: Did the first fill coat last night. I used half slow and half fast hardener
: and it still ran some after I went to bed. I think I put it on too thick.
: It still looks gorgeous however.

: Am noticing some waviness along the edges, where the cloth hangs off the
: bottom. I remember squeegeeing many times and not being able to make it go
: away. Perhaps I should have put clamps on the cloth to pull it down?
: Anyone else experienced this?

: Patsy

Hey Patsy,

For fill coats using slow hardener, I like to use a squeegee to spread the epoxy in a very thin coat - even to the point of having the surface show a few small almost dry-looking spots. I quickly go over the entire deck/hull. Then, I go over the entire surface with a 4"(I think) foam roller to even out the epoxy. I follow this with a small, disposable bristle brush(abt .50 at wal-mart)tipping off the surface to get rid of the air bubbles caused by the roller.

It sounds like I'm skimping on the fill coat, but after it sits a few minutes, I'm usually tellin myself, "well, Im gonna get some runs on this one."(and sometimes I do) 3oz did the deck on my Guillemot "L" with enough left over to do my nails on one foot!hehe. Besides, you can always add another coat but the runs have to go.

As far as the waviness of the cloth is concerned, You need to make the cloth hang as straight as you can before you start the wet-out. I spread the cloth out on the surface and smooth it down using a 6" soft bristle brush. After I get it smoothed out, if its hanging off the boat in "ruffles", I go to the ends of the boat and pull it gently toward the ends, then go over it again with the brush working from the center down and toward the ends on both sides. Usually I can eliminate the ruffles and then it will lay against the sides of the boat.

Something to try sometime: take a small piece of cloth, lay it on a smooth flat surfact, and pull it a little in one direction then the other and watch what it does. This is what happens when we pull it around on the boat. And, that little piece of scrap taught me a bit about how to smooth the cloth.

On the ends after the wet-out,(after it gets really tacky) I put a small spring clamp on the cloth hanging off the ends to hold it against the sides of the boat. Then I hang a 24" bar clamp off the end of the cloth, the weight of which is just enough to pull the cloth against the tip of the stems. You can always press it in place with your fingers while its tacky, but this works great and you don't have to keep checking to make sure it stays.

Maybe some of this will help you (or someone in the future).

Happy Building.

Charles.