Being a painter, I know that the true masters are the ones that know how to "save" the mistakes. Watching you do the fixes is where I think I learn the most! Thanks again for all your work!
It's all in the details, and as a true craftsman you definitely understand that.... poor prep leads to a poor product in the end .. I have just started watching your videos, and I'm Impressed with your teaching and attention to detail, by showing any mistakes you also show how to fix them ....I'm a mechanical engineer hands on , not a pencil tyrant. I can not tell you how glad I am to have found this channel,, im refitting an old sailboat and i have see, read , looked up every thing I could on glass work.. and I have learned more it a week watching your videos than all those combined,, you sir are a true master of your craft. And an excellent teacher... subscribed....
New boat project. 19yt glassline runabout. Lots in materials. Because i used to fix my own surfboards i thought i knew how to fiberglass. Im so glad i found this channel. I would of done it all wrong.
Another great video, Really enjoy watching anything you do actually as you always seem to provide little gems along the way. Even though you don't think so, I could quite happily watch you put the other layers on but I understand that I'm probably a little more "nerdy" than your average viewer. What do you expect - I'm English!!
I am working on my first boat. I have had many mistakes then having to get the grinder out. But I go back and watch your videos. Thank you so much for the quality and effort you put in your videos.
I have a project in my garage full of whispies waiting for me to come back and play with it later this week. Got the first layer of a mold set. Waiting on more csm. Gonna have to get very personal with the sander tomorrow night.
Damn Andy, Everyone of your Vids, I learn just how Bad I was, at Laying Glass and the Sad part is I thought I was OK at it. My job , compared to yours, Hell looks like I laid the glass with a Garden Rake and Squeegeed it out with a Snow Shovel but the good news is every one of my Skiff's, are still running and fishing, after twenty some years, with the air bubbles, fold overs and kitty hair, just smoothed it out, covered it with paint, time to Fish. We would take a Twenty foot Sea Ray and turn it into a 20 Radon, Hawaiian style, half cabin, top raked windows, huge fish box, self bailing decks ,large scuppers, over build and glassed inside and out, good fun.
Love your videos! I've been building a little 8ft boat just to learn to use the materials before moving onto a bigger project, and every step of the way I've gone to your channel for information and I don't think I'd be doing half as well as I am otherwise. I was also convinced by "the internet" that epoxy was the only real choice, and it was you who made it clear that polyester was perfectly valid, especially for a small project like mine. So I just wanted to say thank for doing what you do! It's awesome! :D
Another great production Andy. As mentioned previously, I'm not a boat guy. However I look forward to your channel each week. Your approach and methodology is very level. Thanks for taking the time and big effort you put into our school time. 👍👍Andy can you take us on a road trip with you to the old workshop?
Yes we would like to go on a tour of the old shop. Thanks Andy for all of your videos. They are very helpful. I’m in the middle of replacing the transom in my 1985 Cobalt CM9. I wish I could post something pictures and get your advice. Be safe. Scott
Just installed fixed ports on my boat after watching your video on the subject 20 times..never would have known about VHB tape without you..thank you very much... your videos are fantastic...keep up the good work Dan Tucker naples, florida
Probably a long shot, but I recently came across your work and I am about to try my hand at replacing the wooden transom in a fiberglass hull. It's only 15 foot, but I am struggling to get started with the glass part of the rebuild. I cut out the interior fiberglass "wall" to access the rotten wood that was between said wall, and the exterior stern wall. Now all I have to do is replace the wood and glass it back up... but I don't know where to start first...
I used to work at a company that made truck caps back in the late 80's during school and after I graduated. It was hilarious how dangerous and stinky it was.....i remember glass built up on the floors we covered with cardboard getting about 2" to 3" thick built up before cutting out the floors and putting down new cardboard.....that was using the spray chop guns and the "whiskers" where everywhere stuck to every wall, ceiling, tools, just everything. I don't miss getting stabbed from them on a daily basis at all. We would wear full tyvec suits and they would harden up and stick to anything you walked by. The worst was sanding and always having to take cold showers so the itching would be less, but the resin smell just permeated every thing and everybody always knew by your smell where you work. The good old days.....used to wash up everyday in acetone, I'm sure that didn't help my longevity here at all.
Usually those areas that won't turn translucent are caused by contamination on the glass itself. Usually by coming into contact with moisture at some point in the making or packing process. The boat is looking great Andy! Glad your all set up and back at it!
