Bondo 3M products

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Darren b

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what are your guys thoughts on using bondo 3M products, is there resin, cloth and mat, good for transom work? if so should I use the mat or there cloth to glass my new transom on my 1989 Invader I/O? thanks
 
Woodonglass

Woodonglass

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Re: Bondo 3M products

The resin has wax, their mat and cloth are very light weight and compared to other vendors very expensive. It is NOT suitable for your application. You need to investigate www.uscomposites.com Their 435 resin, 1.5oz csm mat, and 1708 Biaxial Cloth is what you should be looking at.
 
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Darren b

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Re: Bondo 3M products

Has anyone on this forum used the 3M products? the reason why I am asking is because I already bought the resin and mat. To do my transom, and a patch on the deck. thanks
 
Woodonglass

Woodonglass

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Re: Bondo 3M products

Did you not understand my previous post. What you bought is not suitable for repairing your transom. It is not the proper weight of material and the resin has wax in it which is NOT what you want. You really need to read and study the mulitple transom repair threads here on the forum so you will have a better undestanding of why I am telling you this. Many have asked about using these products and the answer is always the same. It is not suitable for marine repairs.
 
Yacht Dr.

Yacht Dr.

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Re: Bondo 3M products

Per yard in their kits.. its Ultra expensive.. but you already bought it right.

Yes and no.. you can use the mat for your tabbing help.. you can use your resin for fillets..

If its the 3/4 oz mat then your probably going to be grinding a whole lot more trying to reprep for more glass ( you will run out of time on the resin before it kicks ).

The wrinkles that come due to the packaging will give you some trouble ( unless you cut out all the wrinkles ).

All and all.. its a good product/kit thingy for through hull fittings and cosmetic swim platform damage etc.. Im sure in the long run I could make it work for a Structural issue..but I would be cussin all the way through the repair lol :) ..

If your doing a repair that requires more then one bag of mat and a little pt or qt of resin from any little FG repair kit .. might want to buy in bulk and quality ( nonfolded .. shelf life of resin etc ).

You would still need the 1708 or woving .

YD.
 
oops!

oops!

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Re: Bondo 3M products

to add to the above....

the resin is waxed.......wax is a relaease agent.

so if you do a section...let it cure....then want to add another layer or something over top......you have to grind off all the surface wax.

the resin should be used only a s a top layer.....and never never for laminating or the repair will fail
 
Yacht Dr.

Yacht Dr.

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Re: Bondo 3M products

oops! said:
to add to the above....

the resin is waxed.......wax is a relaease agent.

so if you do a section...let it cure....then want to add another layer or something over top......you have to grind off all the surface wax.

the resin should be used only a s a top layer.....and never never for laminating or the repair will fail
Click to expand...

Its really a surfacing agent at this point.. ;) ..

A quick swipe of acetone and quick rescuff will get rid of it.

But who uses waxed resin lol...

YD.
 
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Darren b

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Re: Bondo 3M products

thanks YD and oops! , I was looking for an explianation on the 3m bondo product, there is a local marine shop that carries the west system resin.it is expensive but would this resin have any issues?
 
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Darren b

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Re: Bondo 3M products

2 questions, when you guys talk about tabbing in the transom, is that done with strips of mat? and when you say cover in woving is that using the cloth material? thanks
 
NSBCraig

NSBCraig

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Re: Bondo 3M products

Wow, ummmm. You can absolutely use those 3m products to do your transom.

The resin is waxed yes, this is in no way the kiss of death. It's put there for a reason, to harden the resin on the surface. Yes it is more work if you use it to laminate (sanding and cleaning with acetone), no it won't fail if you clean it. That is a completely wrong statement to say it will. This is just work you don't need to do.

You could buy some unwaxed and keep the waxed for your last layers. It's there for a reason and works great.

You don't want to use west system epoxy unless you commit to use epoxy, poly won't stick to it.

3m cloth and mat work fine, your over paying and the folds to stick them in the little packs are a pain. Use your mat between your ply pieces while laminating them, wrap it around your edges when sealing your laminated transom piece and up against the outer skin.

Definitely check out some 1708. It's mat stitched to cloth and is way easier to work with, plus it's stronger. I'd use it to build your new inner skin and to tab the transom in. Tabbing with mat doesn't do much of anything.

