Tools/Epoxy/Fiberglass/Resin – West Systems – Glass Fabric

Shop Tips for Working with Glass Fabrics

Corners that require fiberglassing need to be rounded to allow the fiberglass cloth to conform to the corner. If the fabric you are working with won’t conform to a rounded corner, here’s a tip that may help. When draping fiberglass around a corner, orient it so the fibers are at a 45° angle to the corner. The fibers will conform much better than if oriented at 90° because they are not bending nearly as much.

You can accomplish this in one of two ways: orient the whole piece of fiberglass at 45°, or cover the corners separately with a biaxial fiberglass tape with its fibers oriented 45° to the corner.

A custom biaxial tape can be made by cutting a strip from plain weave (0°/90°) fiberglass cloth on a 45° angle to the length of the roll. The biaxial tape strip can be cut to any width (see photo).

Sometimes multiple layers of light-weight fiberglass tape are used to protect corners while the flatter portions of the project are covered with a single layer of heavy fiberglass cloth. The heavy material obviously won’t conform to the radius, so it is left just a bit short of the corner. The corner can then be covered with multiple layers of light-weight fiberglass cloth, built up to match the weight to the heavy fabric.