Yeah, that's what I've always suspected as well, there is almost always a few small spots that just won't turn translucent no matter how much resin or work you put into it. One just have to learn how to spot the difference I guess :)
I was thinking this too as I’ve had sweat drop onto glass before and those same types of spots showed up later. Of course, I only put two and two together after the project was done lol.
Andy, please film it all, so we can see how technique and approach adapts for each layer (even if you don't get it edited and released next week). Also, maybe add a digital clock on top of the transom so we can see time spin and have a sense of working time.
Great video as always Andy. Always look forward to seeing more episodes. Had to glass in the underside of my deck core recently 😬 😂 dam I hate upside down glass work 😂 few bits didn't go so well,so let it set up, will grind the few bad sections back and re glass using CSM.
Been enjoying all of your videos Andy, giving me a little more confidence on restoring my Banshee sailboat. I hope you have researched a great shoulder surgeon for your cuff repair and follow his recovery recommendations. I went through several repairs before I found the right one. Overcompensating with your good shoulder can lead to issues down the road. Love all the information you provide tp us. Best regards!
sometimes when watching your vids I make the mistake of thinking to myself "how the hell does he make any money taking this much time on a job" but then I come back to reality and remember he is making instructional videos. nice work
Great video as always Andy, I’ll bet it feels good to be back to laying some glass again. My son and I recently glassed in the floor on our project with huge pieces of 1708 and epoxy. I had it in my head that we should pre-wet the glass. It worked, but it really sucked and it’s far from perfect. In hind site I should have rolled out some epoxy and laid the glass dry like you did.
I want to start with, I've watched a ton of your videos in the last few days. Back story. I got a free fiberglass canoe. It has a few cracks and holes all the way through. Forgive me for not being good with boat terminology. The entire bottom of the boat is flexy. There is micro cracks throughout. I am fairly confident i will be able to fix the cracks and holes, those are straight forward. Can i just laminate a single layer of weave type glass on the outside to repair the micro cracks and to add a bit of strength? I don't want to add too much glass to keep the boat light. I have sanded through the gel on half the boat and used a bur to completely open and taper the holes and it seems the boat is like 80% resin and very little actual glass. Please let me know if I'm way off base here?
Hell yeah Andy! I always like the mini Purdy roller trick you showed me. I had fucking absolutely no air bubbles on the outside of the transom. Seven layers. 1708 of course.But damn I wish I would’ve ran Cuso board. Back then you were still running wood in transoms. Thanks brother! Where’s your damn mask!
Hi Andy Love your work I’ve bought my first fibreglass boat and want to increase the height of the transom Any videos or tips I’m going from 20 to 25 inches Thanks
Loving the candid discussion you use in your videos Andy! Covering the potential problems of the task at hand is very useful and sets your work apart. Thanks for today's tip on overhead surfaces. I have the ceiling in the galley of my sailboat to glass and have been wondering about how to not make a giant mess. The plywood was rain water damaged (2 loose screws around the campanionway destroyed the value) when I purchased the boat. After I get the surface prepared (one layer of plywood remains) I expect it to suck up quite a bit of resin, so I'm planning to wet that out and let it harden before re sanding the surface and applying the glass as you suggested on sticky resin. My question is: is it okay to use a fresh batch of resin over the tacky resin? Will the surface get slippery, will the glass slide around if I do that? Thanks for all that you do and good luck with the final clean up and sale of the old facility.
Sooooo satisfying. Great to seeing the transom take shape. How many layers total will the tabs and glassing over the koosa take in total for strength? EDIT, ah gotcha, 4 total. Guessing all those outboards hanging so far back means it needs to be much stronger than just a couple of outdrives from inboard engines? Rinse and repeat is good!! ASMR glassing video! Very relaxing! Old shop road trip would also be cool!
If only glassing was as easy as you make it look...Still to do my transom, don't fancy a trip to UK and help haha. Your videos have been a massive help to me so far thanks Andy.
2 года назад
You make working with fiberglass look easy. It's deceptive, the fiberglass I know is a real btch! :D Thanks for your tips and tricks, they will be really helpful with my next project!
So wish you where located near Texas. Have a boat that I'm not sure how to get it done. All your tips, and tricks are great but none really apply to my issue. Would love for you to look at it to tell me what to do. Don't have anyone located who does work on fiber glass boats. Only place I can go is over 4 hours away and that's just to have him look at it... sad.. keep it up.
