I believe working with fiberglass could possibly be one of the biggest tests of an individual’s patience. I remember the first exposure I had to fiberglass work as a child. My father was adding a portable livewell to a 19-foot Robalo he had. Keep in mind this was the early to mid-seventies so aftermarket plastic livewells from companies like Todd simply did not exist. Back then even plastic drums in various sizes were non-existent. Even larger coolers were scarce and what was around were typically made out of metal. Dad is a skilled wood worker so he made a livewell box out of plywood that he screwed together with brass screws. He covered the entire exterior with sheets of woven fiberglass and polyester resin as well as the inside to waterproof the entire box. Now this has been a long time ago but as best as I can recall things went pretty smoothly with the exterior, but working through the hatch to coat the interior got pretty messy. Keep in mind if the polyester resin is not mixed in just right proportion with the MEK hardener the entire batch may kick off too fast making it impossible or next to impossible to work with. As Dad began to coat the interior the batch began to set so he had to move fast. Dad is blessed with long arms so reaching down inside the box was not an issue with the extremely sticky resin; however, Dad’s arms are also covered in freakishly long and thick hair much like Esau from the Old Testament or Chewbacca from Star Wars. Dad was successful in getting the interior complete before the batch of resin fully turned but he paid a dear price as he spend the next month pulling balls of resin from his bushy limbs.
I started messing with fiberglass repairs in my middle school years repairing surfboards. My experiences were not much better than dads. Though I do not have a mane growing on my arms I recall having resin stuck to my hands and arms for days, and I also recall melting many plastic cups with batches that were too hot or ending up with a glob of thickened honey that just never kic