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Greetings All,
Several weeks ago I had an epoxy disaster. I posted to this forum under the title "Too Much Epoy". After a few weekends of sanding and scraping, I think I've managed to get the boat fairly smooth. The latest issue is shown in the pictures included with this post.
https://1drv.ms/f/s!Ak0i_L57IVK8n_lMPoX3sn_30Gwrdg
On the morning after we had fiberglassed the deck, we were instructed to sand the deck smooth. We used the popular circular sanders. As I was sanding I noticed my forearm sticking to the part of the deck directly in front ot the coaming. The deck was still tacky and sticky from the day before. I noted that dust from the sanders was sticking to this area. I attempted to rub it off, but it was not possible to get it all off while still stick. The dust is the grainy looking area that is visible in the photographs. At home, I applied considerable elbow grease with a variety of different sandpapers and power sanders to try to remove the this, with limited success. I stopped when I thought I could see too much of the fiberglass weave. In what I realize now was a mistake, I put a very thin coat of epoxy on the deck. I had noticed that a thin coat of epoxy on the hull had removed some of the stains and blemishes. As the photographs show, the sander dust is still visible (the foggy color in the pictures is just sunlight and reflection and a cheap cell phone camera, the wood actually looks pretty good, except for the sander dust). I am looking for any recommendations on how to proceed.
Switching gears I am going to start woking on the cockpit coaming. The manual (page 56) says - "You will need to apply several coats of epoxy to the coaming with a brush to strengthen the wood". There is no further information (I may be missing it) regarding the coaming ring. I seem to remember verbal direction to apply fiberglass to the coaming ring during the class. Is this the preferred approach? If so, are there any instructions available that describe the best way to do this?
Thanks in advance for any recommendations.
8 replies:
RE: Too much epoxy Part 2
I can't add anything to the epoxy issue but with regards to the coaming, just one or two coats of epoxy is good enough. Epoxy does not have UV resistance so half a dozen coats of varnish on top of the epoxy is the way to go. Just leaving it with epoxy will not look good a few months down the road.
RE: Too much epoxy Part 2
Thanks to both of your for your response.
With my "mojo" fading a bit, I will probably just paint over the damage caused by teh sanding dust. At time that it happened. in the supervised class, I had no idea what a SERIOUS
RE: Too much epoxy Part 2
Thanks to both of your for your response.
With my "mojo" fading a bit, I will probably just paint over the damage caused by the snding dust. At time that it happened, in the supervised class, I had no idea that it was such a severe issue. I will look around for a painting link and some other instructions, suitable for beginners. Thanks again for your responses.
RE: Too much epoxy Part 2
Paul,
Wish you had pointed out the deck was still sticky in class. At the temperatures we were applying the epoxy it should have been fully cured by the time we were sanding. I would have been able to fix it, and you still can. The best thing to do would be to use a heat gun to get the old glass off and re-glass that area. Really isn’t that difficult and the repair will be completely invisible when done. Then you can varnish and not paint.
George K
RE: Too much epoxy Part 2
Hey Paul, I just got home from a trip and saw this post. I don't have any further suggestions in the epoxy problem, but can comment on the coaming. I put one layer of fiberglass cloth on the top and inside surface of the coaming, epoxied it into place, then another couple of applications of epoxy to fill the weave, and sanded smooth. Then, several coats of varnish to hopefully slow down the UV effect. I didn't try to cut the cloth exactly to the dimensions of the coaming, too difficult to match the curves, etc. I draped it, then smoothed by hand and did the epoxy thing, then cut off he excess with my razor knife and sanded the edges smooth when fully hardened. I'm not an expwrt, but that's how I did the coaming if it helps you move on down the road to completion. FWIW, there's a photo or two of my coaming fiberglass job in progress in the link I sent you to my Kayak camp album. Hope that is useful. Good luck! John Phillips
RE: Too much epoxy Part 2
Hi John,
I hope all is well in NC! Thanks for your suggestions. The poll is going about 50/50 for fiberglass on the coaming ring. Some say to do it, others say a few coats fo epoxy will do. I am still not sure which route I'll take, but whatever I do, I will probably do it this weekend. If fiberglassing, I've been advised to do the trimming with a razor knife, three of four hours after applying the epoxy.
Let's play some music again sometime ! I am working on Clinch Mountain Backstep at the moment :)
RE: Too much epoxy Part 2
» Submitted by Happy Hooker - Mon, 6/18/18 » 10:25 PM
Ouch, that's painful to look at. Did you try to wet sand a area yet? Try 220 and look at the weave under clean water, then clean up area with clean water, then dry with towel. Next try acetone or alcohol to clean up. Now if it's good enough apply more epoxy, like thin using a Bondo Plastic Spreader. Wet sand again when dry, wiping it dry as you go. Your still going to have issues so painting this will be your only choice. Or sand it all off, ouch, to bare wood, and do a do-over. Everyone here that has many years of composite skills like me use Peel-ply, alway's a sure bet on a perfect hand lay-up. Good luck.