Hi Andy! I want to first of all "THANK YOU VERY MUCH" for taking the extra time to make your videos and sharing your great knowledge, skills, expertise with us! You have saved me tons of money by given me the confidence I needed to do alot of my own boat repairs.
Hi, first of all THANKS FOR YOUR EXCELLENT VIDOES and for CARING abouto doing things right. It's obvious your enjoy your work which I believe is great. Congrats!!! I've been a "do-it-yrslfer" many years (I'm 49 ) but havn't been doing fiberglass for the last 17 years. Finnally I'v started repairing my 19 foot "Lightning" sailboat that had a cracked mast base and hull. I must say your videos have helped greatly update what I knew from years before. I'm Impressed with expoxy thats new!!! Thnx!!!
Lack of sleep, food, long hours and prolonged exposure to fumes...that would definitely explain the loopy commentary, Your forgiven. :) Its an entertaining and informative series. Thank you for sharing!
I just found your videos and I gotta tell ya, I've learned soooo much. Your presentations are very informative and actually quite fun to watch. Great taste in music as well. How about moving to Florida where there's lots of boats and lots of glass work too, not to mention a whole lot warmer! I was looking for information on deck repair when I found Boatworks Today. I'm not nearly as shy about buying a boat needing a little FG repair now as I was before marathoning your vids. Thanks bunch!
I'll try and put together a quick follow up video this week on this very topic :-) But yes, generally speaking you take it apart and clean with either acetone or de-natured alcohol (depending on the type of resin you are using :-))
The boat is small 6 metre sailing boat and the area is about an 18 inch circumference around the front hatch and about a square foot under the the mast mount.As the profile of the the roof is curved i thought i could push push the plywood to match the profile of the fiberglass roof above with acro props.If i was to work from above i would find it harder to match the profile as the inner fiberglass layer is sagging.I just bought this boat with a large hole in the bow which i was told was not a difficult repair and noticed the roof afterwards.Thanks mate!
:-) Thank you! Really appreciate the kind words! BTW I may not be as young as I appear.. Will be 41 this year (which is far from old, but so is 64!!!) My parents are in their 80's and more active than many kids in their 20's! Sad, but true..... Have a great Summer!
Hi Andy, I'm new to all this boat building, great simple tutorials, easy to follow. Great stuff. Can you tell me how to clean the fin roller and what with. John from england
To prevent air pockets when laying down the core material, could you use a small tooth V notched trowl with the epoxy? Make sure to trowl in one direction to keep the grooves uniform for collapsing. When seating the core in the epoxy move the core back and forth at a 90° to the trowl lines, this let's the air escape uniformly. Same principle as laying ceramic tile.
Thanks for sharing this project with us. I look forward to seeing how it all finishes! I'm curious about care for the roller. How do you keep it clean? Do you just soak it in acetone or is there a better way to do it?
In case nobody has said it yet: While certain fillers will increase the density of epoxy, this does not correlate to higher physical properties or increased adhesion strength. Epoxy is strongest without filler added to it, but adhesive fillers are excellent for increasing the viscosity of the epoxy mixture, bridging gaps, preventing the epoxy from soaking too far into the wood, and preventing glue-starved joints. Fairing fillers turn the epoxy into an easily sanded fairing compound.
Great show! I actually did traditional wooden boat building/repair for about 8 years, and so of course I would only ever own a fiberglass boat, har har. Have been learning a lot from your show, in preparation for buying another sailboat. One question about this episode: When re-coring a deck, do you ever need to feather edges of the core material just like when doing a solid fiberglass repair, or is the feathering of the fiberglass on top enough? Thanks again, I'm taking notes cause the sailboat that's in the lead of the ones I'm looking at has a plywood cabin top that needs repaired.
Question: you mention in another one of you videos the using CSM and west epoxy is not a good mix. You mentioned Polly was the resin of choice for CSM. Are you using west here with CSM ? And if so how come. Thank you form making the videos there brilliant.
If you didn't the lay the glass around the edges, would the edges eventually come up.? I mean even if they bonded real good and you faired them in real good ?
highvelocity123 As long as it's bonded well around the edges there isn't much risk of it delaminating. If it were to fail, it would be an issue with prep work (surface wasn't clean or sanded properly)..
