> Has anyone used tight wovensmooth glass?

Mike,

I used multiple layers of 2 oz satin (?) weave glass on my current boat.

I got samples of various weights and weaves from both Rake and Defender, ranging from the 2 oz satin to 6 oz plain.

First, the samples from Defender were contaminated and appeared to be of lesser quality than from Raka. I didn't use any from Defender.

If you are concerned with weight, use the satin, even the 3.75 oz plain looks HUGH compared to 3 oz satin, ie, will take much more epoxy.

The 2 oz stain wets out much harder than the plain weave, and I did get some small areas of trapped air. It also doesn't "flow" around and conform to the corners like the plain weave. It also moves around much easier than plain weave. Because of the higher risk of trapped air, I presealed the wood before wetout. On the 1st wetout I tried not sealing it and the air was worse.

I also used System 3 Clear Coat for the wetouts, it is very low viscosity. I might try MAS next time but wouldn't use anything else, all others would be too thick and make the trapped air much worse.

I only used the 2 oz on the large areas of the hull, on the ends where the glass wraps around, I used the 3.75 oz plain.

I could not put down little enough epoxy for 1 layer of 2 oz, and so wetout 2 layers at a time. The weave is fine enough that after wetout, it needed maybe only 1 more coat on the outside and none on the inside.

This is a large, deep 18.5' tripping canoe, the hull w/o trim is 40 lbs.

Dan