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Sticking fiberglass to wood question
- Thread starter GregSY
- Start date
- Replies 14
- Views 34,812
dsergison
Diamond
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2003
- Location
- East Peoria, IL, USA
no killz paint etc....
you "prime" the BARE wood with thinner. I will make the wood absorb some resin and bond with unbelievable strength.
At least this is what you do for marine wood to glass work.
I dont recall if it's a special thinner, acetone, or what. I think plain mineral spirits.
you "prime" the BARE wood with thinner. I will make the wood absorb some resin and bond with unbelievable strength.
At least this is what you do for marine wood to glass work.
I dont recall if it's a special thinner, acetone, or what. I think plain mineral spirits.
jimbo1490
Hot Rolled
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2005
- Location
- Orlando, FL
Use epoxy resin over plain dry wood. The idea is to let as much epoxy resin sink in as will go in. This is what makes the wood waterproof. This is the foundation of an entire large business and boatbuilding method called WEST System. 'WEST' is not a guy's last name like 'Jim West' but an acronym for Wood Epoxy Saturation Technique. WEST (Gougeon Brothers) have a huge web presence. Many people on numerous boatbuilding forums can fill you in on all the details.
Jimbo
Jimbo
Thanks guys. Imagine (2) 2x6 boards butted against one another with a tight uniform gap of maybe 1/32" or less.
I want to prevent water from entering as well as generally waterproofing the boards.
Should I just try to saturate the wood, or lay glass mat over it as well?
I want to prevent water from entering as well as generally waterproofing the boards.
Should I just try to saturate the wood, or lay glass mat over it as well?
J_R_Thiele
Stainless
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2003
- Location
- Columbia Missouri
I would also look into CPES (Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer) by Smith and Company. It truly is like water when mixed, and will soak into the grain. It was orginally formulated to soak into dry rot and seal it. I have not used it for that- but have as a primer and it does work.
Witha bit of luck there is a link below.
http://www.smithandcompany.org/
Witha bit of luck there is a link below.
http://www.smithandcompany.org/
M4RK_23
Plastic
- Joined
- May 22, 2006
- Location
- Western Pennsylvania
Something you should know about epoxy resin is that it is UV sensitive and breaks down into dust when left in the sun. I built a small boat using system three epoxy resin and it has to be painted to keep UV light out just like all other epoxy resins. I would suggest just using some cheap bondo poly resin made for cars. For what your doing where strength is no concern it will absorb into the wood fine and waterproof it without the need to paint. Furthermore I wouldn't worry about adding some glass just saturate the wood let dry and repeat. No sence in paying almost $100 for a gallon when you can pick up some poly resin at walmart.
surplusjohn
Diamond
- Joined
- Apr 11, 2002
- Location
- Syracuse, NY USA
question is how to make it not stick!
I worked with this stuff 30 years ago and now advoid it due to toxic issues. The cheap polyester thinned with MEK will penetrate your wood nicely, and I think it holds up to sunlight better than epoxy, adding a pigment will increast that resistance [pigment, not a dye] or any filler at all, even powered chalk etc
I worked with this stuff 30 years ago and now advoid it due to toxic issues. The cheap polyester thinned with MEK will penetrate your wood nicely, and I think it holds up to sunlight better than epoxy, adding a pigment will increast that resistance [pigment, not a dye] or any filler at all, even powered chalk etc
chuckey
Stainless
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2005
- Location
- Wensleydale, UK
A word of caution, the West system relies on totaly encapsulating the wood in epoxy. If you drill a hole in it, you have to re-plug it with epoxy to keep the water seal. Only applying epoxy/glass fibre to one surface will allow the moisture content to change via the other surfaces, hence the wood will change shape and work the harder coating off. For cheapo glass fibre sheathing of things like wooden row boats, the first layer of matting is stapled on, so it and the wood have a certain degree of independent flexibility.
frank
frank
stephen thomas
Diamond
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2001
Polyester resin does not really chemically bond to wood, unlike epoxy. It will soak in and saturate, it will also pop off and de-laminate.
West system works as well as you prep for it, and paint over it for UV resistance. As others have stated, if water gets behind it, the wood will swell and can pop the fiber glass along the seam. I have seen that happen. (remember, they used to used wetted wood to split stone, in quarries) It is far less likely that the epoxy will actually delaminate. But polyester will. Ask anyone who built a strip canoe and cheaped out by using polyester, after a season or 2....
smt
West system works as well as you prep for it, and paint over it for UV resistance. As others have stated, if water gets behind it, the wood will swell and can pop the fiber glass along the seam. I have seen that happen. (remember, they used to used wetted wood to split stone, in quarries) It is far less likely that the epoxy will actually delaminate. But polyester will. Ask anyone who built a strip canoe and cheaped out by using polyester, after a season or 2....
smt
kfox
Plastic
- Joined
- Apr 4, 2006
- Location
- Peterborough On Canada
I have a steel sailboat and about 25 years ago I decided to add an inboard engine. This engine came with mounting parts intended for use on a fiberglass or wood hull and I knew full well that it would not work on steel. The answer was to bolt a layer of wood to the hull, well bedded in marine sealer where the polyester-glass was intended to stick the engine down. I launched this boat again this spring and still no leaks nor any sign of a problem. Based on this I see no problem with sticking polyester resin to wood.
KEN
KEN
Weirsdale George
Stainless
- Joined
- May 17, 2003
- Location
- Weirsdale, FL
I must be missing something -- why not use a good quality caulking compound? That's what traditionally would be used for such an application. The flexibility will absorb some of the wood's dimensional changes due to humidity and temperature variations.
George, what was there before was just caulked, and over 6 years it basically came apart and looked like hell. Caulking is fine as long as it stays stuck but in most cases around here it only stays stuck if you smear some on a surface that is covered in loose dirt and oil.
This surface is (was) horizontal so the water would just sit there - I went back with a 5 degree angle to help get some runoff.
This surface is (was) horizontal so the water would just sit there - I went back with a 5 degree angle to help get some runoff.
octupus
Plastic
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2018
- Location
- United States
glue epoxy is the perfect material to make permanent repairs of roof, rotting window sills, door jambs and exterior molding that are difficult to remove and expensive to replace. glue epoxy is easy to handle too.