Very instuctive. I like to know when enough resin is added. It seems to me that the glass begins to float when there is too much of the resin? Regards from the Netherlands. Taco.
That's typically where a fin roller comes into play. The glass will only hold so much resin before it starts to become 'resin rich' and float. With a roller the excess resin is basically pushed out leaving the glass with the correct amount. As far as mixing up enough, or too much; that's something that you get a feel for :-) As long as all the glass becomes translucent and you're able to squeeze out a little bit of resin around the edges you're good to go!
Hi, These are a great series of videos, you are a great teacher, thank you. A couple of questions: 1)You are obviously a fan of West Systems, but have you ever used US Composite's epoxies and materials? Good, Bad, Ugly? 2) In this project you replaced the core 3) you mentioned keeping the"fin roller" clean. Do you just soak it in acetone, or is there some other method Lastly, I believe that bird was a wren. They terrorize my labrador all day. She's probably looking for a nesting spot in your barn.
+Paul Grabowski I haven't used anything us composites other than their urethane foam. Regardless their products are very good. For cleaning the fin roller, I believe I went over that in one of the 'hole in my boat' series, but basically it's a matter of removing the roller from the frame and soaking in acetone, wiping it off, etc until it's clean :-)
you can solve that problem by using strips of 3/4 plywood on top to vice it down so to speak when you screw in to secure the top fiberglass sheet. I was saying to myself what about the middle and poof hollow spots.
Usually it depends on the amount of area that I have to cover and the area I am working on (epoxy gives a much longer working time :-)) As far as the glass, what gets me every time is trying to fight taking a bite of the 410 filler when it's mixed up!! I don't know why but it reminds me of the best looking chocolate mousse I have every had!!! (yes, I am joking but it does look really tasty!) I'll use the glass to pick my teeth ;-)
where do you get your 1708...West systems has 22 oz equivalent, but no CSM...also is their g flex epoxy any good ...love the videos...just starting actual work...have been watching videos for almost a year...I gutted a 1972 Dufour Arpege and now the core replacement starts...thanks
This question was asked but didn't see an answer- how to clean the fin roller? looks like it might be tough to get all the cured epoxy out of those fins.
Hi: I am researching replacing wet balsa core in my anchor locker hatch. I've read that it is not a good idea to use epoxy with chop strand mat because the styrene in the binder won't dissolve in epoxy. So I was a little surprised to see you use epoxy with CSM. I'm now wondering whether to use CSM or woven roving to build up some layers of glass using epoxy. I also have quite a bit of 4 and 6 oz cloth from a prior project - could I skip the CSM or woven roving altogether, and just use my left over cloth? I'll need to build a 4 mm or about 5/32" thick layer of glass. Any advice you'd care to give would be greatly appreciated. Best wishes, B.
hello , great video. I have one question, if i may. why not lay up a new fiberglass skin after the core was installed? wouldn't it provide a better adhesion to the new core material , than the old bend or wavy skin? (excuse my terminology). In my opinion using the old skin would require heavy clamping or sand bags placed on top of it to sufficiently adhere to the core, something that would be done easier with a new lay up.Am not a professional , nor trying to be a wise guy. just asking for your opinion. thank you
+Angelos Cosgrove The original glass on the deck was pretty thick (would have required a lot of resin and glass to lay it all new). This was a decision strictly based on cost savings for the customer :-)
Forgot to finish my 2nd question, sorry. 2) you replaced the core. did you need to replace the stringers that support the core? Do you have any videos replacing stringers?
I see you are using some chopped strand mat as a filler to raise the surface level.everything I have read says not to use chopped strand with epoxy because of the styrene binder, do you find that to be an issue?
Most likely, but working against gravity does make it a bit more tricky.. On a small area I think it would be pretty simple; large areas very difficult..
