I'm still thinking about this. Aside from the simplicity (always appealing to the lazy), the gel-coated-only strip as suggested in the online article seemed to have the virtue of being coloured all the way through, so scuffs wouldn't show up as much. On the other hand, you gotta think there are reasons they don't build entire kayaks outta merely gelcoat impregnated fibreglass. But perhaps epoxy's strength, critical in a complete boat, is less vital in a keel strip, where the issue is abrasion resistance. Any thoughts from the council? Philip >On 21 Dec 2004 at 22:30, Doug Lloyd wrote: > >> I think the epoxy/glass-tape/gelcoat methodology makes far >> more sense. "Michael Daly" <mikedaly_at_magma.ca> wrote: >I'd almost agree. If the kayak isn't hull up in the sun a lot, I'd >skip the gel coat on the keel.
Philip, I've done both epoxy/fiberglass tape and gelcoat/fiberglass tape keel strips on gelcoated fiberglass kayaks. Although epoxy has better bonding properties, the gelcoat stuck on just fine, and both of them seemed to wear about the same. The big difference was that the gelcoat versions look a heck of a lot nicer. By the way, on the gelcoat versions I did, I didn't bother with any fillers. Just mask, wet out the fiberglass tape with gelcoat, unmask, let cure, remask, sand a bit, and apply a second layer of gelcoat to smooth things out. Just make sure that if you're not using finish gelcoat to brush some mold release over it after about one hour to let the surface cure fully and not be sticky. It's really a lot of fun! Duane Southern California kayakwriter_at_netscape.net wrote: I'm still thinking about this. Aside from the simplicity (always appealing to the lazy), the gel-coated-only strip as suggested in the online article seemed to have the virtue of being coloured all the way through, so scuffs wouldn't show up as much. On the other hand, you gotta think there are reasons they don't build entire kayaks outta merely gelcoat impregnated fibreglass. But perhaps epoxy's strength, critical in a complete boat, is less vital in a keel strip, where the issue is abrasion resistance. Any thoughts from the council? Philip >On 21 Dec 2004 at 22:30, Doug Lloyd wrote: > >> I think the epoxy/glass-tape/gelcoat methodology makes far >> more sense. "Michael Daly" wrote: >I'd almost agree. If the kayak isn't hull up in the sun a lot, I'd >skip the gel coat on the keel.
Duane wrote.. ......Just mask, wet out the fiberglass tape with gelcoat, unmask, let cure, remask, sand a bit, and apply a second layer of gelcoat to smooth things out. Just make sure that if you're not using finish gelcoat to brush some mold release over it after about one hour to let the surface cure fully and not be sticky. It's really a lot of fun! Hi Duane, Philip, There is another nice trick to avoid the stickiness of the brush applied gelcoat after it has cured. If you just add a drop or two of liquid or melted wax into the gelcoat when you apply the catalyst, the wax will go to the surface during the curing process and prevent the gelcoat curing under oxygen atmosphere from the air, and then it will cure OK and won't be sticky. You want to do that only on the final layer, because if you do it on an intermediate layer, you'll have to sand the wax away before applying the next layer or it won't bond. Best Regards, Rafael Cayucochief Mexico
Philip, I have not used glass tape in my keel repairs, and that is to your benefit and my loss. Without tape, the job I did ended up brittle and is friable enough it crunches more easily than the factory job on adjacent surfaces. Truth to tell, I strongly prefer to work in epoxy, but vanity seized me, and I tried to match the shade of the surrounding gel coat. Waste of time, I now know. If I did it again, I'd go with hand-cut tape and epoxy. I prefer to cut my own tape from cloth, so there is no woven edge to form a ridge. I suppose bias-cut tape might avoid that, but it costs more. The strip in the SK article looked darn good, next to my job. -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR ----- Original Message ----- Philip <kayakwriter_at_netscape.net> wrote: > I'm still thinking about this. Aside from the simplicity (always appealing > to the lazy), the gel-coated-only strip as suggested in the online article > seemed to have the virtue of being coloured all the way through, so scuffs > wouldn't show up as much. On the other hand, you gotta think there are > reasons they don't build entire kayaks outta merely gelcoat impregnated > fibreglass. But perhaps epoxy's strength, critical in a complete boat, is > less vital in a keel strip,
On 23 Dec 2004 at 12:36, kayakwriter_at_netscape.net wrote: > I'm still thinking about this. Aside from the simplicity (always > appealing to the lazy), the gel-coated-only strip as suggested in > the online article seemed to have the virtue of being coloured all > the way through, so scuffs wouldn't show up as much. On the other > hand, you gotta think there are reasons they don't build entire > kayaks outta merely gelcoat impregnated fibreglass. But perhaps > epoxy's strength, critical in a complete boat, is less vital in a > keel strip, were the issue is abrasion resistance. Any thoughts > from the council? In the old days, I would have said that gelcoat was a good way to protect the hull and was a sacrificial bit that was easy to repair. However, as Nick S. has pointed out, the gelcoat is basically dead weight and isn't very good at preventing abrasion. He advocates that a good epoxy/glass layer will outlast gelcoat and work just fine in an abrasive environment. I've become convinced he's right. An extra layer of glass will be much tougher than gelcoat for the same weight. If the keel is hidden from the sun most of the time, UV is not an issue and bare epoxy/glass will be more than adequate for a keel. For the rest of the kayak, a good epoxy paint will provide UV protection without need for gelcoat. The kayak would be lighter for the same strength or stronger for the same weight. Mike
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