acerpal

I had some probles with laying down fiberglass cloth. Some some of you guys gave me a clue on laying cloth with no rinkles. Home depot sell cheap trin rollers for abut $2.99 they come wi9th two sleaves and the rooller. The package serves as the pan. Place the cloth on the wing for example . Dip the roller in to the resin and start in the middle and work towards the edges. Because it "rolls" there is no drag which pulls the way a brush does. after the cloth is down you can roll in any direction and really work the resin in. There is no need to use a squgee. Ther is no need the roller leaves a very tyhin layer. When doing a large area like a wing , have the flaps handy and leftove resin can be used on them.What is also great the resin will not stick to the plastic roller. I also use it as application method for the second coat. If any of you guys use this let me know how it works for you. And many thanks to the fellas that told me. Hope this serves you well

JustErik

Acerpal,

Thanks for the tip. I know it's probably just a simple typo, but for the life of me, I can't figure out what a trin roller is. Any chance you have a picture or a link to this thing?

Erik

jetpack

My Feedback: (1)

If you lay your cloth out flat before putting it on and spray it with cheap hairspray and let it dry, it helps handling it until its positioned and does not affect anything when you resin it.

voyager_663rd

Trim roller is just your ordinary everyday paint roller (but only 3" wide and made out of foam as opposed to the usual lambswool).

http://www.ecosafetyproducts.com/3-M...p/es-fp-43.htm

TLH101

My Feedback: (90)

I used this method on the last 2 or 3 models I glassed, and I will never use the "squeegee" method again. It works so good for sticking the glass around the leading edges, and wing tips. It also makes it easy to blend overlapped glass cloth. And there is no excess dripping off the edges.

yankee samurai

My Feedback: (175)

Are you using Epoxy or Polyester Resin with this roller?

ag4ever

Or you culd get a specialized tool from someone like Glen-L. They are a boat plan company and sell plans and materials to build your own boats. I got a metal roller that has "ridges" that run around the roller. This allows you to force the fiberglass down into the resin and not pull the cloth or matt.

jaka

Hi!
The easiest metode of laying down 25g fiber-glass is to just lay it down over the surface...then pour molding epoxy on (24 hour mold making epoxy no other epoxy) and spread the epoxy either with a thin brush or with a spreader. You can also use polyester resin. Flash and SIG makes spreaders.
This is so easy!!!
Using anything else than the above tools which are the best...you ain't got the right epoxy type!
The epoxy should be nearly as thin as milk and will satturate the fiberglass at once!
Do not use any hobby stuff epoxy for wing and fuselage coverings

TLH101

My Feedback: (90)

I have used both West Systems Epoxy, and Zap Z-poxy finishing resin. I prefer the Z-poxy I think, it seems to sand a bit easier.

bluestratos

Glassing my planes is my favorite part of the job. I use the west systems and .5 or .75 oz glass depending on size of craft. I have no problems with wrinkles but here is how I do it.
First, I cut the glass with rolling fabric cutter allowing a good overlap all around the part. I make sure the part is absolutely sanded perfectly and that is is clean (vacume,air blast and tack rag to be sure). Then I carefully lay the glass on the part, pull out the worst of the wrinkles, then using a soft paint brush with natural animal hair, I gently stroke across the glass. The wrinkles will work out easily and the brush imparts a charge to the glass that keeps it conforming to the part. I mix up my epoxy ( I use the pump dispensers for no hassel mixing) and add about 25% pure alcohal to the mix on the first coat only. I pour it on and work it over the glass makeing sure to get good penetration. You can tell by the color of the wood as it gets an even wet look. I then take a old credit card and squeegy off every drop I can making sure that the overhang gets a little wet too (makes sanding the excess off easier).

The next day I sand the over hang off and repeat for the other side. It usually takes me about 3-4 days to complete the first application. Once complete I do a quick scuff to knock off any dust or snots then apply a second coat of full strenght. It will be much thicker but it spreads easy over the coat below. Once again I remove all the excess, looking for a wet look just deep enough to cover the holes in the fabric. I then allow the parts to dry for up to a week as sanding gets much better with a proper cure. I use sandpaper that has improved self clearing properites and dry sand just enough to break the surface giving a nice flat surface for the primer to bite too. If you take your time applying the epoxy when it is wet, sanding is not a chore.