Hello after a few bad backs and some epoxy hair i actually finished the entire roof of inside of a small 6 metre sailboat working from below and you were right about the gravity making things difficult.Sticking epoxied sheets of ply to the underside was fun i had to use all my limbs to hold them in place as i jammed acrows and props to hold them.The outer layer was also sagging in so i had to adjust each prop to keep the profile and get a good bond.The glass went on in 30cm 1 foot strips as i found it hard to get any larger size to stick.This was my first ever fiberglass work so looking forward to doing some more with gravity on my side.Thanks again for all the vids:)
I really appreciate your videos and your ethic...you are young and I am old(64) but I can relate to your work ethic... anyone who has their boat worked on by you should be so grateful that they found you. I have posted your link to my Chrysler Sailors forum for those of us who are trying to keep our old boats sailin' and goin' strong. Boatworks Today is the "bomb"...oops now the Homeland Security SQAUD will target me...ohhhhh Shitttttt!!!!!!
i thought you werent supposed to use epoxy wth csm? the binder in the csm is made to disolve in styrene and doesnt dissovle in epoxy. yours looked pretty wetted out though. i did a similar core replacement and noticed the mat stayed a little white. i switched to vinylester for the 16 other bad core spots and it wetted out perfectly
Carleton Wheeler Epoxy and straight csm don't work the best; you're correct. But, the material I used was 1708. Yes it does have a thin layer of csm on the bottom but it's not enough to make any difference. The bulk of this material is woven which is what makes it ideal to use with epoxy :-) Good catch!
i love your videos thanks for sharing. wish i had found them 4 years ago when i strarted repairing rotten core in a 26 ft sailboat. I did everything wrong!! saw in another video where you explain how epoxy and csm can work in flat areas. would love to see a video discussing saftey concerns. im really concerned about lung protection. ive tried all kinds of stuff and bought a papr hood (Yikes $$) in a panic attack after a ton of grinding in a tent. also sprayed some gel coats using preval and a mask that wasnt a great fix, really did not feel so well afterwards. (ill never spray it again after seeing your, criss cross technique.)
i notice you wipe with acetone to prep glassing areas. i think ive become sensitized to it, have to use a voc mask and gloves and even then i feel it. can i use something else. alcohol for example?
Carleton Wheeler If the chemicals get to you that strongly, maybe try scrubbing with simple green and rinsing well with clean water. Only downside is that you won't be able to do anything until the next day after the surface has dried :-/ But, no chemicals!
@@boatworkstodayAndy, great video, as always love your sense of humour. I guess it’s cause I’m just as goofy as you are 😂 Anyway, do you have a video of similar project but where you are laying new fibreglass to rebuild the topskin pls?
Shouldn't you wear a mask when working with fiber and chemicals/epoxy? Even acetone is bad news for lungs. Great work though. It gives me the confidence to buy a boat that is great beyond some delamination on the deck above the v-berth. I thought it was a deal-breaker.
Hi Andy!
I want to first of all "THANK YOU VERY MUCH" for taking the extra time to make your videos and sharing your great knowledge, skills, expertise with us! You have saved me tons of money by given me the confidence I needed to do alot of my own boat repairs.
Hi, first of all THANKS FOR YOUR EXCELLENT VIDOES and for CARING abouto doing things right. It's obvious your enjoy your work which I believe is great. Congrats!!!
I've been a "do-it-yrslfer" many years (I'm 49 ) but havn't been doing fiberglass for the last 17 years. Finnally I'v started repairing my 19 foot "Lightning" sailboat that had a cracked mast base and hull. I must say your videos have helped greatly update what I knew from years before. I'm Impressed with expoxy thats new!!! Thnx!!!
Thanks you for your videos. It gave me the knowledge and courage to recore my cockpit deck.
Thanks John :-) Unfortunately couldn't cover everything I wanted in this episode (would have been too long), but the followup will be coming soon!!
Great series. I really enjoy your style of teaching. I'm looking forward to the boatbuilding series.
Lack of sleep, food, long hours and prolonged exposure to fumes...that would definitely explain the loopy commentary, Your forgiven. :)
Its an entertaining and informative series. Thank you for sharing!
I just found your videos and I gotta tell ya, I've learned soooo much. Your presentations are very informative and actually quite fun to watch. Great taste in music as well. How about moving to Florida where there's lots of boats and lots of glass work too, not to mention a whole lot warmer!
