so far so good

[backpaddler]

I got the wet out layer and the first fill coat done last night and am quite happy with the way it turned out. Brushed on the wet out layer, and then rolled it out with paper towel to soak up the excess and it worked fantastic!

[Glen Smith]

That looks great!

[Chipper1959]

Looks great !

From the results I'm seeing, I'm thinking the "paper towel" method may someday become standard practice.

[BearLeeAlive]

I'm sure it was said before, but what paper towels did you use. Are they the tough blue shop ones, or just a kitchen type?

[Whitworks]

Stay away from the kitchen towels. They can be flimsy and often have a pattern which imprints on the layup which can be difficult to eradicate while tipping off.

The blue workshop towels have no surface texture to speak of and act like a thin absorbent blanket for a better ability to soak up surplus resin and even out the resin thickness.

Mark

[BearLeeAlive]

Another question.
Does one squeegee off the bulk of the excess resin first, or just roll the paper on after spreading and ensuring good saturation?

[backpaddler]

Just put the paper on and roll out the excess. When you peel the paper off if there are some shiny spots a small piece of paper and a quick roll out should take care of it, then just tip off.
Works amazingly!

[Whitworks]

I have a feeling that this is more appropriate for 'Tips and Techniques' but the interest seems to be here for the time being.

I found that pouring the resin in a wide 'S' pattern (using 10 to 12 pump batches) then rolling out vertically, horizontally, diagonally and horizontally again got an area covered quickly and fairly evenly, I.e. the glass colour disappeared, the finish was glossy and the weave texture was just visible in places.

It's probably a personal choice between brush and roller. For me it's easier to get more even saturation with a roller. There's also a reduced risk of pushing the fabric around with a brush.... whatever works for you.

I didn't worry about air bubbles because the towel rollout and foam brush tip-of looked after them. I kept a hot air gun handy just in case but didn't need it.

The type of roller I used was the solid white foam type rather than the West System type with the thinnish layer of yellow foam on a rigid cardboard tube. The solid foam conforms with the varying curvature found on a canoe hull with a more consistent pressure. With the yellow foam/cardboard type, the higher the curvature, the greater the pressure differential between the centre and ends of the roller.

The one caveat with the solid foam in rolling out the resin is that it tends to deteriorate after a while with saturation and usage, so keep a few handy if you choose to use them.

This doesn't apply as much during the towel rollout because the surplus resin tends to stay pretty well in the towelling.

Mark

[HighPlainsDrifter]

I wish I could visualize this "towel roll out" that you guys are talking about. Are you laying paper towels on top of the wet resin/glass and then rolling? Does the towel lift off the hull w/o leaving scraps behind? A picture or link to this technique would sure be helpful (to me)

[Denis]

Glen is it possible to use a video clip here on the forum? this towel technique is intriguing.

[backpaddler]

Hello All,

High Plains Drifter, to answer your question, yes that's exactly what we're doing.

This technique was pioneered by Whitworks and he was kind enough to post his results in Tips and Techniques under the post "sqeegeeing alternative" if you haven't seen it. After asking a few questions of him, I decided to try it on my 15' Bob's Special.

My method may be slightly different but the end result is the same.I wet out the cloth using a 3" chip brush in sections of about 3'. Once the section was wetted out, I took the time and added 15-20 minutes to it as per "Canoecraft". When the time was up I came back to it and placed a 4' piece of Scott Shop Towel over the section horizontally starting at the keel line and then rolled it out with a 4" solid foam roller. After rolling, immediately pull off the towel and place it back on the same section below the area you just rollered and roller again.
I then tipped off that section with a 3" foam brush.

I've added some pics of the shop towels, roller and taped the towel to the side of the canoe to illustrate how it would be placed for rollering.

A video would be ideal, but I hope this helps

Bruce

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[backpaddler]

Sorry, I'll try this again

[Glen Smith]

Glen is it possible to use a video clip here on the forum? this towel technique is intriguing.

I don't see any way to embed a video but a video can be uploaded to youtube then a link can be placed in a post here.