I'm all set for glassing the outside of the Rice Lake this weekend. I have the hull faired and the keel temporarily fixed with screws through the hull inside. According to the builders notes, I will glass the outside, let it set up... the permanently attach the keel with glue and coat the keel with epoxy as I do the fill in coats.
Here's my questions to the board..
1) I'm using MAS slow epoxy to wet out. I don't have any fast MAS harderner. Does anyone see any problems glueing the keel down with West?
2) The squeeze out from glueing the keel on might be messy. Can I wipe up with mineral spirits along the joint without compromisng the partially cured MAS coated cloth? I will minimize squeeze out to the extent possible with tape, but epoxy can get messy trying to realign a 12 ft keep piece and screw it in from the inside of the hull. I'm afraid I will get thickened and colored epoxy on the clear wet out coat.
Thanks...PS the Rice Lake fairs beautifully! My outside stem joint isn't as tight as I would want...but thats a builder problem, not the plans.... Juneaudave
Positioning keel/skeg during glassing
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Juneaudave
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Jack in Stoughton
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When I installed the keel on my Laker I didn't use screws. The hull had been glassed and I had tried paddling w/o the keel and elected to install one. I simply scuffed the hull where the keel would go and set the keel in place with thickened epoxy and weighted it down. I used a plastic squeegee to remove the squish out immediately after getting the keel held down. After curing I cleaned up the area with sandpaper and began varnishing the canoe.
Jack in Stoughton
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Todd Bradshaw
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Mineral spirits? I could be wrong, but I can't recall ever reading that mineral spirits was an effective solvent for epoxy or even something you want to get in contact with green epoxy. The idea of putting any petroleum-based solvent (or damned near any other chemical) on your boat between the cloth application and filler coats could be quite risky and ought to scare the pants off most folks. Use some sort of small scraper, instead. As to hardener speed and mixing resin brands, I usually apply glass with fast hardener, but if I was glueing a keel on I'd probably use something slow because it could be one of those jobs that takes longer than it originally seemed like it would. You don't want to get it 2/3 of the way secured and have the resin start going off. Mixing brands should work, but there is certainly no guarantee.
Keels tend to get beat up over time and sometimes even need to be replaced. If they're glued-on, that means cutting or grinding them off. I think I'd glass the hull, fill it, sand it and then glue the keel on if desired. Having the keel down under the filler coats and right on top of the glass scares me. Im not a big fan of epoxy-attached keels or gunwales in the first place, but I'd like to be able to grind them off without worrying so much about hitting the cloth in the process.
Keels tend to get beat up over time and sometimes even need to be replaced. If they're glued-on, that means cutting or grinding them off. I think I'd glass the hull, fill it, sand it and then glue the keel on if desired. Having the keel down under the filler coats and right on top of the glass scares me. Im not a big fan of epoxy-attached keels or gunwales in the first place, but I'd like to be able to grind them off without worrying so much about hitting the cloth in the process.
Hi Dave,
My two cents on the RLS. I wetted out the glass and let it cure for about 10 hours and then glued down the keel using overhead sticks for hold downs. I cleaned up the squeeze out of thickened epoxy with a squegee and a rag dampened with laquer thinner. I dont think I would do it this way again. the keel doesn't need epoxy coating and its hell to level it for varnishing later. I would wait till after the last coat of epoxy before gluing the keel on. I don't think screws are needed. Its solid as a rock without them.
My two cents on the RLS. I wetted out the glass and let it cure for about 10 hours and then glued down the keel using overhead sticks for hold downs. I cleaned up the squeeze out of thickened epoxy with a squegee and a rag dampened with laquer thinner. I dont think I would do it this way again. the keel doesn't need epoxy coating and its hell to level it for varnishing later. I would wait till after the last coat of epoxy before gluing the keel on. I don't think screws are needed. Its solid as a rock without them.
Dana H P'Simer Sr.
Don't start a vast project with a halfvast idea.
Don't start a vast project with a halfvast idea.
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Juneaudave
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Thanks psimer! I was wondering both about the wiping down with laquer thinner and the order of assembly i.e wetting out, placing the stem and filling in.
I'm going to give the 9 oz 72 in Raka cloth a try. Tonight, I'm precoating and will wet out on Friday. My garage is attached, well heated, and I have my heat gun in hand if I have trouble with viscosity of the epoxy with the 9 oz cloth.
I think I will try a dry run with the stem/skeg on Saturday per the instructions. If it looks dicey, I'll go ahead and fill in and attach the stem later. My test with MAS epoxy and the RAKA cloth was positive. Glad you have done this and are willing to share!!! Thanks... Juneaudave
I'm going to give the 9 oz 72 in Raka cloth a try. Tonight, I'm precoating and will wet out on Friday. My garage is attached, well heated, and I have my heat gun in hand if I have trouble with viscosity of the epoxy with the 9 oz cloth.
I think I will try a dry run with the stem/skeg on Saturday per the instructions. If it looks dicey, I'll go ahead and fill in and attach the stem later. My test with MAS epoxy and the RAKA cloth was positive. Glad you have done this and are willing to share!!! Thanks... Juneaudave