GRP reinforcement

[Silkie]

Silkie has some stress cracking along the radius where the cockpit seats meet the coaming and I plan to reinforce this area (when the weather warms up a little) from the underside which is accessible from the quarter berth.

I've not worked with glass cloth and polyester resin before but it seems straightforward enough - famous last words! I followed a link provided by Ash in in another place to Allscot whose prices seem reasonable. The main question is what weight of fabric to use (emulsion bound CSM) and how many layers? The radius of the curve in question is about an inch but I may also reinforce the paper rope ribs under the cockpit locker lids (which are a bit flexible too) and these are smaller, perhaps under half an inch radius.

Finally, I was sure I had downloaded a fairly comprehensive pdf GRP manual (again originally found in another place) but can't now find it on my hard drive. Does anyone have the link?

[ash]

Pete Cooper seems to be a whizz with GRP, judging by this post elsewhere.

C_W is pretty good too.

You may remember that it is not my best subject.

Cheers

Ash

[Silkie]

Au contraire mon ami, it was your familiarity with the process (almost to the point of insouciance ) that made me decide to post this here rather than R2R.

PS - I suspect Pete was just being Eamon's marketing/sales manager.

[Pete Cooper]

PS - I suspect Pete was just being Eamon's marketing/sales manager.

Yes - let's be quite clear - I have no skills in this area at all.
I have some fairly serious(non boat related) grp work I am plucking up the courage to tackle.

Eamonn produced his throttle recess, and I commented that in another thread some people had mentioned that various sheets were catching on their throttle lever so we decided to see if anybody else wanted one.

Dave, on your grp work I would suggest a pm to Eamonn - or even better I know that he has been doing some work up in Oban, although that may be complete, but he might be able to help.

[Silkie]

It's not really that big a deal. At least half the reason for the OP was to try to swing the balance of topics back towards the boaty end of the spectrum. I'm sure Allscot will be able to advise on cloth weight.

[DaveS]

This may not be terribly helpful if you've already bought materials, but FWIW I have tended to use epoxy and woven rovings when fibre glassing. It's a bit dearer, but stronger.

[FullCircle]

Silkie has some stress cracking along the radius where the cockpit seats meet the coaming and I plan to reinforce this area (when the weather warms up a little) from the underside which is accessible from the quarter berth.

I've not worked with glass cloth and polyester resin before but it seems straightforward enough - famous last words! I followed a link provided by Ash in in another place to Allscot whose prices seem reasonable. The main question is what weight of fabric to use (emulsion bound CSM) and how many layers? The radius of the curve in question is about an inch but I may also reinforce the paper rope ribs under the cockpit locker lids (which are a bit flexible too) and these are smaller, perhaps under half an inch radius.

Finally, I was sure I had downloaded a fairly comprehensive pdf GRP manual (again originally found in another place) but can't now find it on my hard drive. Does anyone have the link?

I have it Dave, but have lost your email addy. I will send it to you on reciept.....
actually, you have it now.
Anyone else want one?

[Nick]

Anyone else want one?

Happy to stick a copy on the downloads page Jim.

[Silkie]

Excellent Jim, thanks a lot. It's just as I remembered it - a good general guide to working with polyester resin and csm.

I've always used epoxy in the past too Dave but I don't think any great adhesive strength is required for this job. It's just a bit of stiffening and the csm should blend in better with the existing finish. Also I intend to cover a fair area and £6/kg is an attractive price for resin and catalyst.

[Nick]

.
On the Downloads page now - thanks Jim.

[Silkie]

A new kind of Lakesailor I think. Having thanked Jim above I have now discovered that Ash emailed me the same pdf two days earlier.

[Rowana]

There is a good guide on the west system website. I have copies of the PDF's from there if you would like and can't be ar$ed going looking for them.

I also have some guides that I got from "somebody", but can't remember who. These are in "Word" format. If you want a copy, PM me your email addy and I'll zip them up and send to you.