The Bear Mountain Boat Shop

Is it necessary to use plastic cane when doing canoe seats? I recently caned my seats using natural cane and now I am questioning whether or not I should have used plastic cane. If natural cane is a common material used on canoe seats, and I don't have to redo them, is there a common treatment to pr...

I have not read the board in a while and read your recent back and forth about the blisters. I tell you, I had a similar situation and in my opinion you should have followed Rod Tait, of Orca Boats advice. I'l bet you the blister changed a bit once it was not as hot as that day you first noticed it ...

You know, I recently moved from San Diego CA to Connecticut and no longer have a nice indoor shop area. Will I be able to do the glass outdoors in the summer as long as I am able to keep it covered overhead and it will not get rained on?

That is a great help. Thanks so much.

The spots have been growing in size. When I did the first repair the quarter sized spot turned into the about a 9 X 6 inch spot. It was as you say, the epoxy seemed to have not hardened at all in that spot. I fear this is the case. I suppose the best thing to do then is to cut out the bubbles and tr...

Well, I finished my Prospector this February and was thriled with the end product, with one exception. I now have four or five spots where the fiberglass has bubbled/delaminated. I first notied it in small dime size spots that are now as much as 8 inches apart. This only occured on the outside of th...

Thanks Glen. It was actually John at Mertons that mentioned it to me. He is the source given to me on the fastener question post. He was super helpful but was pretty convinced other brands present drying problems on epoxy. I know I once had some brazilian walnut floors finished by a finisher who was...

I had a supplier tell me today that varnish does not dry correctly on epoxy? He indicated I would be best off using the System Three Spar Varnish as it was designed specifically for applying over epoxy. Any truth to this?

Are there any reasonably priced sources for silocone bronze hardware out there?

I actually have the joint in the very center. I believe I may have had a glueing problem. I have recut the scarfs, they are a little over 6 inches long, have re-epoxied and wil give it until the day after Christmas to dry, 5 days, then I will have another go at it.

Thanks again for all of the assistance.

Sounds like I ought to use the stainless then. Is there enough of a diference between wood and sheetmetal to be of concern. I can get some stainless sheetmetal screws five minutes from the house.

I think I must have not let it set long enough or something and I most likely did not saturate the joint enough. I also did not apply straight epoxy the first time. I went right to the thickened. I have reglued and will see what happens after a 48 hour wait time. I was at a little less than 24 hours...

Hey, thanks for the quick response. I assume the stainless is stronger than the brass?

I began attepting to fit my inwhales and outwhales today and ran into a big problem. I had cut a scarf joint to join both the inwhales and outwhales. While trying to bend the inwhales in place, both joints gave way. Not sure if the epoxied joints are supposed to be able to survive that type of stres...