Glass repairs

Posted By: Bob McLellan, Mesa AZ
Date: 4/10/09 8:09a.m.

Report: outside forum guidelines

In Response To: Fiber glass repair on Mac 22 (KRUSE'N, Mac 22)

Look up (Google search) "scarf joint". It is usually associated with woodwork, but I follow the same principle for glass repair. If you are repairing a crack and grind down about 1/4", then I create a sloped area leading to the ground out area of about 12 to 1. Thus the "patch" will cover about 3" all around. You should do this on the bottom side as much as possible. That gives the repair a good bonding area for strength. Speaking of strength, it comes from the glass material, not the resin. Easy to do. But, your cracks may only be in the gel coat, not the actual glass fiber. See if you can check the depth of the crack before grinding out a bunch. Nothing is as strong as the original. Oh yeah, epoxy is stronger than polyester resin. IMHO