Glen-L.com

The building notes for the Console Skiff (and guessing probably all of the stitch & glue designs) states:

"The LAMINATE SCHEDULE, on this sheet, calls out two types of fiberglass laminates, BI-AXIAL (BA) E grade 17 oz. and 7-10 ounce cloth (C) commonly used in boat covering."

I've identified two different sources for the biaxial tape with one being the Glen-L boatbuilder's online supply store:

http://www.boatdesigns.com/Non-Woven-Biaxial-Tape-per-Yard/productinfo/S3-183/

The prices for the 4", 5", & 8" mat-backed tape is $3.10, $3.90, and $6.00 respectively. I'm sure that this is a top quality product just like everything else I've bought from Glen-L, but based on my calculations of what I would need to purchase and cut to size will run over $300. Not cheap for my budget but I would happily pay that if there is a clear benefit to using a mat backing. I would greatly appreciate any comments on the value that mat backing adds to the taping/reinforcement process. Does it make it significantly easier/faster/cleaner/stronger/better looking/etc?

The other source is an ebay vendor that would total a little more than a third of the above costs. It looks like the same material sans the mat backing but then again I'm not 100% sure from their limited description. Will post this source if anybody has used an ebay sourced tape and if posting a link to that source doesn't violate any forum rules.

As always, thanks in advance for any and all comments.

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Try to build something that is idiot "proof" and you will simply expose a different group of idiots...

TX_Aggies,

The tape version of bi-axial cloth is very expensive. You can also buy the 50" cloth version by the yard and cut it to the widths you need--it's messier, but it's what we've done here before we found tape.
http://www.boatdesigns.com/Bi-Axial-Cloth-50-Wide_yard/productinfo/08-200/

The bi-axial cloth is not "mat backed" and that's not necessary. Like I said, this is what we used to build the test model.

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Gayle Brantuk
Vice President
Glen-L Marine
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