The Bear Mountain Boat Shop

No it's not blushing, just an inpatient boat builder. I used the usual Wests Epoxy. I'm using Bondall Marine grade monocel varnish (satin finish). Seems pretty good so far. Goes on thicker than I expected and starts curing fairly quickly so haven't had issues with runs. The tin says 6hrs cure minimu...

Thanks for the replies team It's definitely not uncured epoxy as that was done about a month ago. It's not an old fashioned varnish - pretty standard one. And I live in a very temperate climate so cure times shouldn't be abnormal. Sedges, I think you have the answer - more water (any father Ted fans...

Hi team. I've done the first coat of varnish on my strip canoe, left it for 24+ hours and just had a go at sanding it. What a nightmare!! The sandpaper (120/220 grit) just gums up after a few strokes. This is wet sandpaper, and I have to lie the paper flat and use a paint scraper to clean the paper ...

Awesome thanks guys. That's some impressive work Jim! I really like the capped outwale! I haven't seen that before, but it makes a lot of sense.
I ended up screwing with #8 stainless screws. I didn't feel I had enough clamps to epoxy only :o)

Hi team. I'm a virgin boat builder, having a go at a strip canoe. I'm at the stage of fitting my 20mm (~3/4") scuppered inwales. The instructions I have say to use 1/2" #4 screws to fix them to the hull and 1 1/4" #8 screws for the outwales. I have 2 questions: 1. a #4 screw seems qui...

Ahhh. Thanks for the heads up Brian. Hopefully I don't have to do a post someday on how to replace a stem where the glue has failed!!!

Not sure where you're up to with this, but thought I'd add by 2 cents worth. I'm in New Zealand so had similar problems converting to metric. 200g/m2 is the equivalent weight to 6oz. I couldn't find anyone in the country that could supply 60" (1500mm) wide cloth. So I had to go with 1000mm wide...