Bright Finish 17LT

I'm building a 17LT, and planning to bright finish.  Has anyone tried using Epiphane's Gloss Woodfinish?  This doesn't require sanding between coats, as long as re-coat is within 72 hours, according to the Epiphane website.  I want it to go "pow," but if it's possible to sand less, without sacrificing the look or the durability, would prefer that.

I'm also planning to use graphics, much talked about lately, for the boat's name, and some designs.  Do these rice/pattern paper graphics go underneath the epoxy, or the varnish, or either?

Another question:  Can I trim the sheer in red paint, like a pin stripe or accent stripe, then varnish over that when I varnish the remainder of the boat, or will that smear the dried paint?

Thanks!

 

 


5 replies:

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RE: Bright Finish 17LT

I am in the process of building my first boat, also a 17LT and have put the CLC graphic inside the cockpit.  I used rice paper that I found at Michael's (a craft store), scanned the sticker included in my kit, then printed with a laser printer on the rice paper taped to a sheet of regular paper for support.  It went under the fiber glass, next to the wood and looks very nice.  People who have seen it ask if it was printed on the wood when I got it. 

A side note, I did some testing on scrap luan plywood and found that if I put down fiberglass or just epoxy first and let it cure, the paper did not disappear like it did when the graphic was put on the wood directly.  What worked best for me was putting a thin coat of epoxy down, placing the graphic on it right away, brushing and carefully squeegeeing out any wrinkles/bublbes before putting the glass or epoxy over it.  I would recommend you do some tests on scap wood to get a feel for it and to ensure your paper/printer combination will work the way you want.

 Can't answer the question about the paint, I am no where near that stage yet.

 

Curt

RE: Bright Finish 17LT

http://www.clcboats.com/shoptips/finishing/varnished_kayak.html 

See the URL above.  The advice is consistent with my furniture refinishing experience and  was helpful in building two kayaks.  Only difference is that I use $8-$11  Minwax Helmsman Spar Urethane varnish.  Works as well or better than the expensive stuff.  There's no way around sanding for a great looking finish.  Note that sanding is necessary to achieve a perfect finish as well as to ensure bonding between varnish coats, so you'll be sanding regardless of the time between coats.  Your arms will feel great once they stop hurting.  Good luck.  Jer  

RE: Bright Finish 17LT

I've use rice paper as well and had excellent results

I hand draw with indelible ink onto rice paper and wetout on a precoated bulk head and lay fiber glass over.  Paper completely disappears.rice paper

RE: Bright Finish 17LT

On my CH17LT which I built last spring, I had planned to put a graphic on the deck near the bow.  I created the graphic on my PC and then printed it using a laser printer onto a piece of dressmaker pattern paper that I taped to a standard piece of paper.   Any sewing pattern has a lot of plain blank areas on it and I just took one of my wife's and cut a blank piece out.  This whole process worked very well.

My intention was to place the graphic directly on the wood and then apply the glass and epoxy.  For some reason, I got so focussed on applying the glass that I forgot about the graphic.  The deck glass was beautiful but there was no graphic and I was bummed.  I thought about it a bit and decided to put the graphic on top of the glass and then add multiple coats of epoxy to bury it.  This worked very well and the paper the graphic was printed on disappeared. 

In hindsight, this worked out very well because if I ever get tired of the graphic, I can remove it without affecting the glass.  Next time though, I think I will try and remember to put it under the glass.

 

 

 

RE: Bright Finish 17LT

I used Inkjet transparency film. Print on the "dull" side, mirror-imaging the picture if necessary, and wait for the ink to dry completely.  I also did experiments with rice paper & sewing pattern paper, but these did not disappear 100%. The transparency film did disappear, but you must be very careful not to  get a bubble in between the epoxy & the film.

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