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Ken, I think it's a great idea, I thought for all those light weight fetishists it would be great for the rest of us who either have british boats or thought we would add "a little extra" to our kit boats to actually challenge for who has the heaviest boat. One of the things you have pointed out is that it is easy to apply too much resin at first only to find that it will drip out later, the clue is that if it is dripping out over a couple hours then there is an elastic capacity that the wood and glass have for soaking up resin and that you can only fill that capacity so fast before it gives it up a little later. Thats what the squeegee is all about.
I agree 100% that folded fiberglass is less than ideal way of shipping fiberglass,,,,but like thermarest seat pads or wooden footrests a kit does have some compromises. ergo the desire that the rest of us nuts here have in doing "my way.."
The
> other problem was I applied the cloth over the tape while the epoxy was
> still wet. The tape supplied in the kit has a high edge.
Agreed, laying cloth over 9 oz tape is bassackwards, one could actually eliminate the tape and just stick with cloth. My two cents is that glass tape over fillets are appropriate where wood provides most of the hull strength,in the case of thin plywood laminate in four panel hulls simply making neat fillets (not huge) and using the same glass inside and out will be better,but this could be hair splitting.
The other problem was applying Don't apply the fill
> coat and walk away. I painted a black stripe with graphite epoxy on the bottom of the north bay,,,came back an hour later to the most striking black drip marks,,,epoxy moves is mysterious ways.
I am curious how your experience with squegeeing went as a lot of these problems with raised creases are addressed then,but if the glass has a tight crease that can be a problem especially if there is too much resin on the glass. I went to town on my patuxent also, rolls of tape all over the place glass under over everything,couldn't believe that 4mm plywood is strong enough. Well it is. And so is the boat,55lbs with seat,rudder,and float bags. Landed on rocks ,slid through rock gardens ,"tough like bull". But a lot of that weight and strength wasn't really in the right places or needed.
> Fortunately, it appears these problems only cost me time and sandpaper. A
> lot of sandpaper.
RANDOM ORBITAL SANDER, until I got one I got excited over cheap prices of sandpaper, now expensive 8 holed velcroed sanding disks are the cheap and dignified way to go. I figure for the boxes of sandpaper and extra epoxy I used I could have got a random orbital sander and extra box of discs!
> Hope this helps someone.
I think if I had this board my boat would have been 10 lbs lighter,,,,but I'd much rather have the fun and learning than 10lbs.
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Guillemot Kayak - High
Performance Wooden Sea Kayak Designs
