Applying fiberglass to hull

[Scuff]

I tried searching but didn't find much. I'm working alone and I'm looking for a way to assist me in putting the cloth on the hull as I wet out the surface .. rolling as I go. Putting the cloth down first makes it harder to wet out the fabric and get all the air bubbles out. This is foam/glass construction. If anyone has an approach they've used successfully I'm all ears. Thanks.

 

[gonzo]

What is the size of the hull? Also, is this a flat surface, vertical or overhead? Any way you do it, the foam needs to be wetted first if it is hand laminated.

 

[ondarvr]

What type of resin are you using?

 

[Scuff]

The amas are 22' and the main hull is 30'. I've done one ama and totally agree on prewetting.
I'm using proset laminating and slow hardener. Conditioned space so temp stays around 72*.
I'm building on a male mold so the surface is nearly vertical and concave.

 

[gonzo]

One way to do it is to

1. lay the cloth dry, smooth the wrinkles and hold it with a few staples or pins.
2. Pick up the bottom edge and fold it over the top.
3. Wet the bottom part of the hull, let the folded cloth fall and wet it.
4. Keep the row of staples or pins along the edge of the wet cloth and drape the top dry half of the cloth down.
5. Wet the foam, bring the dry cloth up and wet it.

Option 2: get a helper for a couple of hours.

 

[fallguy]

I do all wetouts using a 3-4" tube.

Preroll and mark with a sharpie for boundaries and for length on 3-4' markers. I mark the hull and the fabric. Biax likes to snake and the lengtgwise marks help me make it to the end.

Batch the resins in two batches. 40%for the substrate. You roll it on with a paint roller, it doesn't need to be dripping thick. Jist full coversge and no dry spots.

Roll it off the tube. Pour the next batch out in manageable portions.

Now, 30' is a bit; you may choose to use a different approach. For a larger area, you may choose to batch resin in say 3 sections. You'd start by wetting say 1/3rd substratr and roll off the first 10 feet and then wet tops down. Mix batch two when fully wetted and continue. This way, it won't matter if you run for an hour and a half because the first section is done. This is also the same strategy for rolling toward yourself on a rooftop, for example. You wetout jist a couple feet at a time to completion and then move. Fewer physical moves of the person is less lost time. And, planning to take 90 minutes or 30 minutes for each third is much less stress than trying to complete the whole wetout in 50 minites against a 60 minite clock. You do need to find a way to keep the roll from falling off the hull. This can also work if you have two rolls wide on a side. Just make sure to do the harder to reach one first. But in theory, you could finish the first layer say at 50" wide and say you have another 30" wide piece; despite the resin kicking on the first pass; you can lay in the 2nd by rolling, although you may need to do some drip removal, etc.

it may be patronizing, but using a full gallon bucket will also give you more open time

I have also found that using a 3/8" paint roller is helpful, but it doesn't work well for final passes and I switch to consolidation rollers. Squeegee is also in the mix working alone

Another thing I always have some mix cups ready for shortages; based on glass weight about 6 sqft or 2/3rd yard. For 18 oz cloth; that is a 12 oz mix cup for dry spots

 

[Scuff]

Thank you Gonzo and Fallguy! I was focused on rolling it out horizontally as I went and the idea to roll it up vertically hadn't occured to me. I'm going to mock both approaches up with the brown paper I've been using for patterns. The ama's require one full length 50" and then a narrower strip. I made that one wide enough to overlap the keel on both sides for the extra layers called for there. I'll update this thread with what I ended up doing. This site has been an invaluable resource for me.

 

[fallguy]

I think having a second person for the 30' is the best idea. Even if they only stir or hold the roll.

when I pre batch resins, I mark the r&h pails a,b,c and make the resin in a gallon bucket and then add the hardener to the bigger bucket; this allows me to have a helper mix, not measure resin...I tell them to pour the small A into the big A, for example and stir while I am finishing wetting out.

you will need more than one paint roller for the way I mentioned, I would squeegee out the epoxy onto the example second rolloff topside, chuck the roller and start anew, rollers like to kick and hold quite a bit of resin, but another thing a helper can do is squeegee the paint roller

it helps a lot to do a walkthrough dry with a helper so they understand what will be happening

 

[Scuff]

Help is really hard to come by. I'm looking for a victim to assist but not expecting one to materialize.

 

[Scuff]

Thanks guys for the advice. I wanted to provide an update. I did get a friend to help me out and we laminated the second ama yesterday. The second person made a huge difference. I divided the resin into two batches as Fallguy suggested and that really worked well. I used cloth weight to determine resin amounts for each section. I believe we came in just under 50% resin to cloth. I did roll the cloth out horizontally off of pvc tubes. Extremely happy with the results. Hoping I can talk my friend into helping with the main hull when it's time.