best beam glass and resin for T38 beams

[Brett Parker]

I am very interested to hear what people have to say about glassing beams. In particular ,because our Wharram beams are a flexing/working structure, I wonder if there are better sheathing materials and resins that are more suitable than others. Over time the flexing cycles really add up. Has anyone used a different sheathing on their beams to their hulls? What have you used and what has stood up to the test of time?

kind regards Brett

[Budget Boater]

You are supposed to glass the tops only. Just like the hulls, this is only for abrasion resistance when they are walked on, dropped on, or otherwise things rub against them. It is not structural.

10oz cloth with epoxy resin is quite flexible - far more than most people realize. If you are having your 10oz glass cloth on the beams suffer damage from flexing cycles, then your beams have been improperly built.

[Brett Parker]

I am asking this question for two of us. A friend  is building from scratch and coming close to the glassing stage.  I am about to take my beams off the boat to paint and do minor repairs.

So far, it appears my beams are glassed top and bottom only. There is the odd small zipper revealing itself but this appears to be mostly around the lashing area and right on the line the glass ends. To me this suggest some compression in this area..???...???

I think the beams are well built as is the rest of the boat. She has sailed across the Pacific to NZ and had numerous trips back up to the tropics from NZ in some difficult conditions.
The current conditions of the beams is very good but now is the time to make any repair and  improvements while they are off the boat .

I appreciate your thoughts very much. I see Boatsmith uses xynol polyester or Dynel?? Glassing is quite a big subject so interesting to get feedback. Many thanks Brett