I was looking for information on deck repair when I found Boatworks Today. I'm not nearly as shy about buying a boat needing a little FG repair now as I was before marathoning your vids. Thanks bunch!
I'll try and put together a quick follow up video this week on this very topic :-) But yes, generally speaking you take it apart and clean with either acetone or de-natured alcohol (depending on the type of resin you are using :-))
Nice work Andy.
The boat is small 6 metre sailing boat and the area is about an 18 inch circumference around the front hatch and about a square foot under the the mast mount.As the profile of the the roof is curved i thought i could push push the plywood to match the profile of the fiberglass roof above with acro props.If i was to work from above i would find it harder to match the profile as the inner fiberglass layer is sagging.I just bought this boat with a large hole in the bow which i was told was not a difficult repair and noticed the roof afterwards.Thanks mate!
Very Nice Andy!
:-) Thank you! Really appreciate the kind words! BTW I may not be as young as I appear.. Will be 41 this year (which is far from old, but so is 64!!!) My parents are in their 80's and more active than many kids in their 20's! Sad, but true.....
Have a great Summer!
super tutorial! you say 'keep the roller clean'. how to clean the uncured epoxy???
Your videos are EXCELLENT!! Thank you
Great video, good explanation
Hi Andy, I'm new to all this boat building, great simple tutorials, easy to follow. Great stuff. Can you tell me how to clean the fin roller and what with.
John from england
What a great teacher....
Hey Man,
Great video series! Can't wait to see more.
Excellent Teacher....should be a professor in laminate technology!
To prevent air pockets when laying down the core material, could you use a small tooth V notched trowl with the epoxy? Make sure to trowl in one direction to keep the grooves uniform for collapsing. When seating the core in the epoxy move the core back and forth at a 90° to the trowl lines, this let's the air escape uniformly. Same principle as laying ceramic tile.
Thanks for sharing this project with us. I look forward to seeing how it all finishes! I'm curious about care for the roller. How do you keep it clean? Do you just soak it in acetone or is there a better way to do it?
Nice slow and careful work. I'm learning a ton from your videos. Wish I could do multiple thumbs up! Oh, wait....👍👍👍👍👍 😋😋
In case nobody has said it yet: While certain fillers will increase the density of epoxy, this does not correlate to higher physical properties or increased adhesion strength. Epoxy is strongest without filler added to it, but adhesive fillers are excellent for increasing the viscosity of the epoxy mixture, bridging gaps, preventing the epoxy from soaking too far into the wood, and preventing glue-starved joints. Fairing fillers turn the epoxy into an easily sanded fairing compound.
This dude cracks me up, lol. Awesome videos.
Great show! I actually did traditional wooden boat building/repair for about 8 years, and so of course I would only ever own a fiberglass boat, har har. Have been learning a lot from your show, in preparation for buying another sailboat. One question about this episode: When re-coring a deck, do you ever need to feather edges of the core material just like when doing a solid fiberglass repair, or is the feathering of the fiberglass on top enough? Thanks again, I'm taking notes cause the sailboat that's in the lead of the ones I'm looking at has a plywood cabin top that needs repaired.
Thanks Laney :-)
Thanks Ed ;-)
Question: you mention in another one of you videos the using CSM and west epoxy is not a good mix. You mentioned Polly was the resin of choice for CSM. Are you using west here with CSM ? And if so how come.
Thank you form making the videos there brilliant.
If you didn't the lay the glass around the edges, would the edges eventually come up.? I mean even if they bonded real good and you faired them in real good ?
highvelocity123 As long as it's bonded well around the edges there isn't much risk of it delaminating. If it were to fail, it would be an issue with prep work (surface wasn't clean or sanded properly)..
So once again, all roads lead to good preparation... Thanks for that answer, it makes sense...
Very instuctive. I like to know when enough resin is added. It seems to me that the glass begins to float when there is too much of the resin?
Regards from the Netherlands. Taco.
That's typically where a fin roller comes into play. The glass will only hold so much resin before it starts to become 'resin rich' and float. With a roller the excess resin is basically pushed out leaving the glass with the correct amount. As far as mixing up enough, or too much; that's something that you get a feel for :-) As long as all the glass becomes translucent and you're able to squeeze out a little bit of resin around the edges you're good to go!
