Dings

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fsilva15
Posts: 9
Joined: Thu May 10, 2012 8:22 pm
Location: San Antonio, TX

Dings

Post by fsilva15 »

I have a newbie question...

I am almost finished with my first build, fiberglass is all in, gunnels, yoke and decks. I am almost ready to start the final sanding for the first layer of varnish. I had a mishap with a wayward clamp and got a ding or couple dings inside the hull. I will do the repair but here is the question or questions. This ding caused the cloth weave to show. Is this a sign of things to come? Is this normal? Did I do something wrong with the fiberglass and resin? Will the coats of varnish help prevent this later on?
Rod Tait

Re: Dings

Post by Rod Tait »

Sorry,
This is a sign of things to come. Small dings like this will happen over time, mostly on the outside. This is referred to "bruised cloth". Varnish will not make it go away. After some use and you have several, then maybe it will be time to repair them. It requires a delicate sanding in the area to make the mark go away with either some resin on top or if big enough, a small patch of new glass and resin.

I know exactly how this happened. I now put a large blanket inside the hull when attaching gunnels. If they come loose, they drop into the hull and always land so as to ding the boat.
fsilva15
Posts: 9
Joined: Thu May 10, 2012 8:22 pm
Location: San Antonio, TX

Re: Dings

Post by fsilva15 »

Thanks Rod.

"Bruised Cloth". sounds about right. I had 5 such dings so, I've sanded, taped around them and just applied the resin. Fairly easy to repair but those bruises sure do hurt. I was beginning to think I did something terribly wrong with the cloth and resin. I'll be posting my lessons learned with pictures of my Prospector soon in payment for all I've learned on this forum. Thanks again. v/r Fred
pwstndrf
Posts: 68
Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2004 10:24 pm
Location: Saginaw, Michigan

Re: Dings

Post by pwstndrf »

Having experienced this problem many times over the years, finally Epoxyworks Magazine offered a simple solution, using West System's G/5 Epoxy to fill the ding. There is an article explaining "how to" in their magazine no.28, Spring 2009. Here's a link to it.

http://www.epoxyworks.com/28/index.html

They offer a free subscription too, just give them your address and you got it. Lots of good information over the years.
G'Luck
phil w.
fsilva15
Posts: 9
Joined: Thu May 10, 2012 8:22 pm
Location: San Antonio, TX

Re: Dings

Post by fsilva15 »

Thanks for the info Phil,

Obviously I haven't logged in for a while. I had to put my project on hold, load the unfinished canoe on my truck and move from South Florida to San Antonio TX. I had several people ask about my conoe and had on gentleman actually offer to buy it. Sure did wonders to my motivation to finish this one and start another.

I'll check out the link you sent. Thanks again.
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