Which brush for fiberglassing?

Great ON-TOPIC question!!

I buy the box of Harbor Freight specials. These have a little baggie over the bristles. Grab the baggie and squeeze the bristles tight, pull to remove bag and a few bristles. Whap the brush backNforth a few times, flexing all the bristles every which way. Again grab them and pull. I don't get too many off and only get 1 or 2 on the work. They're usually on sale, but full price right now

?itemnumber=4182 On big tubes we just pour on the goop and spread with our hands. For that type of contact, use nitrile gloves instead of latex. Joel. phx

Small 4" foam rollers work MUCH better than brushes. No bristles, and they do a good job of absorbing extra resin.

Greg Deputy

I use the cheap foam brushes from Home Depot.

For rockets the size you build, you might want to consider a paint roller :-)

Glen

No doubt!!

Too bad about ole yeller :(

Ted Novak TRA#5512

I prefer using a rubber spatula instead of a brush. I have one that is 1 inch wide and is flexible enough that is much like using a brush. I can put the epoxy on and squeegee off the excess with the spatula. It really gets the epoxy down into the fabric and removes most of the excess so I don't get runs.

Jonathan

I do similarly. I use the cheap foam brushes to apply the epoxy, first to the airframe, and then to the cloth. And the foam brushes don't leave bristles.

Once the cloth is in place, I used Bondo spreaders to scrape/squeegee off the excess and also to push the cloth down tight against the tube. I toss the brushes and just wipe off the spreaders for further use.

Doug

BTW, these won't work if you're using polyester resin, as the resin will dissolve the foam.

Spock: Fascinating! ; )

Randy

I use those brushes too. Before I use them, I put the metal band around the bristles against something & beat it with a hammer until it's squished. Then I cut the bristles to ~ 1" with a pair of sheet metal shears.

Try a disposable sponge-brush.

I use nothing but foam brushes when I fiberglass.

JD

I, too, have used the disposable brushes, and have not been happy.

I've had much better luck w/ foam brushes. Cheap and easy to use. For larger tubes, you may need to use two.

-Kevin

I use 3" or 4" foam rollers from Home Depot for painting my rockets.

The regular thick foam rollers seem like they would absorb a lot of epoxy, but there are real thin foam rollers.

Brian Elfert

I use the cheap paint roller sets that can be had for about $8 at WalMart

Got to agree with JD and the foam brush crowd for thin, finish grade epoxies and light or medium weight cloth. Don't know about other combinations.

Aloha, I used to use brushes. Now I use a squeegy. It sucks up less resin, can be reused, and (once you have spent a disturbing number of hours doing it) it gives great results.

Larry

I know that you have received a bunch of responses regarding the use of foam brushes, IMHO they just don't hold up. However, I tend to put 2 wraps of glass on simultaneously and wet them out at the same time. Foam brushes just fall apart. I use cheap white china bristle brushes. ACO runs these on sale occasionally at 10 for $1.00 in the 1 inch width. Some shed ....some don't. I wear nitril gloves and pull the stray fibers off while I am wetting out the airframe/fin/whatever. If the brush is shedding too much...I toss it and grab a new one.. At 10 cents each it is a luxury I can afford.

Mark A Palmer TRA 08542 L3

Why nitrile instead of latex? Can it seep through? I always use latex gloves when doing epoxy work, but I've never slathered the stuff with my hands.

There was a post about chemicals getting through latex. I'm too tired from the 90+ sunshine at the lanch today, google it. I'll use the remaining latex for incidental contact, which I wipe off right away.

Joel. phx