Friday, November 18, 2005

A Stroke of Luck?

Here's the answer from bateau about our epoxy problem.

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If you can get it to wet out, there should not be any problems. The larger white areas are going to be easy, its the spots that have been half way wetted out that will be diffucult to make right - you will have to really work the epoxy into the glass to wet out the dry fibers.
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They asked for some close-up pics of the area where we had run out of epoxy, (here are links to the pictures 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) they talked among themselves, and the concensus was that we could probably do it, but it would take work.
Note: These pics are very large. They'll take a minute or so with broadband. If you're using dial-up, make lunch while you wait for the downloads.

Hey, I can handle a little extra work. I was concerned that we'd have to cut the cloth, toss out the stuff that wasn't epoxied thoroughly, sand down the transition area, and relay the back section; which would have cost us several extra hours of work and about $50 to $100 in extra fiberglass.

Greg came to the conclusion that we really did have enough epoxy for the job, but we used a grout float instead of a squeegee when we applied the epoxy. After looking at the boat, there's little doubt in my mind that he's right. I agreed with his assessment when I saw how much epoxy had run down the side of the boat. Using a squeegee was easier and faster, but it cost us extra in the long run. Greg had to buy more epoxy than originally anticipated, and it's going to cost us a little extra work. I wouldn't disrecommend using a grout float for the big jobs; in fact I'd still recommend it. But I would also highly suggest that you double your estimate when you consider how much epoxy you'll need for the job. The worst that will happen is that you end up with extra epoxy, which can be used on your next job.

As usual, I'll take more pictures (heck, maybe I'll do a video... we're about due for one) and update you on the progress.




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