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S&G: Repairing damaged fibreglassing
By:Dave Miller
Date: 4/17/2003, 8:45 am

I built a stitch & glue kayak and glassed the hull using WEST epoxy.
Despite touching up wear points with epoxy, I have small patches on the bottom chines where the glass has worn through and touch-up resin will no longer adhere to the ply which has locally turned grey.

On these patches the water weeps under the touch-ups and the resin blisters and comes off in a month or two. A couple of years ago I put a new West epoxy gloss coat on the hull but that hasn't solved the problem.
I have now stopped using West due to problems with unpredictable curing time, surface hardness and the amine blush.

As the original glass job was a bit lumpy and I never sanded it completely smooth, I am considering sanding and painting the hull with Perfection 709 2-part polyurethane yacht paint which I originally used on the deck, so I will be able to hide any patches.

The boat was originally an experiment, so little time was spent on cosmetics (I regret that now), but I like it so much I can't bring myself to scrap it even though, like me, it has gained a few pounds over the years. My intention is to make a strip version in the next year.

I would appreciate any advice on repair or renovation of the bad patches.

Dave.

Messages In This Thread

S&G: Repairing damaged fibreglassing
Dave Miller -- 4/17/2003, 8:45 am
Re: S&G: Repairing damaged fibreglassing
Jeff The Tall -- 4/17/2003, 4:03 pm