Tabbing

Starting in on the tabbing this week. It has been very hot and uncomfortable so I have not had too much time aboard. Tabbing is the process of overlaying the fillets with strips of fiberglass to adheare and strengthen the attatchment of the builkheads to the hull or deck. The joint is cleaned, sanded and prepped as needed. The strips are cut to length and then saturated with neat epoxy resin. Once they are fully wetted out you wet out the joint and apply the fiber glass. A disposable brush is used to help it adhere and apply more epoxy where needed. When you are really good you can apply successive layers when the epoxy is hot (kicked) but not cured to get a better bond. Otherwise, like me, you wait till it cures, come back and whipe off the epoxy blush with solvent and sand down for the next layer. Everyone has their own process but I like a fillet covered by a 3" strip and then a 6" wide strip of biaxial fiberglass cloth on the primary structural joints. Minor cabinetry elements I will glass in with only one layer over a fillet.