Clear coat prep

[digger]

I've got a body shop lined up to clear coat my canoe. Canoecraft advises to seal bare wood such as gunnels and the thwart prior to varnish. Now that I'm no longer varnishing, do you think a seal coat is necessary? And if so, I would imagine it might be necessary to check compatibility between the sealer and the clear coat.

Thoughts?

[Patricks Dad]

Put a couple coats of epoxy on all bare wood surfaces. Sand with very fine paper to a finish similar to the rest of the glassed hull. All surfaces will have the same finish for the clear coat.

[digger]

Perfect, thanks. Last question: I'm scheduled to get the clear coat sprayed on the 31st. If I put on two coats of epoxy between tonight and tomorrow night, is that enough cure time to sand on the 30th?

[Patricks Dad]

Doubtful. It may depend on your epoxy. Check on manufacturer info. I have always waited at least 2 weeks between epoxy and varnish. You can most likely sand by then but I would worry about applying clear coat that soon. You might get some insights from the body shop guys.

I'm sure they don't leave thing sitting g around in the shop very long so you might be fine.