Strip Glue

[Jim Dodd]

I know this gets hashed over a lot. But this is just an observation, and a trick thrown in.
It seems I've tried about every glue out there. And they all work, for stripping a hull.
This year I used Elmer's Max.
I couldn't be more pleased. It bonded, it didn't run out of my joints, and it didn't gum up my sanding discs. The non gumming might be do a little to the fact that it was near freezing outside, where I was sanding.

OK the trick, if you want to call it that. I used it to fill staple holes. After the first rough sand, I went to the staple holes, where I used the long, 9/16" staples.
With the small pointed tip on the bottle, I dabbed a little glue in the staple holes. I know, it seems like a tedious job, but I was done in an hour. As I was dabbing glue, I would do a row, and come back with my finger, and push the glue into the hole. I did three more finish sandings, and the staple holes were still filled.

After glassing, I had no weeping of resin through staple holes.
Hope that helps someone, anyone !


Jim

 

[wysedav]

I tried the max, I didn't love it. It seemed pretty thick and seemed to dry a little too quickly for me. I also got tired of peeling it off of my fingers, it builds up really quickly! I'm back to using tightbond.

You have me scared about the staple holes. AS a first time stapler, I though a seal coat which I normally do would be enough to fill the holes. The wood I'm using is dark brown to black so I thought the dark epoxy spot would blend in well. I guess I should use some dark filler before my seal coat?

 

[Mihun09]

Amount of squeeze out is a factor as well. I try to get enough to hold but not enough to squeeze too much out. I also try to wipe off as much as possible as I go, even the inside where I can reach. The glue only holds the wood until it is glassed right?

Due to pigmenting the exterior, I just used the fairing filler for the staple holes. I did not want the Alan issue of white spotting the interior which may/should be finished clear.

 

[Alan Gage]

You have me scared about the staple holes. AS a first time stapler, I though a seal coat which I normally do would be enough to fill the holes.

Jim can correct me if I'm wrong but I believe he was looking for a way to fill staple holes without using a seal coat.

As for the seal coat effectively filling staple holes I'll relate my limited experience and hope others chime in as well.

I usually don't do a seal coat before fiberglassing. Instead I roll it on heavy and then squeegee the excess off. That gives the wood about 20 minutes to soak up all the resin it wants. On my Bloodvein build, with a white tinted exterior resin, I did do a seal coat in an attempt to seal my staple holes and still ended up with a lot of white spotting on the inside.

On my current project, building a mold for my composite Bloodvein, I rolled on two layers of epoxy without fiberglass and most of my staples holes still appeared to be wide open. On the second coat I laid it on quite heavy to be sure the holes were covered. But they'd just burp a little air and open up again. For the third coat, last night, I laid on the epoxy and then used a squeegee to be sure it was forced into all the cracks and holes. This didn't fill them flush but at least it forced epoxy into the hole and after curing should have sealed the holes.

So, at least from my limited experience, simply rolling on a seal coat isn't going to fill many of your staple holes unless you do something to force the epoxy into the voids. I imagine the consistency of your epoxy makes a difference as well.

Alan

 

[Jim Dodd]

Hi Dave

Sorry you didn't like the Elmer's Max. The Titebond seemed too runny for me and my method.

Alan is correct I went without a seal coat this time. That's why I took the time to fill the holes that go all the way through the hull. And Yes, if not properly filled, they will weep resin.
OK. There two kinds of holes from staples I use. One, from 9/16" staples, that go all the way through, and the other 1/4" staples that don't penetrate the hull.

The 1/4" staples always cause air bubbles on the surface, even sometimes if they are filled. Resin when it hardens creates heat, and the heat expands the air in the holes, and joints. Thus air bubbles.
How I manage this is, once I've applied either a seal coat, or just a wet out coat, I lower the temperature of the hull. This stops the air from expanding.
In the Winter, I just turn down the thermostat to lower shop temp by about 5 degrees F. In Summer, I preheat the hull, usually with space heaters. Once I apply resin, I turn off the heaters.
It's all about air expansion in the wood.

Now for SEAL coating with 1/4" and 9/16" staples. I roll on a seal coat, wait about an hour, then come back with a small chip, or foam brush, and paint over the holes with a small batch of epoxy. This double coat of resin fills the holes created by the T-50 staples I use. If I do this, and lower the hull temperature, I don't have any issues with bubbles or weeping resin.

It sounds more complicated than it really is, But I've done enough battles with staple holes, and this works for me !

I hope this helps and is understandable !

Jim
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