epoxy impregnated Xynole-polyester cloth
Nicholas Carey
"micwal_va" <micw...@hotmail.com> wrote...
> Since I am in the research stage of building a boat, I ran
> across a recommendation to use epoxy impregnated
> Xynole-polyester cloth as opposed to glass mat over
> plywood.
>
> Has anyone tried this and if so what were your results. I
> have handled fiberglass before and do not like working with
> it. I am concerned about delamination/bonding/water
> permeability issues with using this method. The boat I
> intend to build will spend much of it's time on the trailer
> not slipped.
I'm with you on the fiberglass issue -- ever install glass
insulation? About the only thing that approaches it in misery
is haying.
Check out WoodenBoat magazine #119 (July/Aug '94) -— they had
and article on sheathing fabrics for wooden boats that
probably has the information you're looking for. Try your
public library or you can get the back issue from
http://www.woodenboat.com.
Polyester fabrics like Xynole or Dynel work fine for sheathing
but can be harder to apply -- they 'float' in the epoxy for
starters. Plus, they're awfully stretchy -- so laying it
straight without a lot of bias stretch and elongation can be
tricky. On the other hand, that selfsame stretchyness helps
the fabric conform to complicated curves and shapes without
wrinkles. Polyester fabrics also seem to soak up a lot more
resin than glass as well.
Hope this helps!
N.
--
Mike Goodwin
it takes much more Resin to impregnate the Xynole. One person said it was
> difficult to get the first coat of resin on at the cloth. He suggested
that
> the xynole seemed lighter than the glass and therfore teded to "float" on
the
> non-gelled resin.
That's why you have to vacumn bag the job to get the proper cloth/resin
ratio and keep it from floating.
Larry Feeney
<micw...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>Since I am in the research stage of building a boat, I ran across a
>recommendation to use epoxy impregnated Xynole-polyester cloth as opposed to
>glass mat over plywood.
>
Reuel Parker highly recommends Xynole in "The New Cold-Molded
Boatbuilding" and based on that recommendation I used it as the cloth
on my 23' cold-molded fantail launch. It worked well and I had no
trouble with floating (wet out the surface of the wood first) and did
not vaccuum bag it. It did absorb a lot of epoxy (4.2 gal. for the
first two coats) but finished very smooth and hard.
Larry Feeney
Ken and Clara
is harder to work with than fg. It doesn't 't cut as smoothly, it floats in
the resin therefore you apply it to a thin coat of epoxy and as the resin
gets stiff you roll on additional resin. It has some great qualities that
make it worth the extra trouble. It stretches and lays smooth over compound
curves, it does not cause the itch when sanded (it is hard to sand though,
the sand paper wants to skid
off it) it resists being scratched and scuffed which makes it great for a
trailered
boat bottom. It is difficult to get smooth feathered edge when sanding. As
to using the prepreg vs glass mat over plywood I assume you mean using
polyester resin and mat. I would choose epoxy over polyester any day, the
extra expense does not amount to spit over the total cost of the completed
boat.
micwal_va <micw...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
new8hv4ab$7p9$1...@news.smartworld.net...
> Since I am in the research stage of building a boat, I ran across a
> recommendation to use epoxy impregnated Xynole-polyester cloth as opposed
to
> glass mat over plywood.
>