epoxy on attachments

Joble · Post by **Joble** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 10:38 am

I am about to attach my inwalls and was wondering Should I coat all the attachments, deck thwart etc. with epoxy before I put them on or will the varnish be enough protection

Bryan Hansel · Post by **Bryan Hansel** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 12:55 pm

It's a personal choice. If you are attaching them to the hull with epoxy or glue, then make sure all the surfaces are coated liberally. If you are attaching them with screws, you should varnish or epoxy the parts that will come into contact with the hull before attaching.

I oil all my gunwales, yokes, thwarts with Watco oil. Some people varnish. Some people epoxy and then varnish. It's really up to you depending on how much protection from water you need.

Bryan

Rick · Post by **Rick** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 9:37 am

I epoxied and varnished the outwales only, since they get the most abuse - this was West's recommendation for protecting wood in one of their technical reports. So far that combination seems to be working very well, and after a year and a half there's been no maintenance needed yet.

The epoxy/varnish combo worked well enough so that I'm trying it in an ash paddle I recently made - those get even more abuse, so we'll see how that works out. Ash blackens and rots easily with ongoing water exposure, so maybe the added protection will last longer than varnish alone.

Oiled paddles let through water easily, and they will blacken with time, and this is also true for varnish, although to a lesser extent. Varnished ash outwales on an older canoe began to rot out after about ten years, so I'm hoping that these epoxied outwales will be longer-lasting.

Jim Dodd · Post by **Jim Dodd** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 9:56 pm

I glue and screw my inwhales, decks, and glue the outwhales.
Should the time come when removal is necessary, it will be a pain!
Watco has been my choice for trim finish, not perfect, but will stick with it til I find better!
Jim

KARKAUAI · Post by **KARKAUAI** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 11:09 pm

I've only built two canoes, both with ash gunwales. There have been several discussions about whether to epoxy gunwales before varnishing. Though it is a personal choice, there is general agreement that ash gunwales will get a black discoloration if they get wet under the varnish. A lot of builders seem to prefer 2-3 coats of epoxy under the varnish on ash. Less agreement on other woods.