Fiberglassing (frayed edges)

[Ryburn Ross]

I just finished applying the first fiberglass coat I've ever done. It
seems like its going to come out fairly well, mostly because of the
advice I've gotten on this NG, but, when I went to overlap the edges,
both sides were badly frayed, and only got worse. How can I cut the
fiberglass cloth to avoid this???

Thanks for any help,

--
Ryburn Ross

"Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind"
-John F. Kennedy
http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/hall/3641/wframes.html
http://pages.rzsoft.com/ross/index.html

[Palmer]

When you get the chance, check out my site on "Preparing the cloth" on the
"How To" page. Some people can't understand why I "Pull" threads on the
cloth before I apply it to the body tube but this is exactly why. I don't
care what anyone might think because no one can cut fiberglass cloth so
straight that the cut is parallel to the threads. Once you can pull a thread
from on end of the cloth to the other, you now have a nice straight, non
fraying side that is 90 degrees to the adjacent side. I measure my tubes and
add about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch to the cloth to allow for overlap. Then I cut
the cloth slightly bigger so I can Pull the threads to the exact size that I
need. I do this on all the sides while leaving about an inch of over hang on
the ends of the tube.
This will make glassing and your life a lot easier.

Palmer Hudson
Sky-bound Rocketry
http://home.att.net/~sky-bound
Ryburn Ross <ro...@jps.net> wrote in message news:37948E...@jps.net...

[Bob Chmara]

What Palmer said. It's tedious, but not as tedious as dealing with a bunch
of glass fibers that don't want to behave.

--
Bob Chmara
NAR, HUVARS, TRA, Team1, L2, http://www.chmara.com/bt/rocketry
(remove SPAMFREE for personal replies)
Sliding down the razor blade of life. -Tom Lehrer

Ryburn Ross wrote in message <37948E...@jps.net>...

[Jim Yanik]

A question; has anyone ever tried a pinking shears,the ones that cut a zig-zag
instead of a straight cut? Supposedly,they are supposed to reduce fraying of
fabric edges. they cut something like this; /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Jim Yanik,NRA member

[Palmer]

That is a great idea but would only make thing worst when it comes to
fiberglass cloth. We are talking about actual glass rods here. I used to
work at PPG industries and I had to pull the glass threads from the above
bushing that contained the molten glass to make a thread that went to the
twisters and then to the weaving room. If you did use that type of scissors,
just one swipe with the roller of brush and you would have small fibers
everywhere. It is a good thought though.

--

Palmer Hudson
Sky-bound Rocketry
http://home.att.net/~sky-bound

Jim Yanik <jya...@iag.net> wrote in message
news:7n2udc$8el$3...@news.iag.net...

[Scott Aleckson]

Another method that may work for you: Once you figure out where you want
to cut your cloth, lay it out on some wax paper and apply a very light
coat of glassing resin along your cut line. It only needs to be about a
1/4" wide strip. Once it has cured, you can cut it down the middle of
that strip without any fraying. This works best if you don't plan on
laying the glass over any complex shapes or sharp corners.

[Steven Bixby]

Scott Aleckson <alec...@alaska.net> wrote:
: Another method that may work for you: Once you figure out where you want

CA also works for this.

I fly R/C aircraft and often glass the center section of wings. At the
least, I usually CA a thin strip for cutting. Sometimes I use CA to do
the whole job, too.

--
-swb- (Steven Bixby, sbi...@crl.com)