Boat Building Forum

Find advice on all aspects of building your own kayak, canoe or any lightweight boats

Re: S&G: S&G bubble repair
By:ancient kayaker
Date: 4/7/2012, 11:32 pm
In Response To: S&G: S&G bubble repair (Wayne )

: Whats the procedure for repairing delamination bubbles? I've got a
: few small ones on my S&G and a couple bigger ones. At what size
: do I need to add glass reinforcement as well as epoxy?

The recommended procedure consists of cutting around and removing the face veneer from the bubble, sanding of the original adhesive and gluing the face veneer back using epoxy. The problem I see with that method is, if the ply delaminated in the first place it either isn't marine/outdoor quality or it's substandard; either way it's going to do it again and eventually the repaired areas will be the only parts still stuck together.

For small bubbles I use a hyperdermic syringe to inject water-based glue like Titebond III into the bubble. The needles and syringes are available from farmer's and vetinarian supply stores; the wee ones for self-administered drugs are mostly too small. I add about 10% water to the glue to make it easier to inject, and once it's in there I poke the bubble a few times to spread the glue then weight it down until it sets.

Larger bubbles can be slit with a knife and undiluted glue squirted in; use foam under the weights to spread the pressure uniformly.

- however there comes a point when one has to accept that the plywood was not good enough in the first place . . .

Messages In This Thread

S&G: S&G bubble repair
Wayne -- 4/7/2012, 12:17 pm
Re: S&G: S&G bubble repair
ancient kayaker -- 4/7/2012, 11:32 pm
Re: S&G: S&G bubble repair
Wayne -- 4/8/2012, 1:14 am
Re: S&G: S&G bubble repair
Bill Hamm -- 4/8/2012, 1:56 am
Re: S&G: S&G bubble repair
Jay Babina -- 4/8/2012, 7:57 am
Re: S&G: S&G bubble repair
Wayne -- 4/9/2012, 7:30 pm
Inject resin- tiny input, use force
mick allen -- 4/9/2012, 8:20 pm
Re: Inject resin- tiny input, use force
Wayne -- 4/9/2012, 9:19 pm
Re: Inject resin- tiny input, use force
Don T -- 4/9/2012, 10:22 pm
Syringe techniques *PIC*
mick allen -- 4/9/2012, 10:46 pm
Re: S&G: S&G bubble repair
Wayne -- 4/15/2012, 3:36 pm
Re: S&G: S&G bubble repair
Wayne -- 4/16/2012, 9:04 pm