Stupid Newb fairing question

Discussion in 'Boatbuilding' started by OrcaSea, Jan 2, 2015.

  1. gdavis
    Joined: Dec 2014
    Posts: 72
    Likes: 1, Points: 0, Legacy Rep: 17
    Location: belfast,maine

    gdavis Junior Member

    hi again orca, if you go the polyester route a good test for recoat is to put some acetone on a rag and rub the already coated surface a bit. If it becomes sticky your good to go. Laying the cloth on when it is still really tacky(green) can be a challenge so let it cure a wee bit. Yes the poly fair is ok below the waterline for a boat that lives on it's trailer. If you go the epoxy way Glen-l.com has some lower cost resin
    that will definitely work for you, they have been around forever so I trust their products. Oh, back to the polyester, if you can heat up your shop a bit or warm up the resin a little it will soak into the wood better it gets thinner when warmed up. Just mix smaller batches! Putting a small electric heater under the boat when it's bottoms up works well also. And that was good advice about keeping the fumes away from the house, I remember my father glassing an old canoe in our attached garage, oooowee, mom was not impressed to say the least.Ok,time to stoke the stove, it's about 20% with the wind howling at 30-40 knts. Why do I live here?...........peace.....g
     
  2. OrcaSea
    Joined: Oct 2014
    Posts: 100
    Likes: 1, Points: 18, Legacy Rep: 17
    Location: Arlington, Wa

    OrcaSea Senior Member

    I just looked it up and fiberglassite.com has 1.3 gal of epoxy for $85 - pretty hard not to justify it, really. In fact, if it had been that price when I bought my chemicals last Spring I would have gone the all-epoxy route (it was about $130 at the time). I've been really happy with their poly resin and have yet to find any bad reviews on any of their products. Unless the price bounces back up I can't imagine any reason not to go epoxy on the covering.

    You probably live where you do for the same reasons I live in a place where it rains pretty much continuously for four months and gets dark at 4:30, because in the spring, summer & fall it's so beautiful can make you cry... Plus, no tornados, fire ants, ticks or death-by-A/C-failure ;)
     
  3. gdavis
    Joined: Dec 2014
    Posts: 72
    Likes: 1, Points: 0, Legacy Rep: 17
    Location: belfast,maine

    gdavis Junior Member

    yep I reckon your right about spring, summer and fall but we do have ticks, but not so much rain. About even I would say. Epoxy is certainly the best choice, it will stay on so long it'll probably become a fossil for some alien race to find. One of these days I want to come that way and see those beautiful canoes made by the native americans, they were developed over time to suit the sea conditions and their needs. So fascinating to me.Just lately I have been comparing those canoes with others from the south pacific area and am finding that they have some similar features. They also just discovered that the Polynesians from easter island also made it to south America.I wonder if they ever came across each other somehow someway. Maybe traded boat plans!.........................later...............g
     
  4. ondarvr
    Joined: Dec 2005
    Posts: 2,929
    Likes: 573, Points: 113, Legacy Rep: 506
    Location: Monroe WA

    ondarvr Senior Member

    Check out Composites One, they have a location in Arlington, Fiberglass Supply is just a little further North. They both sell epoxy.
     

  5. OrcaSea
    Joined: Oct 2014
    Posts: 100
    Likes: 1, Points: 18, Legacy Rep: 17
    Location: Arlington, Wa

    OrcaSea Senior Member

    George, I provided sound on a documentary crew where we followed the local native tribes annual 'Canoe Journey.' Every summer the native tribes on the Salish Sea (Puget Sound) travel from all over the Pacific Northwest by canoe to the host tribe's location. Two years ago I traveled with them (by land, unfortunately) as we followed them as they paddled their traditional canoes up Puget Sound, out the Straights and down the Pacific Coast. At the final location there were about 40-50 canoes. It was an amazing trip!
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    Thanks, ondarvr! I will definitely check it out. I wasn't sure of anyplace north of Taps Plastics that carried much FG supplies at all. I was disappointed in the boating supply places in Everett...

    C
     
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