Another great job Andy I’ve been watching your videos for a while they’ve helped me immensely with a 1st time project on stringers fuel tank etc.. 1 ? I’d like to clarify I believe you address in another video like when patching a hole the glass patches I thought were to go from smaller to largest increments?? I’ve seen & read 2 different theories could you please clarify. Thanks again for great job, I’d love to come visit your shop I’ve converted an old chicken barn into my are it works for me, thank you
Did you complete the transom on the 25 as I watched all of your videos up until covering the Coosa with FG however it appeared to be the last video and I was waiting to see how you tied in the stringers that were cut on P & Stbd. side as well as did you fabricate and install knee braces between the transom and the ctr stringer as well as the P & S stringers. Because the boat originally had I O 's most of the engine weight and forward thrust was absorbed by the motor mounts that were tied into the stringers but with the I O power the transom was under forward thrust, now with the OB's the transom is under tension in neutral and there is nothing tieing the forward forces to the hull or the stringers. Do you plan on additional videos as the project is finished. Thank you
Andy I'm confused about where you use epoxy and where you use polyester. Can you use either one over the other? I think you put the panel in with epoxy now you are using polyester? You may have already have covered this in other videos. Please help Thomas
Those whiskers take some time if we want the job done right. There is always some bubbles that are very hard to get rid off, and some that are going to come back after we thought we fixed them. Very good job, as usual.
For sure! That's part of why I want to get into resin infusion for as much as possible for the rest of my current boat project :) either with vinylester or epoxi. The boat is polyester but has quite a few years on it and I've done a lot of the work on it with vinylester for superior bonding and strength. I think we even built the new foredeck with vinyl and we glued the deck to the hull with a vinylester based glue. It smells a good bit more so infusion would nice :)
Andy. Man I have commented before, but where do you get your soundtracks, . I have yet to dislike any og your toe tappers. And as alwys,. very useful, informative, smooth videos Very Nice Work.
I have a houseboat that I’m renovating and I noticed the outside wall panels have waves. Do you have a video or can you give me any suggestions on how to treat those areas. Thanks for your input.
what type of fiberglass material do you use first? 1.5 Oz chop strand? then 1708 bi axial? Im new and trying to get ready for my 1988 speed boat repair thanks
I'm getting ready to tab in my transom. On the second and third layers of tabbing do you make the pieces a little bit bigger than the last layer? Or do you cut them all the same? Thank you for all your videos. They have gave me the confidence to do this project that I have been putting off for awhile.
I bet those white spots are that material in the mat that dissolves when you wet it out . I would have used a full size roller to wet that out it would be much faster . I was wondering about whether that resin youre using has any wax in it?
Hi Andy I am new to your channel and find the info very valuable. I coated a boat project with Alexseal coating. I have been told that after a period of thime I can not just roughen up the surface and apply the last two coats. what is your opinion? Richard
Hi Andy, Noticed you using garbage bags to wet out your 1708. Here's a trick. Try using a plastic magic carpet sled kids use to go tobogganing. Lies flat cleans up easily and any remaining epoxy chips off when you roll it up after it hardens. Periodically I'll give it a spray with silicone if things start to adhere.
Hi Andy, enjoyed the vid as always. Quick question, since you are using Poly resin, is it not necessary to start with a layer of chopped strand mat for improved adhesion?
I think he's using something along the lines of 1708, which is glass cloth stitched to chopped strand mat: "Biaxial (+/-45 degree) Cloth with 3/4 oz mat backing. The fiberglass tows are held together by light nylon stitching ...The flat non-crimped fibers yield reduced print-thru and higher stiffness than other woven fabrics. The mat backing adds extra thickness and makes for a smoother finished product when applied over scratches and dents. This cloth is ideal for repairs, tabbing, and reinforcing.>> (Jamestown blurb) He's applying the CSM side to the hull, which is why it looks like straight glass cloth in the clip.
Letting 1st layer fully cure before adding 2nd layer ? Won't you have to SandSand all those little weaves ? Does Polyester Amine Blush ? How will you deal with that ? Suggestion: Use a release fabric, like nylon flag material -- it leaves a good mechanical pattern & takes away the amine blush. Agree ? Thanks Again.
