: Thanks for the advice. How "shortly" is shortly? I was planning on
: the sealer coat tomorrow night (Wednesday), followed by the fillet
: Thursday night, then 'glass on Friday -- I'll actually take the day off on
: Friday to mess with the fiberglass.

: Does overnight jive with "shortly"? Or should I move more swiftly?

: Just curious. Thanks again for the recommendation.

: Rick Brannan
: rick@supakoo.com

A fillet will certainly help avoid the bubbles from appearing under the glass at the hard 90-degree bend. The problem with a fillet is a filler (Cabosil, fumed silica, sanding dust) will be needed to thicken the epoxy to make it thick enough to form the fillet. It will certainly show with a filler added. I have read in the past that it is possible to thicken epoxy by adding a little less than 50% hardener to the resin and letting it cure over night then add the rest of the hardener and using this thickened mix as a filler and it is clear. I haven't tried it but maybe someone on the board can provide some experience.

On my last lay up I used Raka 606 (slow) to seal coat the wood on a Friday night, early Saturday morning I used a cabinet scraper to knock-down the hard fuzz that raised and immediately applied the glass cloth with Raka 606. At noon the same day I applied a fill coat using 610 (fast). Then again the same day applied fill coats using 610 late afternoon and late evening. All that in 24 hours. You could certainly add a fillet between the seal coat and the glass application by using the fast hardener in the fillet and waiting a couple hours just long enough for it to take a set.

It is best to apply coats as soon as possible to get cross-linking bonds between coats. The only time you should not is if a blush (a waxy smear on the surface) appears (Raka does not seem to blush much), if you have to correct an error by sanding, or you just don't have the time to keep applying coats. If you allow the epoxy to cure more than 24 hours you should sand and wash to get a mechanical bond between coats.

I feel it is really best not to sand on top of glass until the fill coats are applied to avoid sanding into the fabric. Some people like to sand between fill coats to keep them smoother, watch closely if you do. I like to do all the sanding after the fill coats and add additional coats if I'm starting to touch the glass and still have lows to fill. I feel it is safer and definitely faster.