HOW TO FIBERGLASS TABBING for Boat Stringers Transom & other Marine Fiberglass Renovation Projects

When working with polyester boat yard resin, do you get tiny air bubbles?

Excellent tutorial !!
Great technique, the narration covered all the key points in executing a quality repair.
Keep up the great work & congrats on your channel.

Can you apply a skinnier piece of glass just to get the radius right and add wider pieces afterwards?

The "rubber trowl" is called a "speader" in the fiberglass world.

Great job, hoping the boat I have on my channel comes out as well as yours is! Great work!

This is tedious work, but very rewarding as well. It's also messy you itch at night lol.

I did this same work on an old 14ft Terry bass boat. It only has a 40hp motor. But for the transom, I put in two 3/4 pieces of marine plywood that I glassed in fairly thick and glassed in two support brackets because I had extra wood, materials and time LOL. My friend says that is way overkill!!! I said at least I know the motor will never crack the transom 😆🤣

if a boat is old enough to be rotted out usually goes to the dump so if I FIX A PIECE of shit like that I cut out the rotten and splice in the new leave the good old stringers in. Easy to get a good level and super strong

very neat excellent glassing the boat may not be worth the work but you have excellent work

SUNBIRD I have never seen such half-ass glassing in my life most stringers not glassed

Great video, Clearly know what you are doing. 100% correct that no boat repair shops use epoxy because it does take so long to cure they wouldn't be able to get any work done. I use epoxy on my project because I usually work on my boat 1-2 days a week and I like being able to keep everything wet the whole day while I work. I also lay up inside sometimes due to weather and the smell isn't bad like Poly. Have used poly many times for one off parts and have never experienced anything being "weaker" or with a "poor bond". Keep up the great videos!

What is the best stringer material to use

It would be nice to use other resins but where I live it’s not possible. First off can’t get inside heated storage to do repairs that doesn’t cost you 2k a month. Also any outside covered storage is still expensive. So doing deck core repair at 35-40 degrees it’s only possible to get epoxy to cure. I know it sucks should get rich and send my boat somewhere warm for repairs.

Thanks for the info. I need to try this myself. 👍

Nice work!

Isn't the point of laminating resin is so you can come back and lay up without sanding

Thanks for the videos. Very helpful. One question though. Don’t you need to leave a few open spaces at the bottom of the stringers and knees for bilge water?

Are you available for hire for a complete deck, transom, stringer rebuild on an 18' boat?

In your video and comments, there’s no mention of hardener being added to the resin? Did you add hardener?

I know next to nothing about fiberglass boat repair but was given a 1969 Sears and Roebuck V bottom boat in need of new floor. The outside looks great with no spiderwebing or cracks which leads me to believe it's worth fixing.
The keel appears to have been made from 2" x 8" while stringers are full 1 inch lumber of which I had planned to use myself. After read different articles it seems no one uses traditional lumber...why is that... To save weight?
Should I not use treated wood in my project?
Any suggestions ?
Thanks!

I'm new to this channel, and I enjoyed this tutorial, thanks! Indeed, preparation is everything. I build RC boats, but the basic process of lamination is the same as on full size boats. I prefer epoxy resin as it gives me all the time in the world to work wet-in-wet. Obviously, the extra cost of epoxy resin is negligible as I only use small amounts. Adding a radius to a tight corner sure is a good idea - I learned that the hard way. I either make a radius using thick epoxy glue, or for longer sections, I might choose a wood profile or a piece of insulation foam cut to the desired shape.

What material would you recommend for stringers in an inboard Ski Boat? I believe they are 1 1/2 thick as the motor mounts attach to them. Thanks great video.

I have a question for you about your process. If you are using the material for your stringers that is not affected by water, why can't you simply used panel bond between the stringer and the hull and be done with it? No need to add fiber glass to protect the stringer from water and the panel bond is stronger than the fiberglass. I am a car guy and not a boat guy but I am restoring a 1966 Glastron V174 boat and I know that the panel bond adhesive on cars is stronger than the welds. If your bond between the stringer and the hull is good with Panel Bond or the WEST system, why add fiberglass mat on the sides of the stringers to the hull? Sorry if this is a stupid question, maybe I am missing something.

