Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Listening Point - General Discussion :: Wish Me Luck - Re-Finishing My Kevlar
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lyontyl |
sedges: "Varnish with UV protection is a good idea. This isn't a piece of fine furniture, or even a pretty woodstrip, so I wouldn't spend too much on high end finishes. Just get one with UV protection. Thanks for all the advice!! |
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lyontyl |
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pastorjsackett |
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lyontyl |
This will be my first time trying this. I'm using the process recommended on the Killarney Outfitters website. Any last minute tips or things to bear in mind from when you did it? Cheers! |
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sns |
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cowdoc |
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cowdoc |
sns: "Was the canoe manufactured with Epoxy or with Vinylester? My understanding is that ideally you match that. " I've read that too but refinished a Mn2 (vinyl ester) with West system epoxy and it turned out great and has held up fine. |
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Northwoodsman |
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lyontyl |
Looks better than it did but there are a lot of spots I can see where it's not smooth and really rough. I believe this to be the epoxy hardening roughed up canoe fibers? Either way I have some spots to touch up and it will be ready to take on the wilderness on July 1st! |
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lyontyl |
Overall I thought for my first try it turned out pretty good from where the condition was when I got it. I ended up doing a second coat of epoxy although I was torn whether I should do it just because I didn't want to add to much extra weight. My rationale for the 2nd coat was that there were a couple spots I wasn't happy with the turn out when I applied it and there were some fuzzy spots from where I or the previous owners had sanded it down or worn it down to the fiberglass outer coating. I wanted to try and put a thicker coat of epoxy on to cover this up. Plus with my 2nd I was a little bit better prepared for how to do it. The scratches from previous owner and such are still visible but now there is a nice shiny durable protection on it. My plan was to add a coat of spar varnish but those plans are on hold since we are heading to BWCA on Thursday and I want to absolutely be sure the epoxy is completely cured prior to application of varnish. We also have really high humidity right now in Iowa. So I may wait and apply in the fall when we get some lower consistent humidity. I keep my canoe in the garage so I don't see risk at this point of immediate UV degradation of the epoxy. So I slapped on some new stickers and she looks pretty good! Thanks for all the help everyone. It was fun to work on this project! Before epoxy with sanding being done And finished project |
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lyontyl |
Tomorrow I will rub it down with acetone and begin phase two with the epoxy and see how it turns out. Either way its a good learning experience and in the end it will still float and take my family on the water whether it looks bad or not! |
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timatkn |
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Banksiana |
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mjmkjun |
Edited for correction: 303 is a great UV protectant but since it's water-soluble it's not recommended for below water level contact. Likely would dissolve in the water. I don't want to encourage any contaminates to the pristine waters of the BWCA. Thanks, Banksiana, for pointing that out. |
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user0317 |
lyontyl: "Got the sanding done last night. I can't really glean an indication of how it will turn out at this point just because the sanding skewed how it looks. One other tip that occurs to me, is to have a helper. If you can have someone else handy to mix up small batches of epoxy, hand you new rollers etc... it can help you keep working before the resin sets up. |
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billconner |
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R1verrunner |
Isn't that hard unless you want a prefect like factory finish. Then it takes a lot of fussing. If one is willing to have a decent use able finish maybe with a few minor imperfections It is not hard. |
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scat |
I guess some of us are ok with a tad bit of patina. Or some fresh paint. |
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lyontyl |
scat: " Nice work. Shiny! I dig it Scat! Character counts! |
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billconner |
mjmkjun: " The epoxy is a much tougher finish. " Is that a double entendre? :) |
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mjmkjun |
Banksiana: "For what its worth 303 is water soluble. It only offers protection until you put your boat in the water- effectively applying 303 to the lakes. After all we tote our biodegradable soap-tainted water a hundred yards from the shore to dispose of it." That info is worth much. Pity. It's such great hull protection against UV rays. Will amend my previous post and start prepping the Prism for a fresh coat of marine varnish, then. |
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lyontyl |
So what are your thoughts on finishing my project with coat of high quality spar varnish so I have the UV protection? Should I do any sort of surface prep to the epoxy (like a light sanding) or just put the varnish straight on? Thanks guy! My canoe is already looking better than it did when purchased! |
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mjmkjun |
Two years ago, I lightly sanded my UL Prism/kevlar and applied a quality marine varnish. It looked good for a quickie cosmetic touch-up--with a slight amber hue. It wasn't perfectly done either. Had some blushing from humidity which I didn't like but it wasn't much. I lived with it. I will pay attention to the humidity level next time. The epoxy is a much tougher finish. |
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Captn Tony |
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user0317 |
Have a heat gun ready and go over the epoxy with it when you are done. This will pop any air bubbles in the epoxy. |
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mjmkjun |
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Captn Tony |
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x2jmorris |
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mjmkjun |
billconner: "mjmkjun: " The epoxy is a much tougher finish. " "Mayhap it is and mayhap it ain't." --Mother Abagail, THE STAND. ;-) |
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LittleRiver |
lyontyl: "...So what are your thoughts on finishing my project with coat of high quality spar varnish so I have the UV protection?..." I think you've answered your own question. There is no benefit to UV light degradation, but there is a big benefit if it is avoided. Give the epoxy a light sanding (which helps with mechanical bonding), thoroughly clean off the dust, then apply the spar varnish. Low humidity conditions are best for applying the varnish. |
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jhb8426 |
sns: "Was the canoe manufactured with Epoxy or with Vinylester? My understanding is that ideally you match that. " I've always understood that epoxy can readily be applied over either epoxy or vinylester., but vinylester cannot be applied over epoxy. Also UV varnish is recommended as I've seen. |
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sedges |
Also, epoxy takes about a week to fully cure. Seems hard and you can even sand it before that, but some varnishes will not cure properly over less-than-cured epoxy. The result is really messy. Let it sit for a week before prepping for varnish. Wash the hull with warm water to get off any waxy stuff that surfaces with some epoxies, it will mess with your varnish, too. Wash before sanding so the sanding doesn't just stir the wax into the surface. |