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Skin-on-Frame: PL Premium
By:Thomas Duncan
Date: 5/12/2011, 11:00 am

So. Fueled by Dave Gentry's post a while back, I bought a tube of this PL Premium construction adhesive when I skinned my kayak last week. I used it for various gluing tasks and to goop up the coaming-to-skin seal inside. Neat stuff.

Took a nylon scrap last night and spread a thin smear of PL over it like Corey's Goop or whatever. This morning it's probably mostly cured though I guess a few more days for it to fully cure. It's already tough as crap and still quite flexible etc.

So I guess Noel (? "The Lucky One" Is that you) is coating his new Sea Tour with it. Love to know how that goes over a larger surface... and to hear about how paint sticks to it.

The scrap I coated last night, though "dry" this morning, feels kinda greasy/waxy. If it were epoxy, I'd guess it's amine blush. What is it with the PL? What's that greasiness going to do to paint adhesion? I'll wait a bit longer on the cure, then wash it with soapy water and see how it feels.

I'm wondering why we couldn't use something like this to form a double-layer laminated skin something like on a Feathercraft. I'm not sure if the outside of a feathercraft skin is another fabric, or if it is urethane imprinted with a fabric texture. But my thought is to use a lighter nylon initially, then laminate a "pretty" fabric to it for the color and outside finish.

For that matter, why would we not use something like 5200 instead of PL. How similar are these two materials? I've never yet personally played with 5200, but I am eyeing it. The fast cure I reckon. I don't have patience for a week cure unless the results would be phenomenal. Would it even cure if overlaid with another layer of cloth?

Also still heavily interested in the Hamm method, and the stuff Dan C has been doing with Vectra (whatever that is) etc. But these methods may be more expensive?

Paint is great, varnish, polyurethane, but these things are always wearing out on me on nylon, cracking at the heels and sometimes the butt. Floor slats take care of the seat area cracking pretty much, suppose the same for heel boards, but I had to rip my last attempt at heel boards out, just not enough room, too uncomfortable. Thinking of smearing some PL up there by the heels on the inside of the yak. That might help. Corey's Goop is great, but it's such a dang mess to apply, and so ugly when done. I just don't have the "touch" some may with it. I suppose after 10 kayaks, I might get better at applying that.

Thoughts on this idea of laminating for an outer fabric finish versus paint?

Messages In This Thread

Skin-on-Frame: PL Premium
Thomas Duncan -- 5/12/2011, 11:00 am
Re: Skin-on-Frame: PL Premium
Clayton Plunkett -- 5/12/2011, 2:21 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: PL Premium
Dave Gentry -- 5/12/2011, 2:25 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: PL Premium
Scott Shurlow -- 5/13/2011, 12:02 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: PL Premium
Dave Gentry -- 5/12/2011, 2:24 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: PL Premium
TheLuckyOne -- 5/12/2011, 2:45 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: PL Premium
TheLuckyOne -- 5/12/2011, 2:48 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: PL Premium
Jeff Horton -- 5/13/2011, 8:02 am
Re: Skin-on-Frame: PL Premium
Dave Gentry -- 5/13/2011, 9:29 am
Re: Skin-on-Frame: PL Premium
Thomas Duncan -- 5/13/2011, 9:48 am
Re: Skin-on-Frame: PL Premium *PIC*
Thomas Duncan -- 5/13/2011, 9:58 am
Re: Skin-on-Frame: Greenlandkayaks.gl
Thomas Duncan -- 5/13/2011, 10:00 am
Re: Skin-on-Frame: silicone coatings
StephenHJ -- 5/13/2011, 1:26 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: silicone coatings
Thomas Duncan -- 5/13/2011, 2:08 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: PL Premium
David Bynoe -- 5/13/2011, 11:23 am
Re: Skin-on-Frame: PL Premium
TheLuckyOne -- 5/13/2011, 4:50 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: PL Premium
Kudzu/Jeff Horton -- 5/13/2011, 10:30 am
Re: Skin-on-Frame: PL Premium
Bill Hamm -- 5/13/2011, 2:09 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: PL Premium *NM* *PIC*
Thomas Duncan -- 5/13/2011, 2:16 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: PL Premium *NM* *PIC*
StephenHJ -- 5/13/2011, 2:17 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: PL Premium
Bill Hamm -- 5/14/2011, 6:44 am