Fiberglassing

In this workshop episode, expert boat builder Nick guides Bill through the process of fiberglassing key areas on their Chesapeake Light Craft stitch-and-glue kayak kit. With careful instruction, they cut and apply bias-cut glass strips along the combing, deck, and keel line, ensuring proper reinforcement while tackling tricky contours. Nick's methodical approach and explanations provide valuable insights for aspiring builders.

Nick and Bill work on fiberglassing the deck of a Petrel Play kayak kit, addressing challenges like staining touch-ups, containing epoxy messes, managing cloth tensions, and strategically cutting and patching to resolve bridging. They methodically apply filler coats, trims excess glass, and installs the deck combing.

Nick and Bill continue building a Petrel Play sea kayak kit, focusing on applying fiberglass tape to the inside seams. They carefully prepare and saturate the tape with epoxy, then meticulously apply it to the seams, using a brush on a stick to reach tight spaces. The process is challenging but necessary, and they discuss alternative methods people have tried.

The video covers several tasks related to installing a retractable skeg. Including constructing the skeg box that will house the skeg, shaping the plywood skeg into an airfoil, reinforcing areas of the skeg with fiberglass, fabricating the control slot trough for the deployment knob, and doing an epoxy end pour in the hull to strengthen the ends. Throughout, the host Nick discusses the pros and cons of having a skeg.

In this video, Nick and Bill are working on the Petrel Play SG, a stitch and glue sea kayak from a kit made by Chesapeake Light Craft. They focus on glassing some of the kayak parts and explain the process in detail. They demonstrate the process of layering the fiberglass on different components and provide insights on effectively using epoxy and thickening agents. They also introduce the concept of peel ply and its application in the fiberglassing process. Nick emphasizes the value of taking on smaller tasks such as fiberglassing early in the building process to gain familiarity with the materials and techniques.

In this video Nick Schade and Bill work on fiberglassing the Petrel Play SG sea kayak, addressing gaps at the bow and stern, laying fiberglass cloth, wetting it with epoxy using brushes and rollers, and applying a fill coat to smooth out the texture. The video offers detailed demonstrations and explanations of the stitch-and-glue boat building process.

We trimmed fiberglass from our Petrel Play SG sea kayak, focusing on rounding the chines and cleaning up the hull for durability. Using careful techniques, we prepared for fiberglassing, ensuring a smooth, strong build. Our meticulous preparation lays the foundation for exceptional performance on the water.

Nick and Bill sand cured epoxy fillets to prepare for fiberglassing the interior of a Chesapeake Light Craft kayak kit. They mix small batches of epoxy, applying it with rollers and brushes. Nick coaches Bill on technique for evenly wetting out the 4oz fiberglass without excess. They use a slotted cup to remove the excess epoxy, ending up with a nicely reinforced interior.

This video shows the process of fiberglassing the inside of a stitch and glue kayak hull after it has been stitched and glued together. Fiberglassing the inside is tricky since gravity works against properly conforming the cloth to all the corners. The key technique is ensuring adequate cloth is worked into every seam so there are no bridges where the cloth gaps across corners. Rather than perfecting each section before moving on, the goal is to quickly get reasonable coverage across all surfaces, then refine problem areas. Excess resin should be removed with a "grunge cup" - a cup with a slit for the squeegee - since excess resin adds weight and reduces strength.

After assembling the panels, Nick and Bill inspected the glued seams, sanded bumps, and removed temporary wires. He mixed thickened epoxy with wood flour to create fillets - radiused joints that structurally bond panels. Well-shaped fillets reduce stress and allow fiberglass to conform smoothly. Nick demonstrated mixing the two-part epoxy and adding wood flour to reach an ideal peanut butter-like consistency. He quickly dispensed fillets from a piping bag along inside seams before the exothermic reaction heated it up, then shaped them and cleaned excess epoxy. Nick emphasized getting the right consistency and working fast. Ideally fiberglass goes over tacky epoxy, but allowing it to cure first works too.