Boat Building Forum

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

Re: Carbon Fiber on Plywood Coamings
By:JohnAbercrombie
Date: 6/27/2017, 11:12 am
In Response To: Carbon Fiber on Plywood Coamings (Dan Caouette (CSCWC))

Dan makes it sound easy! His hints about wetting out are excellent - the same ideas I discovered via mistakes!
Carbon will 'float up' even more than fiberglass cloth, and it's hard to tell when it's wetted out (as it is so shiny), so getting a nice tight laminate without excess resin is tricky when doing a hand layup.
I haven't laminated carbon directly on to plywood, but I have laminated a few coamings in place over a (sacrificial) foam form.
Like Dan, I use bias cut strips of CF cloth.
Carbon fabric - especially the twill that is better for working around curves - is extremely 'soft' and 'slippery' stuff...much more than glass. It can be pulled out of shape and unravelled easily so you need a light touch and careful handling. Wear dry gloves. Cut off the stitched (Kevlar thread?) selvage. You will need good shears or a good rotary cutter.
I laminate glass cloth over the carbon to help give a smoother surface and also to give a 'warning' if I'm about to sand though to the carbon, later.
In any case, you'll need quite a few 'fill' layers to get it smooth. Be sure to line the inside of the boat with plastic as you will have a few drips even if you are careful.
Use a colourless or very light coloured epoxy to avoid an amber cast to your carbon.

Messages In This Thread

S&G: Do you glass your wood coamings?
JohnAbercrombie -- 6/9/2017, 3:04 pm
Re: S&G: Do you glass your wood coamings?
Les Cheeseman -- 6/9/2017, 5:01 pm
Re: S&G: Do you glass your wood coamings?
scottbaxter -- 6/9/2017, 5:05 pm
Re: S&G: Do you glass your wood coamings?
Etienne Muller -- 6/9/2017, 7:32 pm
Re: S&G: Do you glass your wood coamings?
Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks -- 6/9/2017, 9:00 pm
Re: S&G: Do you glass your wood coamings?
Bill Hamm -- 6/10/2017, 12:39 am
Re: S&G: Do you glass your wood coamings? *PIC*
Dan Caouette (CSCWC) -- 6/10/2017, 8:46 am
Re: S&G: Do you glass your wood coamings?
Etienne Muller -- 6/11/2017, 5:21 am
Re: S&G: Do you glass your wood coamings?
bsoderholm -- 6/27/2017, 12:06 am
Carbon Fiber on Plywood Coamings
Dan Caouette (CSCWC) -- 6/27/2017, 9:17 am
Re: Carbon Fiber on Plywood Coamings
bsoderholm -- 6/27/2017, 9:45 am
Re: Carbon Fiber on Plywood Coamings
JohnAbercrombie -- 6/27/2017, 11:12 am
Re: Carbon Fiber on Plywood Coamings *PIC*
JohnAbercrombie -- 6/27/2017, 11:47 am
Re: Carbon Fiber on Plywood Coamings
JayBabina -- 6/27/2017, 1:06 pm
Re: Carbon Fiber on Plywood Coamings
scottbaxter -- 6/27/2017, 1:55 pm
Re: Carbon Fiber on Plywood Coamings
Dan Caouette (CSCWC) -- 6/27/2017, 3:05 pm
Re: Carbon Fiber on Plywood Coamings
Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks -- 6/27/2017, 1:47 pm
Re: Carbon Fiber on Plywood Coamings
Bill Hamm -- 6/29/2017, 1:49 am
Re: Carbon Fiber on Plywood Coamings
Bill Hamm -- 6/29/2017, 2:13 am
Re: Carbon Fiber on Plywood Coamings
JohnAbercrombie -- 6/29/2017, 9:53 am
Re: Carbon Fiber on Plywood Coamings
scottbaxter -- 6/29/2017, 11:31 am
Re: S&G: Do you glass your wood coamings?
JayBabina -- 6/10/2017, 9:00 am
Re: S&G: Do you glass your wood coamings?
JohnAbercrombie -- 6/10/2017, 11:41 am
Re: S&G: Do you glass your wood coamings?
Bill Hamm -- 6/10/2017, 8:33 pm
Re: S&G: Do you glass your wood coamings?
JohnAbercrombie -- 6/10/2017, 10:59 pm
Re: S&G: Do you glass your wood coamings?
Etienne Muller -- 6/11/2017, 5:42 am
Re: S&G: Do you glass your wood coamings?
JohnAbercrombie -- 6/11/2017, 12:17 pm
Re: S&G: Do you glass your wood coamings?
Bill Hamm -- 6/11/2017, 8:52 pm
Re: S&G: Do you glass your wood coamings?
bsoderholm -- 6/12/2017, 4:59 pm
Re: S&G: Do you glass your wood coamings?
Bill Hamm -- 6/15/2017, 1:27 am
Re: S&G: Do you glass your wood coamings?
JohnAbercrombie -- 6/15/2017, 10:36 am
Re: S&G: Do you glass your wood coamings?
bsoderholm -- 6/16/2017, 9:05 am
Re: S&G: Do you glass your coaming-now toggles
JohnAbercrombie -- 6/16/2017, 11:21 am