What is the hardest part of laying fibreglass ??
One really good lesson I learned the first day on the job when we started laying glass was to make doubly sure you wet the surface really well before actually laying any glass !doesn't matter what glass you are laying at any stage make sure the surface you going over it well wet out to the point of resin running if need be !!
So many times I have watched people laying the glass down onto a dry surface then spending lots of time trying to force resin down through the glass it never works properly and all the air bubbles are under and mixed in the fibres !!
Next was the first layer of glass you lay make sure its really wet out properly with lots of resin more than it will ever need !!
When you lay you next layer of either csm of a fabric the wet soggy layer underneath is able to soak up into and wet out the top glass really quickly from both sides , bottom and top !
By using you mohair roller you are able to wet the glass and roll a good amount of any air completely out of the layers and make sure its 100% wet properly so when you start rolling with you finned hard roller to press the glass fibres down and compact them and at the same time roll out any air bubbles !!!
Rolling is a individual thing and lots different ideas on how it should be done !
Roll quickly usually breaks up the bubbles and make them harder to get rid of also pressing to hard and over rolling
With a moderate pressure and rolling slower you can immediately see the difference as the air is pushed out to the edges !!
Long straight even pressure strokes are much better that short quick strokes going in all sorts of directions and leaving humps and lumps of resin and air bubble !! smooth and neat and no humps and lumps is much better !!
Some fabrics are easier to work with than others, 0/90 I find is easier to roll at a slight angle to get the air out quicker, 45/45 I roll straight , triaxle depending which one also roll at a slight angle seems to get the air out of between the layers of glass easier and quicker !
Remember that fabrics need there strands to be continuous and long and perfectly straight from end to end to give there best possible strength and durability from the glass you using !,
Joins with overlaps are potential weak places and also places where you use more material ,the more joins you have thats extra weight that's not really necessary if you plan more carefully !
The surface of the laminate almost needs to have a semi gloss look to it from the resin content !!( remember as resin gels and hardens it shrinks and draws the glass fibres tighter together )!!, reason why is because the compressed rolled layers of fibres will gradually spring back and great patch's of what appears to be air bubbles and dry glass appear later as the resin gels mostly on and around corners etc !! this is caused mostly when fabrics are over edges and the fibres are short so an extra layer of wet csm could help to hold the short strands down and prevent this from happening !!.
The biggest job I can handle by my self without any bother was a 18 foot boat doing all the glassing by myself using buckets and mohair rollers with no help from anyone !! All it takes is careful planning step by step and doing things in the right sequence !! having everything at your finger tips and exactly where it should be when its needed !
Plus product knowledge !!, knowing what the gel time is of the resin you using !, not forgetting temperature, humidity levels throughout the day , it does change from time to time so you make adjustment accordingly !.
I always carry a digital egg timer in my pocket so it reminds me of when the gel time will be due for the last mix I made ! its really easy when you have done the same work over and over hundreds of times ,even working with a team !,so working by myself I just break the job into smaller comfortable bite sized pieces that are more manageable for just one person !!
Instead of cutting the rolls of glass into short lengths is best to simply start from the bow end and unroll the glass part way back !, then wet , lay and roll , then unroll some more and carry on till you get to the back doing exactly the same in manageable sized steps .
Pre-cutting all your glass first is necessary and laying it close to the job in the correct order is absolutely necessary !! then rolling it up one layer at a time and placing it in the correct sequence so you can reach and lay as you go ! Being totally organized it doesn't even involve any thinking about when it comes to actually doing the job !
