Fixing a piton dent on Royalex

[FullGnarlzOC]

We are getting a lot of rain in PA, and water is on my mind. I am looking to hit the steeps over the next couple days. A concern that I have is a dent in the front of my boat cause by a piton, courtesy of "Back Alley Brawl". I worry that this dent will act as a catchers mitt in possible situations.

I have been leaning towards fixing the dent. My plan thus far is to stand the boat completely upright on a wall, and pour boiling water in the hull(air bags out of course). This would work with plastic...is it going to work with Royalex?

Does anyone have any other suggestions? and lastly... Is 'fixing' this dent doing to compromise the integrity of the boat? It would suck to be pinned vertically with rock protruding through the bow of my boat.

...on another note... If you can paddle over the next couple days - think about heading to PA to do some boatin. It's probably going to be boaters choice...but I think Shade Creek(near Johnstown, PA) would be one of the best choices. 9 Miles of continuous Class III/IV, approaching solid Class IV/IV+ at higher levels. The creek can be divided in 3 sections, with 3 separate take outs. It's pretty sweet...just sayin

[Walsh]

Hot water works fine. Careful application of a hair dryer, or very careful applicaiton of a heat gun, will also work.

Once it's hot, a t-grip with a slightly curved top is a great tool for pressing dents out of a canoe's prow.

[gumpy]

i've seen 'em just knocked back out with a t-grip on site. it's been said the sooner the better, don't know about that

[milkman]

My experience with such dents is that they're easy to push back out when heated a bit--I've done it by letting the boat sit out in the sun on a warm day then pushing the dent out with my foot. BUT, that spot will always be a weak spot. Next time you hit some in the same place with the bow, it will take a lot less impact to punch it in than it did originally. That's why now for small dings in Royalex boats I don't bother to punch them out any more. I think the hull is stronger left as is.

In the bow of one of my Phantoms I had a large dent that seriously hurt the performance of the boat. That dent I had to push back out. I then reinforced it from the inside with ABS sheet glued down with g/flex.

[Riverscout]

Gumpy - You must have been watching me push the bow dent out with the t-grip under the airbag someplace at take out or even in an eddy on the side of the river!! Anyway, I have always been sucessful using the t-grip to pop the dent back out. The Maxim has had this injury on the bow and stern repeated times. The boat is certainly softer than it was new as I can almost push the dent in by hand now. I have considered skid plates to strengthen it but I'm not sure that will really be the answed since the wear isn't really abrasion.

Pete

[Bill M]

I agree with above. Push out dent asap after it occurs, T grip, rock etc works. It won't be as strong as original between the memory and more important the thin spot at the crease. An internal patch works well.
There's water in the SE too. Maybe to much in the short term.
Have fun,
Bill

[PAC]

IMHO on the "dent" ... whatever you do it will not be the same... "close but not quite"!
Unless the dent is really large / soft I'm not sure how much difference it will make... it might just require some adjustment to style.
Adding skid plates to that area might help but they add weight and can break if you piton again (they also take some install time and $ to buy).
My $.01 is to follow your plan of adding hot H2O, check how it works, then decide from there.
Ya can alway reverse the outfitting too (design dependent) if you're really big on getting a few more runs out of the boat. I'm assuming you are holding out for the santa timeframe to help in getting a new boat.
Just some thoughts.... good luck!

As for

...but I think Shade Creek(near Johnstown, PA) would be one of the best choices. 9 Miles of continuous Class III/IV, approaching solid Class IV/IV+ at higher levels. The creek can be divided in 3 sections, with 3 separate take outs. It's pretty sweet...just sayin

The Shades are a good choice....check out Paint too! http://www.benscreekcanoeclub.com/Creeks.htm
But scout it well first for timber (trees and railway ties) and trash (washing machines, vehicles, fencing and the like ) and be ready for some really tecnical off side boof'n and quick cross bows....
Also watch out for the non-swiming brown trout... and definately don't drink any of the run off!!
It and its water shed are being cleaned up but its still a tad dirty (you'll smell it)!

Have fun and be safe!

[markzak]

PAC... you mean the corn-eyed browns? We got a couple hatcheries on the Lehigh.

I'll be eyeing up the Pocono Runs for later this week, Harvey's Creek and stuff up by Wilkes-Barre, Raymondskill and the Water Gap runs, and some other local gems if anyone is in the area. Hit me up.

[cheajack]

Wheeew! Those non-swimming bvrown trout make any Class III run a Class V in my book.

[ezwater]

If you want to reinforce a popped-out zone on the bow, don't use skid plate felt. It is deficient in compression strength, and that's exactly the kind of strength you'll need when you piton a rock again.

One way to reinforce is to skim off the vinyl, and then apply at least three concentric layers of glass, preferably S-glass, largest layer first, with epoxy resin. At least the larger two of the patches should be bias cut.

The inside of the bow would be hard to reinforce, but if you had to do it, three concentric layers of Kevlar cloth would help.

If one is very piton prone, some sort of bow end cap might help. Heat Kydex and form it over the bow. Then epoxy it on.

[FullGnarlzOC]

Thanks or the help guys. Where is the best/easiest/quickiest place to get a sheet of ABS?

[ncdavid]

Do a quick search online. Many plastic suppliers carry ABS sheet.
Heat it up, push it out, patch it. Alex Vargas uses liquid truck bed liner on the inside of his Maxim bow. He seems to like it.

[tokebelokee]

Does the Full Gnarlz Nation subsidize travel expenses with inflation adjustment? (Boogieburg, VA to PA)

[ezwater]

Kydex sheet is a vinyl, will withstand blows as well as ABS, and will not be degraded by UV. For a cap, I'm not sure why there would be any advantage to using ABS sheet.

[ELGOTTO]

Is there a particular thickness abs that you should use? I see there is a wide range of thicknesses.