End Pour Question

 

Ive been building composite things since the late nineties. including my 18' kayak and sailrig.  I want to beef up my end pourf by the stern a bit. In the past I merely poured, came back thye next day and its granite.

In this case I am having the kayak outside, standing up against the side of my home where it wont be for a 24 hour period as I wouldnt leave it out all night.

Question is this: How many hours in 70 degree weather would you leave it before moving the kayak without having the curing epoxy run  or slump?

 

Im guessing 6 hours. May still be a little soft but should nt run or slouch when I level the kayak out after being vertical.

 

Thanks in advance - by the way its slo curing epoxy.

 

Pete


11 replies:

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RE: End Pour Question

for an end popur check the "pot life" spec on your epoxy. For WESt resin a "pot" is about 3.4 oz. Slowest WEST is tropic hardner and pot life is 50 minutes, other hardeners are faster. This means in an hour the fat end pour (as opposed to thin flim coat) hjas kicked and can be moved.

A more pressing problem withpouring a big gob of epoxy in one place is heat - large pours can catch fire.

 

RE: End Pour Question

 

Thanks, and Ive heard of the fires though to date no cup or other deep pour has gotten more than uncomfortably hot to touch. Combustion though... Ill keep and eye on!  Perhpas on a hot summers day itd get nutty.

Thanks again.

 

Pete

RE: End Pour Question

I usually block the end out with wood, like western red cedar scraps, then slobber epoxy with filler, jam in wood, slobber a bit more epoxy. Wood light, epoxy heavy. Less epoxy kicking, less heat.

RE: End Pour Question

In my opinion, there is no benefit to large end pours. They only add excess weight where you least want it. I use four ounces of West G-Flex (sold by CLC) in each end. This epoxy sticks well to previously cured resin, is the right consistency for an end pour, and sets up quickly. I've used this method in three boats over the past four years with no signs of failure.

-Wes

RE: End Pour Question

Im probably going with a 12 .0z end pour for the reasons of stress loads caused by the rudder. My West River 180 is sailrigged and it can top out over 8 knots. By next spring itll be flying 70 sq. feet of sail and so a little more speed ontop of that.  [I see the need for more sail for low wind efficiency, its already fast enough with a 32 sq.ft. Balogh in a 10 to 15 knot breeze.

At anyrate, I have eyeloops  [3] in the stern end of my kayak to hold the large bolt that fastens my oversized and balanced rudder.  It needs a solid bite of epoxy to hold into.  While its held so far with modest epoxy, Ive already suffered rudder failure once for a different reason. After paddling back I swore Id substantiate the rudder assembly and kayak end to facilitate this so it never puts me in harms way again. The idea of an eyeloop pulling out or the stern panels beginning to part from stress is the motivating factor here.

Thanks for your input though.  Is this Wes Boyd?

 

Pete

RE: End Pour Question

No. See www.twofootartist.com -Wes

RE: End Pour Question

Pete,

This is spooky. I used to work with a Wes Boyd. He was located in Chicago and last heard was moving back to Texas. Would that fit your Wes?

In the meantime, like our Wes here, I'm not thrilled with endpours. The only use I've seen for them is that they make CLC's tech support job easier. That's fine for them (and us all since it keeps prices lower) but personally I prefer wooden endpieces. For my WD12 I was also contemplating a rudder (though I've since decided that I don't need one) so here's what I did:

 

That's a chunk of 2x4, rough cut and bedded in epoxy/woodflour putty. Could attach anything I want, back into a buzz saw without sinking and it's still lighter than an endpour.

Have fun,

Laszlo

 

 

RE: End Pour Question

Hi Laszlo and thanks for the input. Wes Boyd is or was a very avid sea kayaker and has built at least one kayak, perhaps a stripper. He's roughly middle aged, likes to write diarys of his paddling accounts, was once flipped by a moron on a jetski in frigid waters [him along with his friends].  As it turns out the jetski' jerk did a month in jail, or some such. 

 

LOL, is the the same Wes?

 

Pete

RE: End Pour Question

Hi Laszlo and thanks for the input. Wes Boyd is or was a very avid sea kayaker and has built at least one kayak, perhaps a stripper. He's roughly middle aged, likes to write diarys of his paddling accounts, was once flipped by a moron on a jetski in frigid waters [him along with his friends].  As it turns out the jetski' jerk did a month in jail, or some such. 

 

LOL, is the the same Wes?

 

Pete

PS: I did tyhe endpour... perhaps a pounds worth.  At most a pound and a half. Got a little warm and cooled nicely.  The extra weight is of little account though.

RE: End Pour Question

Since you have the end pour done already, why not just use the SS rudder mount that CLC sells. The side tabs can be thru bolted through the end pour (not wood screws). With the 2 top screws also going into the end pour,   you'd be hard pressed to break any part of your stern. Stronger than eyeloops overall as the stresses will be distributed among the stern panels and the end pour. Cheers. Dave

RE: End Pour Question

Im still considering it. Thanks.

 

Pete

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