I did a test piece for useing .05 fiberglass cloth with Pace finishing resin and had the following results.

.05 fiberglass cloth

Pace finishing resin mixed 50/50 with 1/3 acetone

placed on bare, dry, sander wood

painted on finishing resin over glass like Al Rabes does

allowed to set 24 hrs.

The glass cloth after 24 hrs. just pealed away from the test balsa like it was held on with only spray 77 adhesive. 
What did I do wrong? Not enough resin?
I might just go back to using dope and paper or carbon fiber. I never had a problem with them. I would like as bulletproof a finish as posible that's why I tried the glass cloth. I guess I could go back over the test piece with more resin but I feel that I might just as well tie a brick to the wing because of the weight.
Any ideas?

Hi Crist;

I had asked a question on SS about using fiberglass cloth a few months back and Al Rabe responded. He said he uses 1 part A, 1part B and one part Acetone when placing FC. Unless I goofed up the formula I think that equals 1/3 acetone. It could be that I mixed in such a small quanity the the A and B were not in equal measurements although the wood seemed hard after 24 hours, but glass didn't stick.

I don't think finishing resin goes bad but for some reason it didn't stick well. Maybe I'll try another test piece tonight and use less acetone. The Pace resin is thin to begin with.

Don Kirmess

I'll have to find that issue of Model Aviation. The AMA had a computer glitch and booted my membership. I've since straightened this out but haven't got a mag since December.

PRODUCT SNIP>>>>The 0.2mm carbon sheet is adhesive-backed, and can be cut with scissors. It will stick to just about any surface, and can be used to cover roll cages, wing end plates, A-pillar pods, and just about anything else.

BOY thanks STEVE I thought I bought a bad product........oohhhhhhhh

I know it's mm....bad me

I'd use no more than 10% acetone to thin the epoxy. It doesn't take very much, even 5% makes it brushable. Al probably gets away with it because Dallas weather evaporates the solvent much more quickly than Chicago weather does. Entrapped solvent is bad news for any finishing system. Slow cure and poor hardness can be the obvious results.

Epoxied 0.5oz cloth will never seem very rigid by itself, its just too thin. Even fully cured it will flop around like any other thin plastic sheet with ordinary epoxy. Its when it is attached to something else that you get rigidity.

Another thing to note is that with non-soluble resins like epoxy, you have to get enough on to fill the cloth first time around. If the fibres aren't filled, adding epoxy after the first lot has cured isn't going to add strength, just weight. You can do it with dope, because each subsequent coat melts into the existing coats, but more epoxy just sits on top of the hardened epoxy. If there are voids and unsaturated fibres, they'll stay that way.

I say try again with 10% acetone, make sure there is enough or slightly too much resin in the glass, hit it with the toilet paper and then maybe heatgun to help the acetone evaporate before it gets trapped.

Hi Bill

I have used dope with CF and it turns out great. Could you tell me how you use dope with glass coth and how it turns out?

Don Kirmess

Well I did my wings today with the 1/3,1/3,1/3 mix and it worked this time. It must have been the bigger volume of resin that I had to mix in order to do my wings. It looks great now and I'm well on my way to a  new technique(for me anyway). Thank you for all the advice that was given.

Don Kirmess