Skid plates under the stems

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Rick
Posts: 727
Joined: Thu May 27, 2004 9:23 am
Location: Bancroft, Ontario

Skid plates under the stems

Post by Rick »

Here's a page on how to reduce wear in this critical area using kevlar:

http://www.northwestcanoe.com/repairsho ... _tips.html

I didn't want the color of the kevlar showing in my canoe, so I used layers of fiberglass cloth and matting much the same way, until about 1/4 inch thickness was built up. The layers of glass go all the way up to the sheerline and are translucent. A brass stem band will most likely look better if appearances are the main thing, but glass does not look bad either.

Durability and lower maintenance needs were the reasons for including skid plates - lots of hidden rocks just waiting to chew up unsuspecting canoes here in Central Ontario.

Rick
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Doug
Posts: 476
Joined: Mon Nov 15, 2004 7:59 am
Location: London, Ontario, Canada

Post by Doug »

Rick,
I did something similar. Instead of cutting the fiberglass to meet at the stems, I overlapped the fiberglass by about 3 or 4 inches. Thus giving the stems two layers of fiberglass cloth. You could add third layer of cloth with a 4-6 inch strip of fiberglass cloth.

Doug
"Some people hear the song in the quiet mist of a cold morning..... But for other people the song is loudest in the evening when they are sitting in front of a tent, basking in the camp fire's warmth. This is when I hear it loudest ...." BM
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