Final Fairing & Finishing - WEST SYSTEM Epoxy

Roller cover brushes
Roller cover brushes are used to
“tip-off” coats of epoxy or paint. Tipping
removes bubbles, stipple and roller
marks, and helps the coating to flow out
evenly. Cut a WEST SYSTEM 800 Roller
Cover into equal segments. The cover
can be first cut in half to make six 3½"
wide brushes per cover. Fasten a handle
to the cover by inserting a flat edge of
the cover into a slot cut in the end of a
short stick of scrap wood.
A larger brush can be made by cutting a
cover in half lengthwise and fastening
the halves to a larger handles.
Avoid grain
run-out
Batten
parallel to
wood grain
Making a fairing board
A long fairing board can be made of ¼" to
½" plywood, depending on the curve of the
surface to be faired. The length of the
board is a multiple of 11" to make economical
use of a 7½" x 11" sheet of sandpaper.
The width of the board is 3½" or half a
sheet. Handles may be bonded to the ends
of the board for greater control. On larger
yachts, 4' to 6'-long boards may be necessary
when a truly fair hull is the goal. Unfortunately,
boards this size can be very
fatiguing to use. Specially constructed
boards can reduce weight by 50% or more.
Just like any other tool, boards designed for
specific tasks translate into better quality
surfaces with less effort.
For smaller areas
Cut 800 Roller Cover
into segments
For larger areas
Finishing 23
Making a batten
The simplest battens are produced from straight-grained softwood like pine
or fir. Select stock with no grain run-out and cut the batten parallel to the
grain, rather than the edge of the stock. You may need several battens of different
lengths and cross sections if you are fairing a large hull or a variety of
surfaces. A long batten may be between ¾" and 1¼" square (depending of
the flexibility of the wood and the shape of the hull) and as long as the length
of the hull. It should be thin enough to conform to the overall shape, but stiff
enough to bend in a fair curve. A short batten, up to 6' long, is useful for fairing
smaller areas. It may be up to ¾" square or as thin as ¼" x ¾" to conform
to tighter curves, such as the turn of the bilge. If joining shorter lengths of
wood to make a long batten, use long scarf joints (20:1) to avoid hard spots.
Painting the batten a flat color can reduce any visual deception from the
wood grain.
½ sheets of sandpaper
½ of a full width roller cover
Attach a segment to a handle
to make a "tipping brush"
1½" radius