So I took my cedar strip on some rivers, and my brother and I hit a sunken log pretty hard. Didnt notice issues at the time, but now I see we put a big crack/separation in it. I've sanded the bad out and due to some water damage I had to take more wood than I was hoping to, to get to all dry material. Do I make a paste to fill/level these cracks before patching? And is a fiberglass patch and more epoxy going to be enough for this issue?

Pictures would help.

Rather than filling the sanded out divot with thickened epoxy I think you'd be better off to use more layers of fiberglass. This will build up thickness while adding strength at the same time. Start with small patches and work up to a larger one that will cover all the damaged area and then some. I'd cover it with peel ply to flatten the edges to make blending it in an easier job (less fill coats and sanding) but you could get by without it.

Are you patching the inside and outside? I think I'd definitely want a patch on the inside too.

Alan

I had to sand inside and out. I'll try to grab some pictures later tonight and see what you think.

Cant get the best pictures since it hanging up at the moment, but here's a good idea. This is the inside, outside the cracks are more visable

Good advise from Alan

I'd just layer up both sides, a little proud of level, and scrape back level again. Do the scraping within 24 hrs, of applying resin, and it will be pretty easy.

May take 3 or 4 layers of cloth, per side, depending on how deep you sanded. Give it what ever it needs !

Wait until it warms up, unless you have a heated area to do it in !

Jim

quote 1JimD: " Good advise from Alan


Wait until it warms up, unless you have a heated area to do it in !


Jim"

Oh for sure. Thanks for the advice guys. Love this group.

I fixed a pretty bad rock gouge that tore trough the fabric on my Ranger using the repair methods in Ted Moores book. Those methods are basically the technique that Alan describes.

I expected the repair to be invisible when I was done. Unfortunately it was not invisible. The work was smooth and layered up, but aside the patch work was glass that was damaged. The damaged glass never went clear under new epoxy. So, take some time and make your removal of injured skin as clean as possible.

Depending on the age of the canoe, patches will show. Cedar ages. Once you sand it, it will look like new wood before it was coated with epoxy,
the first time.
Also the varnish, and epoxy ages.
One !. Don't try and stain the wood to match .This can cause bonding problems with the epoxy.
In my book, you'd be off trying to darken the varnish on the new patch.It might make it worse.

Me, I wouldn't worry about it. I would just leave the lighter colored patch as a reminder, of the canoes history !

Good luck with the patch.

Jim

quote HighPlainsDrifter: "
I fixed a pretty bad rock gouge that tore trough the fabric on my Ranger using the repair methods in Ted Moores book. Those methods are basically the technique that Alan describes.


I expected the repair to be invisible when I was done. Unfortunately it was not invisible. The work was smooth and layered up, but aside the patch work was glass that was damaged. The damaged glass never went clear under new epoxy. So, take some time and make your removal of injured skin as clean as possible."

Scraping is also a better method than sanding. Sanding seems to imbed dust particles, where scraping doesn't.
I have struggled cleaning dust out of pin holes, caused by outgassing. Air pressure, High pressure seemed to work the best, but not always.
Surface contaminates, like blush, and varnish are factors also.

Jim