John H wrote: > Thank you for your reply. i appreciate your information. > i take it the keel strip material may be available through West Marine. i concur about preformance over appearance. > Thank you again. John, The keel strip you'll have to make yourself, but it's real easy to do. Get some good epoxy, like MAS, Raka, or West System, and put an appropriate amount of the resin in your mixing cup. Add fumed silica (ALWAYS wear a respirator when working with this stuff if you value your lungs) until the resin is thickened enough to be the consistency of a thick latex paint, add graphite until it turns solidly black, and then add hardener and mix for at least 90 seconds. You can add more silica at this point if you think it needs it. The final goo should be thick enough that it won't run once applied, but thin enough to be just usable, too. Surface prep is easy. wash the area with acetone, sand with 150 grit paper, and mask it off. Then you're ready to apply. Put it on smooth and as thick as you want, and if you want the surface really smooth, you can put release film over it (Same stuff you'd use for gelcoat) and remove once the epoxy begins to harden. Myself, I sand it, or drag it up a few beaches -- same effect. I haven't noticed any drag from it being there, but then again, I don't race either. My last strip is 4 years old, and still mostly intact. (And I didn't use the graphite - it will last longer if you do). Great stuff. Wayne John H wrote: > Thank you for your reply. i appreciate your information. > i take it the keel strip material may be available through West Marine. i concur about preformance over appearance. > Thank you again. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed Aug 01 2007 - 04:46:58 PDT
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