Epoxycraft
Menu
  • Home
  • About
  • Epoxy Basics
  • How To
    • DIY
    • Artists
    • Board Sports
    • Woodworking
    • Boat Building
  • Trade Secrets
  • Projects
    • DIY
    • Artists
    • Board Sports
    • Woodworking
    • Boat Building
    • Motorsport
    • Aviation
    • Architecture
  • Meet The Maker
  • News
  • Contribute
  • Contact

How To: Our top 5 tips for fairing a hull
31st March 2016

Our top 5 tips for fairing a hull

Fairing a hull may seem like an overwhelming task but there are ways that you can make the process a lot easier, whilst also achieving a great smooth finish. Before using fairing boards for final fairing, why not try working with a grinder? You will need to be careful handling the device in order to control the removal, however this method can remove a substantial amount of material very quickly.

Preparing your sander
Glue a 9″ × 11″ fibreglass piece onto the standard round foam backup pad on your 0 to 6,000 rpm sander/polisher to prevent gouging the surface. This soft foam is used on concave surfaces. If you’re not sure where to get a fibreglass ‘rectangle’, try an industrial supplier or make your own by laminating three layers of double bias 450g/m2 biaxial fibreglass sandwiched between single layers of 200g/m2 woven cloth and unthickened WEST SYOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERASTEM® epoxy.

For safety, it’s probably a good idea at this stage to cut the corners of the square pad to a radius of 50mm and sand all the edges. It should end up looking something like this:

 

Drawing ‘glue’ and ‘sight’ lines
Be careful to make sure you attach the foam exactly into the centre to avoid distortions. In order to do this, you can use a centre punch to mark the middle and then with a pencil compass or scriber, mark a circle the exact size of the pad’s diameter. This is the glue line. After this, make a concentric ring 3mm larger – this is the sight line. This is important because once the epoxy starts to squeeze out, the glue line may not easily be visible. Finally, ensure both surfaces have been abraded with sandpaper.

Applying epoxy to each surface
Next, apply two thin, level coats of unthickened WEST SYSTEM epoxy on each surface, making sure that the surface beneath the square is flat. Your clamping system should be simply four 25mm x 100mm boards about 300mm long and 2kg lead weights. This passive clamping protects the foam from permanent distortion.

Make sure never to store the pad on its face with the machine attached, as this will distort the foam making it unusable.

 Top Tips

  1. When using a variable speed machine, we recommend you start with a slower speed until you are comfortable using it. We find the optimum speed to be around 3,000 rpm.
  2. Avoid moving in a fore and aft direction on a waterline– it is crucial to use a continuous diagonal movement across the surface.
  3. Move your feet 3″ to 4″ for every pair of arm passes. Ensure that this constant motion is used across all areas including hard to reach areas– this can be a bit of a pain but it’s very important.
  4. We found that the best approach is to do multiple passes, removing small amounts of material each time. You will notice as you go that visible irregularities will disappear. Dust off the hull several times throughout this stage so you can inspect the progress thoroughly.
  5. You can use a pencil to mark any imperfections and it would also be a good idea to mark the entire surface as you go along, to keep track of the areas you’ve completed.

There you have it, our sanding tricks of the trade. Try them out next time you need to complete a hull fairing job to make the task a little easier for you.

Our thanks to Damian McLaughlin for his great ideas.

Visit West System International for more tips on fairing and view the full range of WEST SYSTEM epoxy here.

 

 


Share on


Back to top-tips-best-ways-to-use-epoxy

Subscribe to our newsletter
Our unique epoxy knowledge and experience, delivered straight to you

Events

Future dates TBC

What is epoxy?

Epoxy Projects

UK Chandleries Open – January 2021

As England, Scotland and Wales enter another lockdown, you may have started work on those home projects. Whether it’s boat maintenance and repairs, a restoration or a brand new build,

Creating an Artisan Gold Ring with Canadian Maple and Epoxy

You may be surprised to learn that the UK is home to some of the finest gold around. Mark discovered this as a child when his father, Edward, would take

Heritage 9.9

Castagnola Launch Heritage 9.9

Castagnola Shipyard has launched the elegant, custom-made Heritage 9.9. Able to reach a cruising speed of 34 knots, the 10.91m custom-built luxury yacht is a fine example of what happens

Nick Zammeti Gets Creative with Epoxy and Liquorice Allsorts

What happens when you give Youtuber Nick Zammeti lots of epoxy and bags of Liquorice Allsorts? You get one incredibly funky table! Nick is well-known and loved in the industry

Meet the Maker – The Resin Reserve

Resin artist, alchemist, resin-gineer. Kate Ede of The Resin Reserve has always kept us in awe of her marvellous and beautiful creations. Inspired by patterns in nature, Kate is a

Split Film Festival Trophies

Creating the 2020 Split Film Festival Trophy

The Split Film Festival is one of the oldest film and video festivals in Croatia, showcasing new films and radical works of all styles, themes and genres. The festival celebrated

Hot Box

How to keep your epoxy warm in winter: build a hotbox

Winter is a challenging time for epoxy products. Warmth is needed to keep the resin fluid enough for dispensing pumps to work well and cold ambient temperature can greatly reduce

How to Work With Epoxy in Cold Weather

The frosty mornings and dark evenings are drawing near. There are projects that need finishing, but what do you do when epoxy and cold weather don’t get on too well.

Mas Snowboard

Snowboard Enthusiasts Taking On The World With Incredible Designs

To many a holidaymaker, Turkey is a haven of golden sand beaches, historic landmarks and party towns. However, it’s not just those looking to top up on their tan that

Class Xero Yacht

Class Xero Combines Coffee and Epoxy in Sustainable Yacht Design

Image credit: Alec Smith - https://www.imagemundi.com Craig Palmer, based in Worthing, is looking at opportunities to bring the marine industry together in a collaborative way. In the middle of building

Craobh Woodwork

Bringing a New Lease of Life to Reclaimed Scottish Timber

Tucked away in the highlands of Scotland is the small village of Culbokie, home to Craobh Woodwork and artisan Bruce Neill. Specialising in producing bespoke timber products from the highest

Final Bar Design

Cheers! Leeds Furniture Maker Creates a Bar Worth Celebrating

James McKay has been a creator since his early years. His fascination for creativity guided his interest into art, design and technology during his school years. James went on to

  • Home
  • Epoxy Basics
  • Projects
    • DIY
    • Artists
    • Board Sports
    • Woodworking
    • Boat Building
    • Motorsport
    • Architecture
    • Aviation
  • Trade Secrets
  • How To
    • DIY
    • Artists
    • Board Sports
    • Boat Building
    • Woodworking
  • News
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contribute
  • Contact
West System
Pro-Set
Entropy Resins
Subscribe to our newsletter
Copyright © 2021 Epoxycraft | Website by MAA