I keep a rool of dust free heavy duty reinforced paper towels handy and lots of alcohal for cleanup as I like to reuse my mixing cups. I buy plastic mixing cups from my local automotive paint supplier. They are low and about 3 inches across so they wont tip over and are easy to wipe out and clean.

troposcuba

I do fiberglass and other composite repairs on USAF aircraft for a living (well that is a part of my job). what we do is take some PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) which is just like a heavy plastic saran wrap type sheet. the resin does not attack it and it can stand the heat that we use to heat cure our repairs, but any tough plastic would work as long as the resin does not attack it. anyway, we put the cloth on one layer, pour on your resin and cover it with a second layer of PVA. you can then squeegee the resin into the cloth for perfect saturation of the cloth and also control the amount of resin you leave in the cloth by using the squeegee to push the extra resin to the edges and out of your cloth. you can also use some scissors to cut your glass to any shape you like at this point with no mess and no fraying of the edges of the glass cloth. then to apply, you just brush on a thin coating of resin on your part, peel one or both layers of the plastic off the saturated cloth and lay your glass down. you can even leave the plastic on the top of the glass to work it onto your part and then peel it. no drips, no mess. you can use any method you like to work out any bubbles that you might get, but if you start at one edge and kinda work it down smoothly and evenly, you won't have any air to work out of it. we usually put vac and heat to the repair at this point, but that is not absolutely necessary. nice clean easy method with really consistent results.

just thought i would throw this out there.

j.duncker

My Feedback: (2)

I do a fair bit of glassing often with 1/2 oz cloth. After using brushes and credit cards I tried a foam roller and now that is all I use. I can press quite hard and as it is a rolling contact the cloth is not dragged. If need be I can move and flatten cloth by angling the roller slightly as I move it. Rollers work for me.

I make no attempt to clean my rollers. I use a Czech. brand costing about 20cents a roller.

DENNYBOY

[sm=drowning.gif]Please advise on how to repair a plastic cowl that broke at one place, all the way across.

dhal22

apply sanding sealer, let it dry, sand lightly, lay 3/4 oz or heavier fiberglass cloth down and using a foam brush paint the 'glass with water or oil based polyurethane. water based is ready for recoat in as little as 20-30 minutes. after about 3 coats sand carefully and remove dust with tack cloth, then reapply about 3 more coats sanding as needed. after a few hrs you are now ready for sanding or filler primer. i then use bondo spot putty for imperfections and recoat with sanding primer after sanding. you should now have your plane ready for paint in an afternoon. very cheap and very easy and extremely light. good luck.

jetpack

My Feedback: (1)

(oops i double posted [X(])

duber3

Acerpal

Thanks for the tip, everyboddy told me that this is very hard to glass the plane, this was my first glassing and I use your method
it's very very easy

again thanks for the tip!!

kamakazi

My Feedback: (1)

The only fiberglassing I ever do is to join 2 wing halves, i never use dihedral braces. I lay the fiberglalss cloth over the wing halves that have been CA glued together. I cut the cloth long enough so it will encircle the whole wing meeting at the traling edges. i dont wrap it over the trailing edges, just to the edge. Then i pour on 30 minute epoxy and smear it out a little, then hit it with my heat gun, it thins out like water and will really saturate the cloth. I use a scrap piece of balsa to smooth it out. let dry overnite and it will be easy to sand smooth.

KitBuilder

When folks say resin... don;t you need a hardener or soemthing otherwise it will just stay sticky? I have not fiberglassed for real before (used polycrylic for small giders) but would like to glass the center section of my 4 star wing.
Mike

bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

polyester resin needs catalyst to harden the kind used for boats/surfboards the catalyst is a form of peroxide,not the kind for cleaning cuts.
and of course epoxy is a 1to1 mix of resin and hardener.

so far my favorite glassing method is to use waterbased polyurathane, Varathane Diamond finish, after a couple of coats of DEFT brushing laquer to seal the wood.
I just use a high quality nylon brush to spread the poly from the center outward its fast dry,for quick recoat and hard as nails when cured it also is low odor.

almost all my painting is done with water based products. I have been using www.warbirdcolors paints with good results I am quite happy with the finish they give and being water clean up,there is no toxic solvents to have around.
there also nearly odorless which the wife and kids appreciate.