OCR Text |
Show Drang Ftoifa By Ted Keying "Working in fiberglass isn't difficult." says Boating Editor Zark Taylor of Sports Afield, "if you avoid some of the common mistakes many first-timers make." YOU CAN use a saw or drill when working fiberglass without fear of splitting it. Unlike wood that requires some knowledge of the characteristics of individual woods and knowledge of grams, all plastic is the same. You can't, however, drive a nail into plastic. Pop rivets (good), self-tapping screws (better) or bolts (best) are used as fasteners. Plastic's greatest assets are that it glut-s beautifully to itself it-self and that it readily can be shaped by grinding with coarse sandpaper. You can undo anv mistakes you may have made and correct them. And. fine sanding and polishing can produce a finish that compares with the marvelous mar-velous auto finishes. ABOUT THE only precaution precau-tion necessary is avoidance of contact with oily surfaces. Wash parts to be joined in acetone. And if you are covering cover-ing a wooden boat, you should grind the paint off because most paint removers have an oil base. A second essential here is that the wood be really dry. The basic plastic-working technique is that you build up layers of mat or cloth These can even be saturated with resin and allowed to dry When fresh resin is applied the whole fuses into one. Kit fcxuis are built this way. ITS BEST lo use disposable cans or paper cups as mixing utensils letting them dry and then reusing them tends to get messv. TTe exact amount of hardrter to resin isn't critical. cri-tical. You can estimate it, but then you must take pains to mix the two thoroughly. You apply the resin with cheap paint brushes without painted handles (paint comes off and flecks) or (lai sticks or even a squeegee, any method that gets it on evenly. The putties are mixed on a piece of cardboard and applied with a putty knife, but vou can also fill holes with the blade of your pocket knife. These are g'd for applying the flexible seam sealers like Thiokot or GE Tub t aulk In-cideniallv, In-cideniallv, these also are great for reinstating wires IF YOU have male or female plugs you want to S'Kk-in. screw the wires down then (ill the voids with the caulk This holds indefinitely with no chance of shorting. The most common fiher-glassing fiher-glassing mistake is get-ling get-ling a bubble in cloth If vou can't gel it out when wet. let it f. Rnnd the bjf . H you ant '"- . ed If stnT,-;-V" d"uf)leihcta,rri .BOATING ttm,- maintenance artf r gH co.it and uv.i' "'' do atxiut cra( Ks j.. ' T.'J'WK, v: hU-, uv.s March issue at sp0 t " l |