Fiberglass cloth shelf life | SouthernPaddler.com

Fiberglass cloth shelf life

NeilJ

New Member
Nov 20, 2006
3
0
Alabama
Here is a question for some of you who have been working with fiberglass for a few years. I found a roll of 4" wide fiberglass tape but it feels different from the cloth I have purchased. I am sure it is old and am wondering if it could have changed some how. I have read in fiberglass descriptions that it is coated with silane (SP?). Does that degrade, evaporate or some how go away. I am going to experiment and make sure the resin will wet it out but I thought I would throw out the question to you guys also.

Thanks,

Neil
 

Kayak Jack

Well-Known Member
Aug 26, 2003
13,976
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Okemos / East Lansing Michigan
Well, if fiberglass is made of glass (darned if I know what it really IS made of?) then it can't deteriorate. Silica is the world's most common mineral, beach sand lies there for eons, basking in sunlight, washing in waves. (Makes me wonder why I'm here and not there!)

If it has a coating of some kind, then that could be another question altogether. If it is made of some petroleum-based molecule - then I'd guarantee that it will change over time.
 

islandpiper

Well-Known Member
Some things never change except for a little oxydation around the edges. Take kayak Jack, for instance. He looks same today as he did over 64-years ago when he was playing for the GB Packers wearing a leather helmet and all that.

Actually glass fabric and cloth from different suppliers, made in different plants has a different feel, even when new. And, some is treated for maximum wetting out. Go ahead and test it.


Cheers, Piper
 

oldyaker

Well-Known Member
Aug 26, 2003
1,949
31
Kayak Jack said:
beach sand lies there for eons, basking in sunlight, washing in waves. (Makes me wonder why I'm here and not there!)
Stay where your at Jack! We're try'n to keep the beaches clean! :roll:

Chucky is right, I have used fiberglass that has been stored in a dark place (at work) over ten years. It was still good when used.
Jack is right too, he has been around longer than sand, fire, dirt, trees, etc., he should know as well.
 

Kayak Jack

Well-Known Member
Aug 26, 2003
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Okemos / East Lansing Michigan
When Piper-san constructs a guitar for a rock singer, he glasses it inside and out, just like a canoe or kayak. That way, when the drug-addled idiot tries to bash a piano with his guitar, the piano breaks.

His next modification will set it up so the rock singer breaks, and both the guitar and piano survive. Now THAT will be a giant step forward for mankind.
 

BEARS BUDDY

Well-Known Member
Aug 27, 2003
1,492
6
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BAY CITY MI
islandpiper said:
Some things never change except for a little oxydation around the edges. Take kayak Jack, for instance. He looks same today as he did over 64-years ago when he was playing for the GB Packers wearing a leather helmet and all that.

Actually glass fabric and cloth from different suppliers, made in different plants has a different feel, even when new. And, some is treated for maximum wetting out. Go ahead and test it.


Cheers, Piper

The glass should be fine. As for the leather helmet, it came from when he was riding with Gengis Kahn. Note the print where the horse kicked 'em.
 

Kayak Jack

Well-Known Member
Aug 26, 2003
13,976
171
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Okemos / East Lansing Michigan
WRONG! Gerry. When I rode with ole Genghis, we had cast iron helmets. The original Frisbee, they were a formidable weapon.

We'd grab a steak offa a pile of'em in the morning, tuck it up under our saddle, and ride on it all day long. By supper time - if we were still alive after clashing with all those Mongol horde-type wanna-be's - we'd have a tender steak. Toss that cast iron helmet on the campfire & do the steak along with any veggies we'd heisted through the day of foraging.

Where do you think the Mongolian Barbecue started? Legend has it, that the above is historically accurate.