Bro, you need to wet out the dry surface you’ll be applying the cloth to first. There’s also no need to wet out your cloth till it’s transparent. Wet out the stringer surface, then wet out cloth on your wet-out board just wet enough so that the surface of the cloth is wet, then transfer it to the stringer and roll it out until it’s transparent. The pre-wet stringer surface will finish saturating the back of the cloth for you. The pre-wet stringer surface also makes it easier to put in place without having to fight with like you were doing.

Great video. Thanks

You didn't wet the structure before applying the glass and I noticed you having a little trouble getting the glass to stick to the structure.

Great to hear your experince with Iso polyester instead of Vinyl and Epoxy. Would I be able to lay Ortho polyester over Iso, wet in wet to get chemical bonding, or do I need to wait for Iso to cure, sanding and then lay Iso?

Very very good video💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼 why did they change the stringers from what looks like foam filled giant ones to the cussa

Where you get that radius compound

Agree polyester resin is good enough on older boats built on the same resin. But nowadays I only working small scale with my own boat or smaller jobs for others. Don't have to think about resin cost anymore😊 Epoxy sticks to everything, no matter what resin is below.

Great video and so extremely well explained. I believe I may have some rot in my stringers, any tips for how I could check without destroying my boat or floor? Thanks

Like that brush roller. I haven't had luck using a fin roller on poly resin like I do with epoxy. It just wants to dig in...?

Polyester won't bond to epoxy, but vinylester will.

Did you glue them in with polyester to the hull ? Or are they held in place with epoxy ?

Thanks very much for the tutorial - exactly what I needed as a first timer in bedding and glassing stringers. Quick question - when laying the laminate on the next part of the stringer do you overlap them slightly? If so by how much? Many thanks.

I have a 1985 19' bluewater open bow power boat im about to install a new transom in. The top of the transom to the hull doesnt allow for a decent tab. Ive heard tabbing should be atleast 3" on each side being joined for a total of 6" sheets of glass. With my area i might be getting 2" on the boat.

Do you have a standard tab measurement you go off of? Also smaller tab first or larger tab first?

I know your a busy guy thanks for any help you can give.

That's the first sign he don't know what he's doing if your gonna lay 1708 you always lay chopped stran Matt first and you don't use epoxy resin to do tabbing you use vinyl resin so you can go layer after layer with out having to sand

i used to use disposable baking piping bags for my coving, it makes it so much quicker to get your filler into the corner and wipe a radiused spatula or spoon across it

Bro.. good job!.. but you would save some time by just mixing up a big ass bucket of chopped fiber fill and layer that on right under the glass as you're laminating. You don't have to mess w corners etc.. all one step! 👈👽

Plastic spreader in place of resin roller is my go to

Good job

I use epoxy for all below deck work, and switch to polyester for the horizontal surfaces above.(deck and gunwale) to make it compatible with gelcoat wear surface. Vertical exposed surfaces, I switch back to epoxy as I paint these surfaces with 2-part urethane paint. I get my epoxy for free, but for below decks, I'd still spend the extra.

Hi, may have missed something but I wondered what core material you are using for your stringers? Thanks.

Awesome tutorial man!

I’m about to start glassing all my stringers on a Paramount just like this. I see that you did not round the top part of the stringers, I’m using coosa just like you did. Is ok to lay the floor on top just like that?

How are your arms feeling?

Not all glass fabric comes with the same binders... to be on the safe side, get a can of styrene (same people should sell it) add the recommended amt. to your resin), will also decrease viscosity so it wets better and improve adhesion... (a must for no-name resins)

It’s just stringers. Use cheap resin. Mabey a rod across three spots for side to side strength. Where it meets up with transom then good resin. 😮 I Sean something else that strengthens transom. I forgot.?? 😮

Russ would there be any difference using lacquer thinner verses acetone to wipe down the surface? Thank you. Great video. I'm getting ready to do this on my boat in a few weeks.

When you are mixing new resin are you using the same mixing cup?