I searched online and through this forum but I have no idea what the difference is. This is for a small project to fill a 4" hole and basically making a 'wall' out of fiberglass.

Question is, what's the difference between a mat or a cloth?

 

pretty sure its the same thing

 

Mat


Cloth

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bottle fed &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> pretty sure its the same thing</TD></TR></TABLE>

Ok. I just want to make sure they have similar strength when it's finished. Someone said cloth is better for any visible & outside surface that need to be sanded down which is easier.

I'll have to play around and see what works best.

 

Cloth is easier to clean up after too.

 

matting is fibers compressed together
cloth is woven.

advantages
mat=easier to mold to shape
cloth=cleaner lay up and easily smoothed

disadvantages
mat=makes a mess and it takes more finish work to smooth
cloth=harder to shape and tends to be brittle

for your application I would use the cloth. find the thickest cloth you can find though and cut a few pieces to the size of the hole layer them together to equal the thickness of the hole to be filled then lay a patch on the back side with some card board backing to support it, then fill the hole with the cutouts, then apply the top layer. after it cures you will be sanding the top layer off for the most part if it needs to be flush.

 

mostly what i've seen is that people use mat to build up layers to add strength, then a layer of cloth is put down for ease of smoothing.

 

thats what I heard of too, layers of mat underneath and than 2-3 layers or cloth to finish the job real good

 

 

Thanks guys.

I'll have to play around with this.

I'm attaching this to a plastic body, does the fiberglass stick to the plastic surface when it dries? I'm assuming no but just making sure...

 

scuff it up with some 80-120grit, or drill some small holes and you'll have no problem.

 

i work with this stuff, use the matting to fill in the hole, acouple layers of it would be good, then lay a layer of cloth over that. dont use cloth alone.

 

i read on some thread here that you can get mat and resin at lowe's? what section is it in, or brand name?

 

That type of stuff is usually in the paint section (at least at Home Depot). Its pretty expensive but I guess if you only need a small about its not that bad. If you need large amounts I suggest looking online, I have seen some cheap stuff on Ebay.

 

its not that expensive...26 bucks for a gallon of resin with hardner, and about 8 bucks for a 9 x 9 sheet of cloth or matting. bondo makes it along with a bunch of other manufacturers. if you want a good selection of cloth (thinkness, weave density, etc, etc,) go to a marine store (boat store)

 

like west marine? i assume they carry it?