BoatworksToday Thanks a lot for your explanation.
Hi, These are a great series of videos, you are a great teacher, thank you.
A couple of questions: 1)You are obviously a fan of West Systems, but have you ever used US Composite's epoxies and materials? Good, Bad, Ugly?
2) In this project you replaced the core
3) you mentioned keeping the"fin roller" clean. Do you just soak it in acetone, or is there some other method
Lastly, I believe that bird was a wren. They terrorize my labrador all day. She's probably looking for a nesting spot in your barn.
+Paul Grabowski I haven't used anything us composites other than their urethane foam. Regardless their products are very good. For cleaning the fin roller, I believe I went over that in one of the 'hole in my boat' series, but basically it's a matter of removing the roller from the frame and soaking in acetone, wiping it off, etc until it's clean :-)
you can solve that problem by using strips of 3/4 plywood on top to vice it down so to speak when you screw in to secure the top fiberglass sheet. I was saying to myself what about the middle and poof hollow spots.
Usually it depends on the amount of area that I have to cover and the area I am working on (epoxy gives a much longer working time :-)) As far as the glass, what gets me every time is trying to fight taking a bite of the 410 filler when it's mixed up!! I don't know why but it reminds me of the best looking chocolate mousse I have every had!!! (yes, I am joking but it does look really tasty!) I'll use the glass to pick my teeth ;-)
is there a way to work on the bottom of a bass boat without turning over?
where do you get your 1708...West systems has 22 oz equivalent, but no CSM...also is their g flex epoxy any good ...love the videos...just starting actual work...have been watching videos for almost a year...I gutted a 1972 Dufour Arpege and now the core replacement starts...thanks
what about wetting out the 1708 before laying it up?
This question was asked but didn't see an answer- how to clean the fin roller? looks like it might be tough to get all the cured epoxy out of those fins.
The key is to clean it before it cures ;-) Just take it apart and soak in acetone for a while. Wipe clean with papertowel and should be good !
Hi: I am researching replacing wet balsa core in my anchor locker hatch. I've read that it is not a good idea to use epoxy with chop strand mat because the styrene in the binder won't dissolve in epoxy. So I was a little surprised to see you use epoxy with CSM. I'm now wondering whether to use CSM or woven roving to build up some layers of glass using epoxy. I also have quite a bit of 4 and 6 oz cloth from a prior project - could I skip the CSM or woven roving altogether, and just use my left over cloth? I'll need to build a 4 mm or about 5/32" thick layer of glass. Any advice you'd care to give would be greatly appreciated. Best wishes, B.
hello , great video. I have one question, if i may. why not lay up a new fiberglass skin after the core was installed? wouldn't it provide a better adhesion to the new core material , than the old bend or wavy skin? (excuse my terminology). In my opinion using the old skin would require heavy clamping or sand bags placed on top of it to sufficiently adhere to the core, something that would be done easier with a new lay up.Am not a professional , nor trying to be a wise guy. just asking for your opinion. thank you
+Angelos Cosgrove The original glass on the deck was pretty thick (would have required a lot of resin and glass to lay it all new). This was a decision strictly based on cost savings for the customer :-)
I see. Thanks for the reply and thank you for the videos
Forgot to finish my 2nd question, sorry. 2) you replaced the core. did you need to replace the stringers that support the core? Do you have any videos replacing stringers?
+Paul Grabowski I didn't.. They were still in great condition! No stringer replacements yet, but it's on the list!
Your using epoxy, so is there a difference in using polyester resin for this job versus using epoxy?
Ha ha ha the count rules 😄 the vids are great as well
What kind of boat do you have?
I see you are using some chopped strand mat as a filler to raise the surface level.everything I have read says not to use chopped strand with epoxy because of the styrene binder, do you find that to be an issue?
It's ok to use with epoxy but it's more difficult to wet out. I didn't even know this until after doing a project. My glass work turned out just fine.
Hello would i be able to do the same repair to the roof from inside the cabin?Thanx
Most likely, but working against gravity does make it a bit more tricky.. On a small area I think it would be pretty simple; large areas very difficult..
