Cloth or mat for floor's top surface?

[CarTuner]

I'm in the process of replacing the floor in my 23' Donzi Ragazza. I will be using either 5/8" or 3/4" marine plywood. I plan on coating the bottom of the floor with poly resin and 1.5oz mat before installation.

The top surface of the floor will be painted with a non-skid finish. I want the surface to be reasonably smooth before paint though, so the painted finish turns out well. I have decided to use epoxy resin on the top surface, as the sanding won't create an itch-fest on my arms and legs

I can't decide what cloth/mat to use on the top surface though. I've narrowed down my choices to either a 1708 biaxial cloth (mat side down, cloth side up) or a 1.5oz epoxy compatible mat.

Which one will give me the smoothest surface, thus requiring the least amount of fairing/sanding?

Thanks,
Nick

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Cloth or mat for floor's top surface?

While the resin does affect the itch, the glass is where the real problem is, the fibers are what irritates your skin.

Don?t bother switching mid job, use one resin or the other for the whole thing.

1708 has a great deal of texture, so you need to put on a couple of extra coats of resin on it to fill the pattern, mat is better, but still uneven. Cloth will give you the smoothest finish.

 

[oops!]

Re: Cloth or mat for floor's top surface?

while the 1708 will leave huge ridges in the final product.......the csm isnt much better!


the cloth fot that job is a tightly woven cloth....(8oz) called a veil.

even wallmart sells the stuff in small packages.

even if you use epoxy i would still run 2 lavers of csm under the veil........just for....."what for".......the veil will give you an allmost smooth finish

 

[CarTuner]

Re: Cloth or mat for floor's top surface?

Thanks for the input guys. If the mat gives a 'rough' finish, then I would assume covering it with a smooth cloth would also provide a rough finish.

Now I'm thinking of using a 10oz cloth on top of the plywood with polyester resin. That should give me a relatively smooth surface (ie, minimal sanding) before the non-slip paint is applied.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Cloth or mat for floor's top surface?

Cloth over mat will give a very good finish and be more durable than cloth alone.