spar varnish over untreated (un-epoxied) wood trim?

[Peter Kotowych]

While working on the canoe today, I think I changed my mind re: applying epxoy.
I guess I don't want to take the risk of the ash discoloring.
One concern is the amount of time between coats. Ideally you are supposed to wait a week before sanding the epoxy.
Could I put one coat on and then wait a couple of hours until it is tacky and then put a second coat on. Similar to the glassing process. This would save some time. I would sand this and then apply the final coat.
tks
Pete

[Glen Smith]

Sure, you can apply the epoxy coats in succession as soon as the prior coat is no longer tacky. Try to do a neat job applying it or you will have a lot of scraping sanding to do later.

When an epoxy can be sanded depends on the brand of epoxy and the cure rate. I use a lot of "Citadel" epoxy and the fast stuff can be sanded after 24 hours, the slower stuff after 48 hours. This is according to the manufacturer's literature and concords with my tests. I think some epoxies can't be sanded before three days.

[Peter Kotowych]

Thank Glen,
A faster working epoxy makes a lot of sense.

Pete

[Doug Carey]

Just a thought..........is it wise to apply the 1, 2 or 3 epoxy coats to the outer gunwales before installing them (as a way of trying to minimize dripping fresh unthickened epoxy on the smooth exterior ofthe hull)?
In an attempt to reduce the possible mess this might cause, my bigger concern is that pre-coating the gunwale may adversely affect how the ash bends.
I have not had much experience with just how much the West soaks into hard wood compared to the soft cedar wood, and therefore I don't want to solve one problem but create another.
Suggestions and advise?
thanks,
d.c.

[Glen Smith]

Once the outwales are installed, you might still have to do some final shaping (planing, sanding) so I would wait until they have been installed and finalized before coating them with epoxy.

[Rick]

I epoxied first, the reasoning being that the epoxy would be easier to sand while the outwale was separate and not attached to the hull. Masking off the hull to eliminate drips is also possible if you want to apply epoxy after attaching the outwales.

[Erik, Belgium]

It doesn't make so much sense to apply epoxy on the gunnels prior to attaching them, 'cause you 'll be putting a lot of force to them. I would just mount them, put a paper tape strip just under them onto the hull, and then apply epoxy with a rag (a rag does the job very well and it saves me to clean the brush). I always wipe off the epoxy with a clean rag an hour later.

Personally I don't see the point of applying 3 coats of epoxy on, because the 1st epoxy layer will make a barrier in the wood and your 2nd, 3rd epoxy coat will certainly NOT go any further in to the wood.

I have made a number of Greenland and canoe paddles (built the 9th last week) this year, and opt to treat them with epoxy before oiling them (don't like the glossy varnish finish on paddles). Yes, the oil vanishes quite quickly this way, but hey, what 's the effort of re-oiling ? 2 minutes work ? Also I softly sand the epoxy on the paddel with 800 grid ... so smooth they get.

Erik, Belgium.

[Glen Smith]

According to the information on the West Systems website, it takes three coats of epoxy to make a waterproof barrier on the wood.

[Rick]

I'm with Glen on this one, after only one coat of epoxy the ash outwale didn't seem to be very well protected and looked like a scratch would expose raw wood easily. Three coats built up some thickness with a hard, glossy surface that is durable after varnishing.

My outwales were also thin and screwed on (not glued), for easy replacement, so not much force was needed to attach them. I also epoxied the inner surfaces and screw holes so that they'd be totally waterproofed.

I used the West info and expect the outwales to last much longer than in other canoes where I had to replace outwales. Unless, of course, there's some bad accident which forces replacement sooner...

:frightened