16' Bob's special - progress!

sluggo · Post by **sluggo** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 12:03 pm

I also bought a heat lamp from Lee Valley. If I recall correctly, it can provide 8C of heating. So my garage went from 6C to 14C, and you get direct heat on the wood you're working on. http://tinyurl.com/g3dxv

Having run the gamut of "get it done" to "let's be as perfect as possible", I'm now leaning back towards the "get it done" school of thought. ie I wouldn't hesitate to apply epoxy as long as it's 14C or warmer. I used "fast" hardener for the cooler temps last spring.

let us know how it goes!

pawistik · Post by **pawistik** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 12:18 pm

Kerry wrote: Some years it doesn't get really really cold here until well into November, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is one of those years.

Me too!

Whatever your weather on a given day, just add 24 hrs and it's my weather. It follows the yellowhead so let's hope for beautiful days like today for another 6 weeks. Then it can snow so we can start skiing.
Cheers,
Bryan

pawistik · Post by **pawistik** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 12:27 pm

sluggo wrote:I also bought a heat lamp from Lee Valley. If I recall correctly, it can provide 8C of heating. So my garage went from 6C to 14C, and you get direct heat on the wood you're working on. http://tinyurl.com/g3dxv

I too am thinking about that radiant heater. We moved to a new house this summer so I no longer have the well-wired well-lit garage I used to have (which I heated using a 220v 4800watt construction-type heater). However it is an insulated 2 car attached garage so some heat will be gained from the house. My mid-term plan is to re-wire it for 220 and add a plethora of plugs and lights, but in the meantime I am considering using one of the 120 volt, radiant heaters from LV to keep the edge off. I am beyond the fg/epoxy stage so it would be used just to create a more comfortable working environment.

Cheers,
Bryan

sluggo · Post by **sluggo** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 1:41 pm

The thing with the radian heater is that its range isn't very big. I think it provides heat along a 12' length if memory serves me correct. The insulation and attachment to your house should help though.

Kerry · Post by **Kerry** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 3:11 pm

Argh! Foiled! I was ready on Monday to do the outside glass on my canoe and had the supplies ready, the help ready, and the heater on in the garage. Since I was going to be leaving my radiant heater on over the next few days I decided to install a smoke alarm in the garage. I went to step up on a step stool to install it on the ceiling and poof, my back decided to spaz out and I was on my knees before I knew it.

Now I'm laid up for a while and the weather is turning cold - I may have to wait till spring to go any further, unless maybe I insulate the garage and warm it with electric heaters. Doug (Sluggo) suggested that it's better to apply varnish not too long after the epoxy cures and I hadn't really thought of that. Before my back quit I was planning on waiting till spring for the varnish anyway, but maybe that's a bad idea? Has anyone here ever left epoxy for 5 or 6 months before varnishing, and if so were there issues?

On another note, prior posts in this thread mentioned the quartz radiant heaters available at Lee Valley. I borrowed a couple of small space heaters from work and put them in the garage one evening and after a couple of hours the temperature only rose from 10C to 12C. I installed one of the radiant heaters on the ceiling and left it on for 2 hours on Monday morning and the temperature went from 8C to 14C. The thermometer was not in front of the heater, by the way. They certainly seem like a better solution than the little space heaters.

Cheers,
Kerry

Glen Smith · Post by **Glen Smith** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 4:43 pm

Varnish should not be applied to epoxy until it has cured. At room temperature this can take several days. At colder temperatures it can take up to a month or more. If the epoxy hasn't cured sufficiently the varnish may remain soft and never harden.

With my last kayak I paddled it all Summer and always had it on the car roof and there was no varnish applied until paddling season was over. The epoxy suffered absolutely no damage. This boat was built with Citadel epoxy but the last coat was West 105/207 which contains a bit of UV protection. Several builders varnish their boats only after having paddled it for some time. If the boat is stored indoors you can extend this period even longer.

When you are ready to apply the varnish, do so shortly after a final sanding of the epoxy for best adhesion.

Note that I have applied a water-based Spar Urethane only 24 hours after applying the final coat of epoxy and I didn't have any problems. I have also run into situations where the first coat of oil-based Spar Varnish took 3 days to cure beyond the tacky stage.

Kerry · Post by **Kerry** » Sat Mar 31, 2007 8:31 pm

My son and I pulled the canoe off the mold today and placed it on a couple of cradles. Wow - looking more and more like a boat! I started scraping with a rounded scraper and it's not as bad as I feared. Hopefully I can get the rough scraping done tomorrow and on to the sanding.

Cheers,
Kerry

viking · Post by **viking** » Sat May 19, 2007 5:25 pm

Kerry, You asked a question about the discooration of the wood around the area where gaps were filled. What did you find out. Thanks Mike. Almost forgot boat looks beauty.

Kerry · Post by **Kerry** » Sat May 19, 2007 7:27 pm

Viking - I sanded the areas as much as I thought I dared, then went ahead with the glassing. Some of the spots can still be seen, but for the most part they blended in fairly well. Before I start sanding I'll see if I can get a picture of one of them to give you some idea - but it might be hard to show up in a photo.

Kerry

Denis · Post by **Denis** » Sun May 20, 2007 12:58 pm

It will save you a lot of sanding if you use masking tape to cover the planking adjacent to where you are patching. Just the area to be filled should be visible. I remove the tape right away after filling and leave it alone till it sets up. Every time i fiddle with it afterwards it creates more work lol.

Denis from Lakefield Ontario

Denis · Post by **Denis** » Mon May 21, 2007 3:26 pm

an example of a poorly sanded epoxy patch area (2) (section is the cockpit cut out from my kayak deck so I didn't worry about sanding it out)

[img][img]http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l272/ ... xyfill.jpg[/img]

As you can see it will leave lighter coloured splotches which I don't think anyone would be happy about.

Denis from Lakefield Ontario

viking · Post by **viking** » Mon May 21, 2007 6:42 pm

Thanks for the responses and the pictures. I seem to have alot of small gaps between strips particularly coming around the bilge. Is this normal? I milled my own strips and I think it comes from less than perfect milling and therefore fit. I've tried to fill most of them but am now left with smaller pinholes where I didn't fill good enough. I don't know wether to fill them or not. I think at this point these filled gaps are going to show through the glass. Regards Mike

RonMc1954 · Post by **RonMc1954** » Mon May 21, 2007 7:58 pm

Hi Viking, those small pinholes you desribe can happen especially in the bilge area. But I bet you will be the only one who will see them. Unless your like me and have to point out all the mistakes to everybody, I can't believe I do that! I would suggest a sealer coat of epoxy before fiberglassing, you might get some of those pinholes to fill up just by squeeging them with a sealer coat. Depending on my joints determines whether or not I use a seal coat.
Ronmc1954

Kerry · Post by **Kerry** » Tue May 22, 2007 11:15 am

Denis - yes, that is indeed how some of my spots look, thanks for posting the good picture. I'll certainly be a lot more careful next time. Thankfully I don't have too many of them and most are not so noticable.

Kerry