Epoxy Blunder #937

Posted by Rocko McCombs on Jul 21, 2005

Well I poured my end fills. What a mess! I poured the epoxy "syrup" up to the top and left it to cure. When I came back the next day I found epoxy had expanded about 3/4" above the fill and ran down the side of the boat. Of course it was fully cured and hard as a rock. I left the mess to think of how and why.

After much consideration and thought.....I figured it out. I mix my epoxy for about a minute/ounce so I had mixed for approx. 5-6 minutes and then added wood flour. As usual many tiny bubbles were in the epoxy. Here is the key. I mixed the epoxy where I have it stored inside my shop. My kayak is outside. Indoor temp, A brisk 70F. Outside 95+F. So I poured my fills (outside)and went back inside to relax. While I enjoyed the rest of my afternoon the air in the fills expanded as it came to the top creating my mess.

The cleanup is well underway. The tops filed down fine and the sides are comeing along well. I'm goin slow as not to affect the surounding areas. It's not nearly as hard to fix as I thought it would be. All will be well and eventually no one will ever know unless they read this forum.

So next time you think your smart for sitting inside the cool air conditioned shop while you mix your epoxy....think again.

-Rocko

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