Hello after a few bad backs and some epoxy hair i actually finished the entire roof of inside of a small 6 metre sailboat working from below and you were right about the gravity making things difficult.Sticking epoxied sheets of ply to the underside was fun i had to use all my limbs to hold them in place as i jammed acrows and props to hold them.The outer layer was also sagging in so i had to adjust each prop to keep the profile and get a good bond.The glass went on in 30cm 1 foot strips as i found it hard to get any larger size to stick.This was my first ever fiberglass work so looking forward to doing some more with gravity on my side.Thanks again for all the vids:)
Thanks for the video! What are you using as a filler in your resin at the end of the video? At about 13 minutes in
Tristan Wentworth Thickened epoxy (west system epoxy mixed with their 410 fairing filler) :-)
I thought you weren't supposed.to use epoxy with CSM?
I really appreciate your videos and your ethic...you are young and I am old(64) but I can relate to your work ethic... anyone who has their boat worked on by you should be so grateful that they found you. I have posted your link to my Chrysler Sailors forum for those of us who are trying to keep our old boats sailin' and goin' strong. Boatworks Today is the "bomb"...oops now the Homeland Security SQAUD will target me...ohhhhh Shitttttt!!!!!!
Why using CSM with epoxy?! There is a version of the 1708 without the csm layer specifically for epoxy resin. Was that just an overlook?
what do you use to clean our fin roller? you said you must keep it clean
I usually buy epoxy and fiberglass from RAKA. They say CSM is for use with polyester resin, not epoxy resin. Anybody know why?
You may have had a lot of fumes in your system at the end of this one. But great stuff as always !
Nice. Do you prefer epoxy over polyester on jobs like these?
Also, admit it, you were contemplating eating some 1708 at some point, right? ;)
Very helpful, thanks. (just don't 'blow' your head off :-) 0:45
i thought you werent supposed to use epoxy wth csm? the binder in the csm is made to disolve in styrene and doesnt dissovle in epoxy. yours looked pretty wetted out though. i did a similar core replacement and noticed the mat stayed a little white. i switched to vinylester for the 16 other bad core spots and it wetted out perfectly
Carleton Wheeler Epoxy and straight csm don't work the best; you're correct. But, the material I used was 1708. Yes it does have a thin layer of csm on the bottom but it's not enough to make any difference. The bulk of this material is woven which is what makes it ideal to use with epoxy :-) Good catch!
i love your videos thanks for sharing. wish i had found them 4 years ago when i strarted repairing rotten core in a 26 ft sailboat. I did everything wrong!! saw in another video where you explain how epoxy and csm can work in flat areas. would love to see a video discussing saftey concerns. im really concerned about lung protection. ive tried all kinds of stuff and bought a papr hood (Yikes $$) in a panic attack after a ton of grinding in a tent. also sprayed some gel coats using preval and a mask that wasnt a great fix, really did not feel so well afterwards. (ill never spray it again after seeing your, criss cross technique.)
i notice you wipe with acetone to prep glassing areas. i think ive become sensitized to it, have to use a voc mask and gloves and even then i feel it. can i use something else. alcohol for example?
Carleton Wheeler If the chemicals get to you that strongly, maybe try scrubbing with simple green and rinsing well with clean water. Only downside is that you won't be able to do anything until the next day after the surface has dried :-/ But, no chemicals!
Think i got glass in my eye man..
I would not have re-used the skin. I wonder why Andy did.
I believe it came down to budget on the project
@@boatworkstodayAndy, great video, as always love your sense of humour. I guess it’s cause I’m just as goofy as you are 😂 Anyway, do you have a video of similar project but where you are laying new fibreglass to rebuild the topskin pls?
Shouldn't you wear a mask when working with fiber and chemicals/epoxy? Even acetone is bad news for lungs. Great work though. It gives me the confidence to buy a boat that is great beyond some delamination on the deck above the v-berth. I thought it was a deal-breaker.
You can use CSM with epoxy: www.epoxyworks.com/index.php/chopped-strand-mat-and-epoxy/
BB guns.
Aaargh! You're touching epoxy and not wearing gloves!