Staining technique on S&G boats

I ordered a Petrel Play SG and Im planning out my staining scheme...

Nick Schade recommends pre-staining and epoxy sealing each panel before any assembly, which makes good sense to me.

I think the main reasons are because it is nearly impossible to stain up to the edge of a panel without it bleeding into the next once they are assembled. Also the epoxy precoat will protect the stained panels during assembly.

However, this is extra work because you will have to scuff sand the precoated panels before glassing, and any sanding done to help with fit-up (easing edges) can remove stain. Then you could be left uneven stain at the edges.

But what if you wanted to stain the entire deck? Could you do it as a complete assembly? How will the stain behave at the filleted joints and the puzzle joins?

If this is a viable option, you could assemble the deck, do any necessary sanding to smooth everything out, and then stain.

I guess the main problem would be if any epoxy leaked through the fillet joints, these areas would not absorb stain.

If I pre-stained individual panels, but did NOT epoxy them before assebly, how likely is it that they will still look good when it come time to put down glass?

Thoughts?


3 replies:

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RE: Staining technique on S&G boats

I used stain on two boats, a Shearwater Double and a Petrel Play.  In both cases, I followed Nick's directions, including the epoxy coat over the stain and was very happy with the results.  http://www.clcboats.com/shoptips/finishing-tips/staining-your-kayak.html.

I did not do a scuff sand of the coated panels prior to glassing.  The panels with a single thin coat of epoxy are quite rough so I was not worried about the glass/epoxy not having enough “teeth” to form a good bond.  Two years of hard use and the glass is holding up well. 

If you stain prior to assembly and do not do an epoxy coat, I bet that you will have a lot of stain touch up to do prior to glassing.  The PP has a pretty complex shape and it is a challenging stitch-up do to how much the wood is bent.  I had to touch up a few areas even with the “protective” epoxy coat.

I guess you could assemble, then stain as you suggest.  The problem will be cleaning the epoxy off of the exterior of the deck prior to stain.  Besides the seams/filets, you will get quite a bit of seepage through the hundreds of wire holes in the deck of the PP. 

Lastly, regardless of when you stain, I suggest that you coat the stain with a layer of epoxy prior to glassing.  If you do not, you will find that some stain gets lifted out of the wood and wicks through the glass.  This is not a big deal in the middle of stained panels, but it will result in a “blurry” seam between stained and unstained sections.

Here are a couple of other threads to read.

http://www.clcboats.com/forum/clcforum/thread/35069.html

http://www.clcboats.com/forum/clcforum/thread/33409.html

RE: Staining technique on S&G boats

   Thanks for the reply. Great looking boats!

How was the fit-up of the panels on the PP? Did you have to do much sanding to round over sharp  corners or true up wavy lines?

Are you happy with the look of seams between the stained & unstained panels?

RE: Staining technique on S&G boats

The PP was the 3rd of 4 S&G kits that I built.  The fit of the plywood parts (from kit) was exceptional.  This kit is different because nearly all of the bevels are done by the CNC machines.  You first stitch the boat then go back and carefully use your fingers to precisely align small sections then lock into place with CA glue.  The result is very precise seam that requires little to no roundover.  The only seam that really required any roundover was the hull/deck joint, because in some locations it was impossible to get perfect alignment.  I am very happy with the end result, but if you look very closely at the pictures, you can see a couple small areas on the port bow where on the lin between the hull and deck looks a bit blurry.  This happened because I did not coat a stain repair with epoxy and the stain wicked into the glass as discussed above.  Here is a link to pictures from my build.  https://plus.google.com/photos/108197909267609876091/albums/6016182752308555809

 The last point is that I LOVE this kayak.

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