Well, duh -- You are likely using Laminating Polyester Resin, which does Not cure hard, does Not need sanding between coats, and it Does remain tacky for as many coats as needed, until covered with PVA or poly/gelcoat With Wax. Sorry for the brain-freeze, but do try that nylon flag material as a release fabric for between cured coats of epoxy -- to leave a good textured surface And take away the amine blush when removed.
Resin will fill. No amine with UPRs, once laminate reaches >25 barcol hardness, you can immediately add more layers. Modern DCPD blended resins yield a tack-free finish, and can achieve a chemical bond as long as successive laminations are completed in less than 72 hours from each other. Only a quick scuff sand to remove "tent poles" is required.
Even if it’s another vid of laying layers of glass I am very fine with that cause every time I watch I learn something. But guess we will see. I’m heading to my boat now to do core replacement and prep for epoxy primer and paint.
Friend of mine, who owns a body shop (very successful one by the way) was a master fiberglass worker, a good friend of Don McCurdy at Champion Boats and the go to guy out here east of the Mississippi. Of course he's getting on in age now and you'd think he'd dedicate some of his business towards boat repair etc. Such is not the case though as he can't find anyone to teach the art to (and it is an art being able to match colors, flake, etc.). Young kids today don't want anything to do with it, unless it's tech related etc. He himself doesn't do it anymore due to his age, etc. but the work he does deign to take on is flawless and matches perfectly. I've seen him take out whole sections of boats and transoms and replace them to near perfect condition, actually stronger than the original. But, once he's gone there's no one around here to carry on his expertise. folks just don't want to put up with the fumes, dust and other factors associated with fiberglass work. More importantly, most folks don't want to pay the price for quality repairs preferring instead to DIY their own stuff.
It's the paying price. I do fiberglass repairs far and few between because I refuse to cut corners to save on labor costs. If the incling even comes up, I tell them that I am not the person to do the repair. My name will not be noted to shoddy workmanship.
thank you for this video! i was wondering i am currently rebuilding my catamaran powerboat that is build from kevlar and original it has a wooden transom. but i am gonna replace it for 38mm (1.5inch) coosa! but i was wondering how much kevlar should i put over the coosa board because the original boat was wooden transom with a thin layer of kevlar and 2 small knee's made from polyurethane wrapped with kevlar (thick layer) and two HUGE transom knee's. i am also gonna replace the structural bulk heads that are okoume to coosa but is it really strong enough if i put exactly the same thickness coosa as there was wood or should i increase the thickness when going for coosa. alot of questions but thanks in advance.
I have a 1989 starfire 245 and want to replace the transom. I just can’t figure out the best way to do it the the capping on top of the boat. And I’d love to do it from the inside but unfortunately I think the outside will be best because the layout inside
Yes, no problem with that as long as both materials are using the same hardener (Mek-P). If the putty is using a paste hardener then not sure about that one. But poly and vinyl are perfectly compatible otherwise after cure regardless.
1708, I roll the surface I'm putting it on lightly (just to seal it up) and I also roll resin on the chop strand side of the 1708 before laying it down. Just takes way too much resin and time to get it through the face even when you coat the surface. Not like the chop strand will come off with all the stitching.
You've focused on this transition area in both of the past 2 videos on this section. First, breaking the edge by sanding to ensure the glass doesnt have to conform to a 90 degree angle and now using filling to create a curved filet. Why not just use a router on the koosa board (prior to instalL) to deal with most of the edges? Would that have created a worse situation where you end up with even more whisps?
You can, but there's usually still a small lip left from the router. Putty is easier and less dusty. Also, Coosa dust is unbearable in terms of "itch".
Further to that, I wondered why the koosa board was not bevelled, so that the junction required less filleting, and so that there was not such an abrupt change in panel stiffness (which presumably acts as a stress concentration zone) around the boundary. I'm sure there will be a good reason, just curious as to what it might be.
Andy Your are a PRO! How does a PRO keep your tools clean? You are using your hands on wet glass laying and adjusting. But then you grab your thin roller and other items to smooth out. Your gloved hands have to be loaded with resin and as such so will your tools. So after 20 to 30 minutes of working and things start to set (even your tools) what is your process to clean? I am sure these are not throw away items.
The rollers come apart, so I'll soak in acetone for a bit then wipe down with paper towel :-) Eventually you'll need to get into the little grooves of the roller and chip the hardened resin out with a screw driver lol