Re: deck glass etc.

Posted by LeeG on Feb 1, 2005

it's worthwhile to sand before glassing in so far as what's necessary to remove the brand stamp on the plywood, and remove tiny snags that will catch/raise fiberglass and subsequent fill coats. I'd be VERY careful with the ROS because any nicks from an off angle disc will be visible. It's possible to get swirl marks if the disc has a nick or the grit is too great. A light sandng with 150/220 grit is fine. Don't spend too long around the brand stamp, if you sand in one area too long it'll show up long before the inner veneer is exposed so sand out from a sanded area. It's worth using a shop brush to remove any bits of material that will raise little bumps in the glass before the glass is layed on. For the curved foredeck I'd just hand sand if it was sanded before while flat. I think you'll get more bumps in the glass from shop detritus than variations in the ply. Where it DOES matter significantly is before the deck goes on. Depending upon the surface grain of the deck piece the underside can develop an 80grit like epoxied surface if the grain raises up after it's coated with epoxy. I recall a few of the original ClC demo kayaks had one coat of sealing epoxy before installation and the resulting raised grain was like a rasp to bare knuckles and dry/float bags. Putting the deck on with wet epoxy isn't necessary,,two partially cured fill coats will still bond to the thickened epoxy on the sheer clamp and reduce the amount of garbage that accidentally attaches to the underside of the deck. Don't bother turning the kayak over and filling the gap in the sheer,,you'll round 90% of it over and turning a kayak over with a wet seal coat is a guranteed way to glue stray bits of wood,pencils,stuff to the underside of the deck. "CLUNK!,,,was that the plane?"

In Response to: Re: deck glass etc. by Karl on Jan 31, 2005

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