Fairing over cured epoxy.??

[seadated]

I posted back in Oct. about painting over cracked tops of 2 exterior storage units I have on my boat.

I recieved many good ideas, Which I incorperated a few different ideas I feel any further craking will be prevented.

The tops of these storage units were cracked down the middle. I secured battens underneath with epoxy and screws to hold the wood together,
On the top side (exposed side) I removed all varnish, sanded smooth and wetted the surface with West Epoxy and layed down a layer of cloth.

I made sure to have the cloth hang over and down the sides of the storage cabinet. The joints were the top meets the stiles and front panel, were also wetted out and cloth applied.

MY question is? The rest of the front panel had no joints, so I did not lay cloth on the front. However, I have now created a slight edge were the Cloth stops and the were the rest of the panel has only the resin.

I plan on visitng the boat Tommorow ( New years and I am off) so I wanted to do some work on the cabinet.

What is the best way to remove the ridge? Build up with epoxy? Use some of the sanding dust and epoxy and mix to a peanut butter consistancy and trowel on and fair it out, then sand??? Or just plain sand it smooth before I re coat with more epoxy. ( Obivously I will remove all amine blush first)

Thanks for any input. And have a safe and happy New Year.

[seadated]

I forgot to mention that the storage units were also glassed onto the existing fiberglass side.

I sanded the glass down dull and cleaned with acetone. The cloth only goes up the existing fiberglass about 3 inches, But I have the same ridge to contend with.

DO I treate the ridge situation the same on the wood as with the fiberglass???

AGAIN< thanks for the input.

[NormMessinger]

Wood flour will work but microballons make a better faring compound. It is much easier to sand. Use what you have. it only changes the amount of elbow grease required.

[seadated]

The only thing is the wood flour probably won't work for the cloth to old fiberglass intersection.

Am I correct in that assumption or way off base. Please help/explain.
Thanks

[NormMessinger]

Where is everybody? It sort of takes the pressure off when half a dozen differing opinions are proffered. But okay....

If I'm understanding this you have a slight ridge three inches wide where the new glass overlaps the old and a ridge where the new glass terminates on wood.

The wood flour wont know or care whether it is over the old glass or wood. It is sticking to the epoxy which covers either.

The only reason I would tollerate wood flour for filler is if you really must do the fairing tomorrow. It cures very hard and it is difficult to sand down without cutting into surrounding surfaces. Better probably to wait until you can get micro ballons, I'm thinking.

I have sanded the edges of glass and overlaps aggressively and applied high build undercoat knowing the surface was not yet fair. I then used lacquer putty, aka spot filler, from the auto paint store to finish the fairing.

I gotta prove to the kids I'm not to old to see the new year in but I am to old to play Sorry so I'll be around for another couple of hours if this make no sense to you or you have other questions.

Good luck and Best Wishes.

--Norm

[On Vacation]

LOL. Norm. I am headed to bed. I read this post, but this old man was a little Kornfussed about what he had, and its too late for me old eyes to make sense out of it. See you next year.

[Aramas]

I would just go for microballons (Q-Cell/expanded quarz)- Just make sure you use enough of it that it's thixotropic (ie doesn't sag or drip due to gravity when you hold a gob of it in the air). It's not only easy to sand but also makes the thickened epoxy mixture very shiny and slippery, so it's easy to apply. The idea is just to feather it so that it feels smooth when you run you fingers over it.

Touch is the most important sense in fairing - a blind person could probably do a better job than a sighted one.