Joe

I have pondered the visibility of the cloth weave even when I believed it has been properly filled. I looked at a lot of boats, and when the angle of light is just right, I found that the weave pattern could be seen faintly in most if not all of them.

To verify if the weave has been filled, I usually sand a small area (1-2 inch square) by hand until I can see the fibers just start to appear. This will give me a good idea how full or over full the weave is. If it takes a lot of sanding, I assume the weave has been overfilled, and I’ll do a light sanding of the entire surface, and retest. If it doesn’t take much sanding to see the cloth, I feel the weave is properly filled throughout the surface. I’ll then recoat the test area I sanded.

Bobby