(wow woodonglass what's with the attitude? It's a little over the top don't you think? It's bad enough your NOT correct!)
 
oops!

oops!

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Re: Bondo 3M products

hi nsb....

good explanation.


woodie is correct on a lot of points.....its just that they are mis conscrewed....(lol)

let me try and explain.

first off......he mentions often ......its not what the op WANTS .....he means not the best tool for the job....



Woodonglass said:
Did you not understand my previous post. What you bought is not suitable for repairing your transom. It is not the proper weight of material and the resin has wax in it which is NOT what you want.


in this point......he is talking about the over all package of the bondo kit.... woodie mentions the waxed resin.....and the weight of the cloth.....
we know that waxed is not a laminating resin that we need for transoms.....and the cloth....is a finsihing veil...not strong enough.
though it is true......that the wax can be removed.....we are talking about first time glassers.....more than often they will forget this step, and end up laminating over a cured wax layer without the proper surface prep.

You really need to read and study the mulitple transom repair threads here on the forum so you will have a better undestanding of why I am telling you this.

what he is saying here....is read read read......and this is correct.


Many have asked about using these products and the answer is always the same. It is not suitable for marine repairs.

while on the out side this statement seems incorrect.....(an experienced glasser can use wax poly resin and an old sock and still get good results) the first time glasser will/ may not be aware of the properties of the kit in general and how to use it.....so... it is not the kit of preference to a first time glasser for this type of repair
Click to expand...

so.... the advice is sound ......

and now..... with the rest of the crew helping the op to KNOW how to prep for this kit.....we can make an educated choice of when and were to use it.

keep in mind.....lol... it will take many of these kits to do a transom.

and yes NSB.....if a person laminates over a cured waxed resin with out removing the waxed laayer.....the repair WILL fail.......wax is a release agent, poly will not bond to wax.

to the op......i do suggest that you take some time to read up here as well.....click the links in the sticky at the top of the forum.....this will guide you to a successful repair
 
NSBCraig

NSBCraig

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Re: Bondo 3M products

No kidding if you don't do it right it will fail. Deep.

But if you do it right it will not, saying it will is a completely wrong statement.

So is this one- "Many have asked about using these products and the answer is always the same. It is not suitable for marine repairs."

Not suitable for marine repairs or now as he said in a PM not suitable to do the repair he's doing.

Sure it's not the best choice, but that's a big difference than Wood's answer and doesn't change the fact that he can use it at different stages of his work on his boat.

Wrong info, delivered with a tude (Did you not understand my previous post), that does nothing to help the poster.

I'm sorry I just don't get the attitude backing wrong info.:facepalm:
 
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Darren b

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Re: Bondo 3M products

hey guys my computer has been down for a few weeks, but I went ahead and used my 3M products to build my new transom, And I have to say for my first time glassing, WOW i did a great job. I sanded the resin between coats and wiped it down with acetone, and it turned out good. In all I did one layer of mat and 2 layers of woven. the motor is back in and looks vary solid. I used short hair fibreglass to fillet the edges on the transom. not one air pocket in the mat or woven. thanks guys for all your help.
 
Woodonglass

Woodonglass

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Re: Bondo 3M products

Did you use full layers of mat and woven or just tabbing to the hull? What was your total costs? Where did you purchase your supplies
 
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Darren b

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Re: Bondo 3M products

I did Full layers, $150 aprox for the resin and mat and woven (cloth), I purchased at a local store called Maslack
 
Yacht Dr.

Yacht Dr.

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Re: Bondo 3M products

Darren b said:
I did Full layers, $150 aprox for the resin and mat and woven (cloth), I purchased at a local store called Maslack
Click to expand...

Did you use Woving Roving ( big thick stuff ) or finish Cloth ( thin ) ?

YD.
 
Woodonglass

Woodonglass

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Re: Bondo 3M products

Do you know what Weight (ozs per sq ft) the mat and cloth were rated at?
 
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Darren b

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Apr 19, 2012
Messages
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Re: Bondo 3M products

they had this real thick stuff, I did not use it, my new total thickness of complete glass I put on the new transom came out to be the same thickness as the original glass i pulled of the old transom. i am not sure of the weight of the material.
 
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