C-Forum

13' home made ME.

now my arms are so itchy! what would be the thing i need to seal off this old glass? can i safely paint it then seal it?

You could coat it with WEST G-Flex - would add a little weight, but at least the G-Flex wouldn't flake off.

I would probably recommend mixing pigment into the G-Flex instead of painting - Would last longer...

- Don't need to go overboard with sanding - wipe it down with Denatured Alcohol, Scuff the whole thing with a scotchbrite pad (or a drill mounted Scotchbrite pad), wipe it down again with alcohol, and roll on the G-FLEX

Might need 2 coats to seal and smooth.

One additional thought - If you like dark colored boats - you could thicken the G-Flex with a bit of the West Graphite Additive - it will add some "slickness" to slide over some rocks...

diamond plate decks and harley colors.

making the epoxy pop in a cool maine basement.

I've coated the bottoms of two decked boats, a Phoenix Seewun and a Noah Magma kayak, with West 105/205. I followed West's recommendations on using foam rollers and applying several coats in close succession, so that later coats bonded to previous coats before amine blush rose from the resin and interfered with the bond.

After some random orbit sanding, the result was quite satisfactory. I had one little instance where the epoxy chipped off.

G-flex would have the advantage of superior adhesion, plus a bit of flexibility. But I also wonder whether several coats of a high grade marine varnish would not have worked well.

i cheaped out and used marpro marine epoxy. took a full quart to cover her. cost me about $25. now for a sadlle?

ezwater wrote:But I also wonder whether several coats of a high grade marine varnish would not have worked well.

Hard to tell from photos but I get the impression the fibres had been exposed so some kind of low viscosity laminating resin (like 105 + suitable hardener) was probably the right solution this time.

My old Snipe kayak had areas of the bottom that were worn right through (the ends of the bits of wood that formed the stiffeners were visible in a couple of places) and the fibres were exposed almost everywhere, I used 105 and I think 206 (slow?) hardener for that (needed to heat the garage to get it to cure), but also took the opportunity to add 50 gsm cloth to the hull as well. I only needed it to float for 1 day, I was entering it in the Old Skool class at Hurley Classic Rodeo. I also had to repair a crack in the bow that I did last time I paddled it in 1996, the last time they had an Old Skool event in the Hurley Rodeo, for that I used some black tape I had left over from another job. It held up pretty well but I cracked it again in the end and had to beach the swamped boat and switch to a more modern, but still pre-2000 kayak for the rest of the event!

I digressed as usual.
The other job I did recently was to repair a carbon slalom C1, I intended that to last a while, so I used the 207 special coatings hardener which is supposed to cure more clear and resists UV a bit better than the other hardeners. Just thinking, for restoring older boats like this which effectively need the matrix topping up on the hull, it might be sensible to use 207 hardener, on the other hand if you are going to add pigment and/or graphite powder you will probably be adding pretty good UV inhibitors anyway?

@##$%$## epoxy never set up. marpro sucks donkey nicest. the boat is ruined and now laying out the yard. the rain turned it white. never again will i try to fix a fiber d boat. never again am i going to throw my money away. JL. make me up an OCtane91. i will be posting it on craigslist for free.

Did you keep it warm enough whilst it was curing?
You might find if you can get it up to 20C over night it will cure. The amine bloom might not clear up though, you get that if it gets damp before it cures.

with the retirement of my15'3"ME i gutted her to outfit the 13'ME.

yup.

she is fun. https://youtu.be/WsXJ8cP22wA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I love the metal deck plates.