fiberglass cloth got wet???

C

CaptJ

Senior Member
Hey guys, I began the inevitable transom rebuild. From the outside or the transom. Things look good all old wood is out, new wood is cut to size and a friend in the industry gave me everything I need. Resin, activator, three types of cloth. Well the cloth was rolled up and on the floor of my friends garage and yes you guessed it, it rained and a puddle formed inside his old garage. The cloth absorbed some water but has dried out pretty good. Should I still use it or is it shot?????
 
To be 100% safe you could do an internet lookup of companies that make the cloth and give them a call, but my way of thinking is that as long as the water was clean and contained no foreign material it should not have left any residue which means that the cloth should be ok. This is only my opinion, but I cannot see how it could have been harmed. It is, after all, glass. Just make sure it's completely dry before you use it. :head:
 
I disagree with the other responses. Wet matte, cloth or roven won't be worth a crap. You will find out when you put the resin to her. I don't know why, I just know it didn't work for me. It changes something in the glass, it does not wet out with resin properly, even if left to completely dry.
 
OH, don't get me wrong, I would definitely try it. You will know if it won't work the moment the resin hits it. A supply shop caught fire here in FL a few years back. They put the fire out with water, dried up all the glass then tried to sell the glass to their vendors. They found out the hard way the resin wouldn't soak in so they sent it to the Bahamas. I had wind driven rain destroy the last 1/4 roll of matte and woven roving that was under a shed during my rebuild.
 
RidgeRunner said:
OH, don't get me wrong, I would definitely try it. You will know if it won't work the moment the resin hits it. A supply shop caught fire here in FL a few years back. They put the fire out with water, dried up all the glass then tried to sell the glass to their vendors. They found out the hard way the resin wouldn't soak in so they sent it to the Bahamas. I had wind driven rain destroy the last 1/4 roll of matte and woven roving that was under a shed during my rebuild.
Click to expand...

Ahhhh...but you see, a fire contains many, many airborn particles that are trapped by the water molecules and then are deposited on anything that the water touches. So that cloth you got was probably contaminated with things other than water. Dust, soot, asbestos, many different hydrocarbons, just to name a few of the hundreds of things that could have soaked into it. They were probably your gremlins Ridge, not the water itself. :head:
 
Never touched the fire damaged stuff, no telling really, I was repeating what my glass man told me, your probably right Destroyer, (I will keep repeating):beer: My personal experience was that the wind driven rain saturated the cardboard box the glass was originally shipped in. It was allowed to dry in the 90 degree heat for six weeks, still didn't cut it. I had it explained to me once, something to do with a binder or starch let loose in mine. I had gotten lazy and failed to put a third or so roll of mat back into the plastic bag it came in and we had a storm roll thru. I was nearly done with the project so I completed the project with sample pieces donated by Mini-Craft.
My .02. There are smarter guys than me, I would try it and see what you got. Too many responses contrary to mine. A shame if you couldn't use it. I hope I am wrong.
 
Thanks for all the input. I have put it up in my attic and hope it will dry thoroughly before I need to use it.

GEOO FIX THAT GARAGE, you should be ashamed of yourself. Lazy, lazy, lazy!
 
That is the plan. Going to start putting her back together this weekend will take some picks. Debating on re-using the outer layer of fiberglass. I have plenty of materials to make it all new and think I will end up with a better bond.
 
I agree about a better bond grinding all the old glass to bare hull. It will take more time but in the end it will be worth it. You can use thickened epoxy to glue the stringer down and fillet the stringer to hull transitions. The glass will lay better too. The attic, that is a great idea for drying the glass. The wifey will appreciate you not using her stove...:sun:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top