
  9. l_boyle
    Joined: Sep 2006
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    l_boyle ol' can of sardines

    for epoxy is too expensive to use... it'll soak up alot of epoxy before you can get a smooth coat... I rather use layers of cloth than using a single mat
     
  10. Richard Hillsid
    Joined: Mar 2006
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    Richard Hillsid Senior Member

    If you have to use mat for some reason and want to keep it light, wet it , put it in between 2 sheets of plastic and squeeze the extra out before you lay up, works on small parts. works on woven 2.
     
  11. catmando2
    Joined: Sep 2006
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    catmando2 Malaysia bound....soon

    Whats chopped strand mat and woven rovings?????
    Only joking.

    Dave
     
  12. sbklf
    Joined: Feb 2006
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    sbklf Junior Member

    How do you test it for compatibility?
     
  13. JR-Shine
    Joined: May 2004
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    JR-Shine SHINE

    Its stitched together, which normally would mean its fine for epoxy. But we want to be sure because we deal almost 100% in epoxy, so I actually take a piece and laminate it to wood.

    If it had a lot of binder in it, the glass would look milky. If it goes pretty clear its fine.

    Wetting out biax/mat or roving/mat is not as easy with epoxy as it is with polyester. Most epoxies, even "laminating" epoxies are not as thin. In many cases, I get better laminations easier from 2 layers of straight 12 oz. biax (no mat) than 1 layer of 1708
     

  14. JR-Shine
    Joined: May 2004
    Posts: 341
    Likes: 4, Points: 18, Legacy Rep: 54
    Location: Vero Beach, FL

    JR-Shine SHINE

    Its stitched together, which normally would mean its fine for epoxy. But we want to be sure because we deal almost 100% in epoxy, so I actually take a piece and laminate it to wood.

    If it had a lot of binder in it, the glass would look milky. If it goes pretty clear its fine.

    Wetting out biax/mat or roving/mat is not as easy with epoxy as it is with polyester. Most epoxies, even "laminating" epoxies are not as thin. In many cases, I get better laminations easier from 2 layers of straight 12 oz. biax (no mat) than 1 layer of 1708
     
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