Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Fillets and Tape - Part 1

I got three joints filleted and taped last night; the centerline joint, and the joint between panels 1 and 2.  All in all, it wasn't too difficult.  I first mixed up some epoxy thickened mostly with silica, but with some wood flour.  I used a plastic spoon to work the goo into the joint and do some initial shaping of the fillet.  Then I made a "custom" plastic squeege that did the final shaping and also scraped up the excess that wanted to squeeze out to the edges.  The centerline joint was even easier because it is almost flat.  After getting the 3 fillets done, I let the epoxy set up for a while, about 45 minutes.  Then I came back with un-thickened epoxy and painted it over the joint and the surrounding wood.  I then rolled out the biaxial fiberglass tape over the we epoxy and pressed it into the joint.  This gave me a very nice smooth fillet and no air bubbles.  I completed the wet-out of the tape, the moved on to the next one.  Only 2 more joints to fillet and tape, then I can move on to interior fiberglass!

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