fiberglass products for boat building

I am running into walls here a few years ago I did not have an issue finding material I have been looking for 1708 biax +- 45 weave 8" wide it took a week but onone had it, Mil fiber putty use to cost $80. per pale I just paid 175. what is going on? I know the industry is in a slup but Man I am doing my part to restore it, I would think suppliers would want to move product too!

 

I believe fiber putty in 25 kg pails (approx 6 gallon) costs about 4 euro / kg, so 100 euro per pail. Or 130 dollar or so. (Dutch prices)

I am not very familiar with the naming convention of stitched products in imperial system, but over here we have a cutter that nicely cuts rolls in whichever size one wants. Customer service... I am surprised no-one has the same facilities there?

 

8" may be hard to find. In a bind, you can cut Woven Roving at 45 degree, 8" wide. You need two layered at opposite angle. Not that it matters but some WR have different tensile strenght between the 90 degree and 0 degree direction. Use a light CSM mat layer on top if you need more than 1 set of layer. The rule is WR over mat surfaces. the second rule is mat over WR in the final surface.

I have forgotten the specs of 1708 but the rule is the total grams/m2 of the layers must match the gram/m2 of 1708. CSM 300 would be easy to find. I think Biax uses CSM 280 or 230.

You may find that WR when cut into 45 degree will stretch while being handled. The trick is to prewet the three layers into a thin nylon sheet, flop it onto the part, work it out, then peel off the plastic. Peel ply (more expensive) will also work as well if plastic is not available.

I assume you are reinforcing stiffeners and rounding off the sharp inside corners to ease of the curvature. The rule calls for flexible putty. Mill fiber is strong but brittle. Try cotton flox or the type used for putty filler.

Rx

 

Ouch!

 

To the OP: Have you tried these guys? http://boatbuildercentral.com/

I have been talking with them about my materials and I needed similar 8" wide. They were happy to cut it from a large role provided you need a good amount of it.

Richard: Your post reminds me I would like to get back to Deutschland soon. I have been there for work to Aachen and took the train from Frankfurt to Aachen. Long ride, but a very beautiful countryside with castles and the river barges. I've also been in the southern rural Bavarian regions traveling over from Zurich. I always enjoy the culture there, which is why I understand your posts here, while some others don't always get it.

So did you feel good or bad about the re-unification? People I knew in both Aachen and Puchheim (near Munchen) said they did not like the re-unification. Maybe this is too far off topic...

 

Was a bit rude sorry, although thought as a irony in the first post!

I deleted it for being way off topic.

Richard

 

Ok, that works for me, thanks. I'll delete the crap I flung.

 

This is like being at the zoo, what with all the flying crap and all.