According to people in this career, the main tasks are...
| Task | Importance |
|---|---|
| Release air bubbles and smooth seams, using rollers. | 91% |
| Spray chopped fiberglass, resins, and catalysts onto prepared molds or dies using pneumatic spray guns with chopper attachments. | 89% |
| Apply layers of plastic resin to mold surfaces prior to placement of fiberglass mats, repeating layers until products have the desired thicknesses and plastics have jelled. | 88% |
| Mix catalysts into resins, and saturate cloth and mats with mixtures, using brushes. | 88% |
| Check completed products for conformance to specifications and for defects by measuring with rulers or micrometers, by checking them visually, or by tapping them to detect bubbles or dead spots. | 87% |
| Inspect, clean, and assemble molds before beginning work. | 85% |
| Pat or press layers of saturated mat or cloth into place on molds, using brushes or hands, and smooth out wrinkles and air bubbles with hands or squeegees. | 85% |
| Select precut fiberglass mats, cloth, and wood-bracing materials as required by projects being assembled. | 84% |
| Cure materials by letting them set at room temperature, placing them under heat lamps, or baking them in ovens. | 83% |
| Apply lacquers and waxes to mold surfaces to facilitate assembly and removal of laminated parts. | 81% |
| Bond wood reinforcing strips to decks and cabin structures of watercraft, using resin-saturated fiberglass. | 80% |
| Repair or modify damaged or defective glass-fiber parts, checking thicknesses, densities, and contours to ensure a close fit after repair. | 80% |
| Mask off mold areas not to be laminated, using cellophane, wax paper, masking tape, or special sprays containing mold-release substances. | 80% |
| Check all dies, templates, and cutout patterns to be used in the manufacturing process to ensure that they conform to dimensional data, photographs, blueprints, samples, or customer specifications. | 77% |
| Trim excess materials from molds, using hand shears or trimming knives. | 76% |
| Trim cured materials by sawing them with diamond-impregnated cutoff wheels. | 73% |
