I've been following a lot of the suggestions for installing sacrificial fibreglass or Kevlar strips. Although I have worked with epoxies to repair my boat, it's something I avoid if I can (I hate the feeling of my alveoli shrivelling even when I use it in well ventilated conditions:-) so here's what I've been using for the last several years: at your handy-dandy chandler you'll find a product called Marine-Tex, available in grey or white. I use masking tape to mask off the last few feet of the boat keel, then add the catalyst and gloop the stuff on. If you mix it right you get a goop that can be brushed on and built up to whatever thickness you desire. Once hardened, it can be finished with a rotary wheel (The set Marine-Tex is so hard that sanding by hand is real work!) As a bonus, it will stick to itself, so you can fill in nicks, and add the new year's coat without having to grind it down to bare fibreglass again. I've also meet a kayaker who had installed a brass canoe drag strip. I haven't figured out how you would keep the sharp ends of the screws which come through the keel from shredding your drybags, short of doing a pour of resin over them. Cheers, Philip T. N49°16' W123°08' "The opinions expressed in this posting are not necessarily those of my employer, or indeed, of any sentient being." *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Philip wrote: > I've been following a lot of the suggestions for installing > sacrificial > fibreglass or Kevlar strips. ... so here's > what I've been using for the last several years: at your handy-dandy > chandler you'll find a product called Marine-Tex, available in grey or > > white. ... This stuff sounds great. I have a couple of questions. First, can it be applied to gel coat, or do you need to remove the gel coat? Second, is the stuff brittle? In other words, if you build up a fairly deep rub strip, will it break off if you wack it laterally? This might happen if, for example, you are carrying the boat and swing it around, accidently striking a post that some idiot put in the wrong place. (Not that *I* would ever be so clumsy, mind you, but I might recommend this to a "friend". :-) Dan Hagen *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
At 03:03 PM 3/15/99 -0800, Dan wrote: >Philip wrote: > >> I've been following a lot of the suggestions for installing >> sacrificial >> fibreglass or Kevlar strips. ... so here's >> what I've been using for the last several years: at your handy-dandy >> chandler you'll find a product called Marine-Tex, available in grey or >> >> white. ... > >This stuff sounds great. I have a couple of questions. First, can it be >applied to gel coat, or do you need to remove the gel coat? I've had good results from simply scuffing the gloss off the gelcoat, wiping it off with rubbing alcohol, then applying the Marine-Tex once that's dried. > Second, is the stuff brittle? In other words, if you build up a fairly deep rub >strip, will it break off if you wack it laterally? This might happen >if, for example, you are carrying the boat and swing it around, >accidently striking a post that some idiot put in the wrong place. (Not >that *I* would ever be so clumsy, mind you, but I might recommend this >to a "friend". :-) A bit more brittle and "chippy" than gelcoat, but also more abrasion resistant - takes the sand papering of being dragged up beaches better. It is strong enough to withstand most "paddler malfunctions" such as you've, and is easily repaired in any case. Cheers, Philip T. N49°16' W123°08' "The opinions expressed in this posting are not necessarily those of my employer, or indeed, of any sentient being." *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Dan Hagen wrote: > > Philip wrote: > > > I've been following a lot of the suggestions for installing > > sacrificial fibreglass or Kevlar strips. I've been using for > > the last several years: Marine-Tex, [snipped and edited] > This stuff sounds great. I have a couple of questions. First, can it be > applied to gel coat, or do you need to remove the gel coat? Second, is > the stuff brittle? In other words, if you build up a fairly deep rub > strip, will it break off if you wack it laterally? [snip] Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Marine-Tex is filled epoxy -- probably with alumimum and/or glass fiber, IIRC. It is pretty durable, and sticks like hell to **roughened** fiberglass surfaces. Applied to gel coat, I'd guess the weak link would be the gel coat layer itself. No fibers in gel coat. A strip of glass epoxied on with some fumed silica (aka Cabosil) added as filler (or, for the truly abrasive folks: 200/400 grit corundum!) would probably be even more durable. Over on rec.boats.building they natter about using dyes in their epoxy. An email to System Three (http://www.systemthree.com/index.html) would probably net an authoritative answer from Kern Hendricks (himself somewhat abrasive, but very knowledgeable). -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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