Im having some repairs done to my carbon kevlar cetus, gel coat and some reenforcement patches the guy I have hired to fix it asjedme wherher he shoyld use polyester resin or fiberglass so tjis is my question .
Thanks.
polyester resin or Fiberglass cloth?
Maybe they mean, do want to fill the ding or reinforce it with glass and then fill it. If you’ve torn fibers I’d reinforce it first from the inside. If it’s just a ding, it can be filled. But mostly, I’d hire someone who knows what they are doing.
the guy I have hired specializes in
Marine fiberglass. I totally green as this is my first composite kayak and probably my last.
Maybe something lost in translation
But the question doesn’t make much sense. My reaction is exactly the same as that of nickjc.
If you have dings and gouges in the gel coat that are not of structural significance they can be filled in with a variety of resins or putties including epoxy, polyester gel coat, or even auto body filler.
If you have a crack or some damage of structural significance, a repair with some type of cloth is indicated. Common fabrics that can potentially be used include E fiberglass, S fiberglass, carbon fiber, and aramid (Kevlar). A “repair” done with some type of resin only not supported by any fabric will add weight with very little strength.
Conversely, a repair done with any of these fabrics will require the use of some type of resin. There are a wide variety of potential resins including epoxies, vinyl-ester resins, and polyester resins. Of these, polyester resin is the very worst choice.
If your boat was constructed using vinyl-ester resin or epoxy, polyester resin applied over it might not cure. Even if it does cure, polyester resin is much weaker than the other choices.
If you have an area of damage that can be accessed from the hull interior, the logical choice would be an aramid patch and I would use epoxy. If you cannot access the area from the interior you will need to sand off the gel coat and apply an exterior patch. Either fiberglass or carbon fiber would work.