AFter a ride this weekend I realized a clamp for my pipe vibrated a small hole through my lower hull (a circle a little smaller then a dime). I was thinking doing 2 layers of glass on the inside and 2 layers on the outside using the same stuff that I used for my footholds. would that be sufficient? Any advice is welcome, thanks!
Super Jet Hole in lower hull
- Thread starter cully37
- Start date
- Location
- South Florida
I would put tape on the outside and cloth just on the inside. Then peel off the tape for as pretty as a repair as possible.
Joker
...chaos? Its Fair!
- Location
- La Porte, Indiana
X2
What kind of material did you use for your footholds? If I were doing the patch I would do at least two layers of 1208
Joker
...chaos? Its Fair!
- Location
- La Porte, Indiana
Ya I would feel safe doing that. I had a hole from the stock pissed and I did that and it has held up. You should be fine with 2 layers you can do more if you want but I felt 2 was good enough
Vumad
Super Hero, with a cape!
- Location
- St. Pete, FL
The area you describe is non-structural and low impact. If a pipe clamp can hit it, I would also assume it is on the side of the lower deck and not on the bottom of the lower deck. I would not be concerned about such a small hole. I would fill the hole and cover it with a small amount of glass. I would not put glass on the outside of the hull if it is not necessary. It sounds like your situtation it may not be necessary.
Put packing tape on the outside. Cut circles of glass that fit into the hole. Cut a few extra because they will compress when you wet them out. Cut a circle about the size of a half dollar to cover the dime sized one. I would use two layers of a thinner glass to seal the hole over one thicker one. One circle a little bigger than a quater and one a little bigger than a half dollar. Maybe 10 oz cloth. Pull off the tape after the glass is dried. Mix cabosil and microspeheres with epoxy and use it as a body filler on the outside.
Put packing tape on the outside. Cut circles of glass that fit into the hole. Cut a few extra because they will compress when you wet them out. Cut a circle about the size of a half dollar to cover the dime sized one. I would use two layers of a thinner glass to seal the hole over one thicker one. One circle a little bigger than a quater and one a little bigger than a half dollar. Maybe 10 oz cloth. Pull off the tape after the glass is dried. Mix cabosil and microspeheres with epoxy and use it as a body filler on the outside.
Joker
...chaos? Its Fair!
- Location
- La Porte, Indiana
US composites sells them
Vumad
Super Hero, with a cape!
- Location
- St. Pete, FL
Microsperes make the epoxy easy to sand. The cabosil makes it thicker so it works better as a filler. You could use microspheres alone for this job. You will only need a little bit of resin to make enough filler to do such a small job.
You may want to use Marine Tex instead of making your own filler. It's a bit pricy compared to making your own filler but it is very simple to use. (Don't mix all of it. Marine tex is 5:1. You don't need to use all of the stuff at once.)
As far as the cabosil/microspheres, there is no exact mix, but a basic baseline is 50/50. You can mix it however you like to get the kind of filler you want. As long as you don't use too much of either and dry out the mix, it will be fine. You mostly are just mixing it to make the epoxy thick enough to use as a filler. You could use all cabosil but it will be harder to sand, and you can use all microspheres but it will be hard to get the consitancy you want. Just add a little of each until you get the consistancy you want (peanutbutter, or maybe a tad runnier). Just know that 1oz of resin mixed with filler is going to make 2-3 oz of filler. That's a whole lot for the job you plan to do.
The method I suggested is going to leave very little need for any filler. Actually, if you put extra resin in the hole with the glass, it may sit tight to the tape and you wont need any filler at all. Weight is of little concern on such a tiny repair.
Last edited:
- Location
- South Florida
If you use epoxy and cabosil then just put a glop of it down from the inside before you glass. The tape will keep it in the area and no need to turn ski over afterwards.