Fiberglass Cloth or Chop mat, Is there really a Difference?

[Wood]

Alright, so I'm about to redo my doors and figured I would TRY to make my life a bit easier.. Last time I used chop mat, but didn't like the "handling" and all the loose strands... I was seeing, given the same weight of chop mat and fiberglass cloth, would one be stronger than the other, or is it simply preference?

It would be nice to cut the cloth and be able to achieve more of a smoother finish for less body work and even just laying the material onto the door panel.

Thanks for the help guys!

[reedal]

The last time I did my doors, I tried putting the cloth down first to make the base, and then put a layer of chop mat on top to make it a little thicker/sturdier? And I liked how that turned out compared to doing just chop or just cloth. But I'm also not the best go-to for fiberglassing as I'm still learning.

[Wood]

The last time I did my doors, I tried putting the cloth down first to make the base, and then put a layer of chop mat on top to make it a little thicker/sturdier? And I liked how that turned out compared to doing just chop or just cloth. But I'm also not the best go-to for fiberglassing as I'm still learning.

Thank you for that advice.. I didnt like how chop mat layed up.. and it was a pain to cut to size, left a lot of loose strands in my work aera and such... I do use uv resin so if the cloth is fine to use in our application, I'm probably gonna try that lol

[CleanSierra]

The chop will lay much better and form better around curves. If you need to, invest in a roller made to lay the glass down and get out air pockets.

[CleanSierra]

I use 1.5 oz chop mat on everything. If I need it thicker, I do it in multiple different sessions and get it to the desired thickness.

I hand tear sections about grapefruit sized and then I start laying them down and soaking with resin and rolling out. You will get good overlap and it WILL lay down if you're using good resin.

[CleanSierra]

What kind of resin are you using?

[Wood]

The chop will lay much better and form better around curves. If you need to, invest in a roller made to lay the glass down and get out air pockets.

I was able to lay the mat flat without air bubbles, and I tried the roller, didn't like it.. I dabbed it flat with a chip brush and it worked out better for me as far as that... Also my doors don't have a lot of curvature in the area I'm glassing on my panels so I'm looking to see if there's a difference in strength

[CleanSierra]

Strength will be determined more on the weight of the mat. How heavy is the woven mat you're using? If it's apples to apples on weight, strength should be about the same.

[CleanSierra]

The chop will lay much better and form better around curves. If you need to, invest in a roller made to lay the glass down and get out air pockets.

I was able to lay the mat flat without air bubbles, and I tried the roller, didn't like it.. I dabbed it flat with a chip brush and it worked out better for me as far as that... Also my doors don't have a lot of curvature in the area I'm glassing on my panels so I'm looking to see if there's a difference in strength

If you didn't like the roller, you were probably over working it. I bet it had something to do with the resin as well.

[Wood]

I use solarez ... pretty bad ass stuff! no complaints as far as that, just dont like the inconvenience of the mat.. I use 1.5 oz myself, but found 4oz 4hs fiberglass cloth for a good price also that is supposed to conform to curves (even though i would cut V's in the material to get it to curve)