should cloth go under or over my keel ?

alick burt · Post by **alick burt** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 12:06 pm

I am building a peterborough canoe with keel and outer stems.
following instructions in canoecraft I have fixed my outer stems and the splices with my keel are almost complete.
Should I fit the cloth under the keel cutting it to come up over the outer stems?
Or would it be better to fit and finish shaping the keel and then cover whole with cloth.
Please note that I have been unable to obtain 60"wide cloth in the uk so will need to join it along it's length anyway.
all answers or comments welcome though I don't want to open the can of worms that is the keel or not to keel debate! :smile

Glen Smith · Post by **Glen Smith** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 12:56 pm

I have only installed a keel once and I followed Ted's recommendation of applying the glass and the wetout coat of epoxy then placing the keel over the glass and holding the keel in place with a few screws from the interior. The keel gets epoxy coated when you apply the following coats to the hull. The keel must be a perfect fit beforehand so you don't have take time out to do any "adjusting". The keel will be the first thing that will hit rocks and logs and it will suffer damage so it is easier to repair the epoxy and varnish than having to deal with glass also.

alick burt · Post by **alick burt** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 6:20 am

Thankyou Glen
I've just spent a couple of hours fitting the keel splices a bit better and hoovering the place down in preparation.It's now twelve noon here so I think i'll have to postpone the 'operation' till next weekend.
As my cloth is going to be joined under the keel is it wise to tape it to the uncovered side with masking tape whilst I apply the epoxy?I'm worried that it might move down as I work and ideally I'd like to keep the straight edge in the perfect position.
Also would a single overlap of cloth 8-10mm wide be sufficient at the join or should I attempt to fold the pieces together?
many thanks
Alick

Rick · Post by **Rick** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 8:59 am

Alick,

Also would a single overlap of cloth 8-10mm wide be sufficient at the join or should I attempt to fold the pieces together?

I don't know what you mean by folding the pieces together... I'd try to overlap the two pieces of cloth by more than 10mm. Fifty or a hundred mm might be more like it.

A keel can be a weak point on the hull if it grabs a rock going sideways and the force causes the keel to separate from the hull... so you'd probably want two layers overlapping by a good amount to help prevent any damage to the fiberglass sheathing and the cedar underneath if the keel decides to break away.

It might be an idea to apply an extra ribbon of fiberglass tape or leftover material a little narrower than the width of the overlap to strengthen this area even more.

One way to keep fiberglass in place is to set a number of weights along the keel line, and remove them as the wetout starts from the center.

PS... I'm in the anti-keel camp.

alick burt · Post by **alick burt** » Sun Jun 22, 2008 4:17 am

Thankyou for your advice.
I put a 50mm overlap on the cloth and it seems to have worked out fine.Fitting the second half of the cloth and the keel was a bit of a struggle so i have already decided my next canoe will have no keel and I'll import my cloth if i have to just to make life easier!!!