Man, thats gonna be a lot of cloth to lay. I didn't re-read thru, but is it significantly cheaper than a rubber coating? Even if you're familiar with fiberglass cloth/epoxy its gonna be a PITA...
800g ply catfish growout tank
- Thread starter garhog
- Start date
I didn't compare prices as I am really not interested in the rubber the epoxy/glass will be between $250 - $350 usd depending on how much resin I use. I am very fond of the epoxy / glass. even my brother who has been frameing the tank with me says its too much work. I say as long as the end result is good then I don't care how hard It was to achieve because I love working on this tank even if that meen getting covered in sticky plastic an thousand of fiberglass strands the problem I do see is convincing one of my friend to help
garhog;3723952; said:
A few points:
1) Why not just use thickened epoxy instead of Bondo if you're already going to have the resin and hardener?
2) Consider the 207 hardener for a plywood tank and for wetting out the cloth.
3) Get a nice thick build of epoxy before laying your glass. You want a few to several coats of epoxy forming a continuous, cross-linked membrane of sorts in your tank before adding glass.
One tech guy at West Systems actually recommends not using fiberglass at all and says if it's absolutely necessary to put it on the outside of the tank.
Personally I think a layer of cloth inside of the tank is a good idea for impact and abrasion resistance. But I do agree with West Systems that a good build of epoxy should be laid down without fiberglass first.
4) If your tank will be getting any direct exposure from the sun you should probably use something other than epoxy or topcoat it with an epoxy paint with UV inhibitors. If you do this and you'll need epoxy paint anyways then use it as your first coat at least as the solvents will carry it deeper into the pores of the wood.
5) If your tank will get UV exposure and you don't want to mess with a UV stablized epoxy paint then consider vinyl ester resin. Similar propertiles to epoxy but cheaper and more resistant to UV.
garhog;3723952; said:
Can't argue with that. My mom uses the stuff all the time, building wooden boats and loves it too.
garhog;3723952; said:
thanks for the info I plan on putting down a few coats before the fabric and the tank is outdoors in shade most of the day but it will get some uv exposure the walls and the floor are going to be covered with backround and substrate the only part I need to worry about is the interior of the window frame. do u know if west system has any uv stabilized catalyst
CJH;3723982; said:
You can use sawdust to thicken it, works great.
CJH;3723982; said:
Definitely.
CJH;3723982; said:
You're really gonna wanna do something to prevent UV damage, it will DRASTICALLy reduce the life of the tank...
garhog;3724074; said:
I do not and it does not sound familiar either. But worth looking into for sure.
The 207 is expensive stuff but I here it's a dream to work with and what the company thinks is best for plywood aquaria.
Back to the thickened epoxy over bondo, I think you'll get better adhesion going over epoxy fillets that polyester (bondo) fillets. Also, thickened epoxy will be more naturally flexible than bondo, stronger and more waterproof.
There are a few ways to thicken epoxy. I would research which is most resistant to moisture penetration. Thickening it will make it more permable and you're going over it anyways but I would still want to use the best way to thicken it.
I would shoot for a 10 mil cured coat of epoxy before applying glass. With the rough and porous nature of your plywood I would plan on 12 mil equivalent at least before glassing.
What weight cloth are you going to use?
I was trying to save a little dough with the bondo but you you guys got some good points beside I forgot what my original budget was anyhow thickened epoxy it is and for the glass I was thinking two layers of 8.5oz e glass
garhog;3724142; said:
If you plan to wrap the interior corners with the 8.5 oz glass I would find out what sort of radius it can handle and fillet your corners accordingly.
Or you can simply butt the cloth up at the corners and they mold your fillet over that junction.
With your framing I think either method is strong enough but in general the former will be stronger than the latter.
As far as the thickended epoxy, sawdust is one way, the other two are silica and micro balloons, I think. There are probably others. Any of them slightly increase moisture permability and I would select based on which one has the most minimal effect.
I will look into which filler is best. for the fillet I was going to make them to match the diameter of the aluminum roller I will use to apply the cloth. I was also thinking of doing all the seams with 6-8 inch cloth tape first and then inbetween layers
