Now you get the joy of putting some of your own    scratches      memories on it.

Here are some pictures of the AFTER repair...........I'm not completely happy with my results.......but I think it will do.........

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And another Youtube Video:

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THANKS to all that gave me advice.

Later,

Geo

Well...........I've done it now.....................

Stripped off the duct tape, sanded the patched areas down..........and just finished putting the West epoxy on........

I have some runs............as expected................and I have some areas that are cloudy......I think from the humidity........

But all in all, it looks pretty good.........

I will take pics tomorrow....

Later,

Geo

GeoFisher wrote on May 5^th, 2009 at 7:03pm:

In an effort to keep these thoughts linked - here's the link:
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It always strikes me that folks usually refer to maintaining their canoes as Kevlar repair when really what we're referring to is what's covering the Kevlar or glass or wood... My canoe is Kevlar but any repairs would be completely different.

db wrote on May 5^th, 2009 at 5:45am:


DB.....the pump system makes it pretty much idiot proof to mix the stuff....and I'm an IDIOT........so I need it......

AND I'm not too sure about how fast, so I posted another quick thread about that.......

I'm getting pumped........and hope to get started/finished by the end of the week.

Thanks,

Geo

The west 207 gives UV protection - I don't think the 205 does.

205 is not recommended for clear-coating.  And if you've never had a batch of epoxy heat up on you - you might want to stay away from the fast harderner anyway.

Riversend wrote on May 4^th, 2009 at 1:25am:


Hey THANKS........

I'm getting ready to update my site with some more photos.....I upgraded my site to a "gold" member, so I now get something like 10gb of space..........wohoo.......

Later,

Geo

GeoFisher wrote on May 5^th, 2009 at 2:11am:

I think you should trade it for a white gelcoat lay-up and not worry or else do a second coat after your trip.    One good scrrrraaaape and you'll be right back to the fuzzy scratch scenario anyway.

BTW - Why such a fast catalyst? Does the pump add proportionally less to slow it down a bit?

Hey geof.....Fineline tape (good paint shop of auto body supply shop-expensive but worth it IMHO) works great for the intial edge on the masking then regular blue masking tape for the balance. Be sure that you have good adhesion to the hull with the tape so that the exoxy does not migrate/wick under the tape....the etoh alcohol cleaning will help a long with a good amount of pressure when applying the tape will solve this issue. The fineline tape will also help you to make nice clean curves to the epoxy area. The masking will also allow one to sand the area neatly, as you will have a line to sand to. Be sure to remove the tape when the epoxy is still somewhat green....big mess otherwise with a lot more work when you have to remove masking-maybe you want the blue pin stripping . The West system has good UV resistant so IMHO not need for a UV resistant coating on top of the west system. The graphite additive looks neato but it is graphite and continues to shed after the expoxy cures( take a pencil and rub in on your hand and you will see what I mean), and it is actually a friction midagating additive and may not be necessary in your case and application, IMHO. Never tried the credit card application techinque but it makes total sense to me in "lou" of the roller  and or brush application. IMHO I dont think that I would fade out the edge via sanding, the edge height will be a function of the epoxy coat thinkness. As far as the second coat it is up to you and your intentions of this project-if a second coat is applied expand the second coat area outside of the first coat-this will help the fade out and the edge height=be sure to sand again before the second coat as the first coat will have a film on it as part of it's curing process. The point spoken to in regard to the core is similar to the kevlar fabric taking on water, I am not sure about the material the core is constructed out of....in Bell's it is a spun synthetic fabric or a rigid foam depending on the  lay-up and lay-up method. Remember water is heavy and an oxidizer and keepin' the water out of the lay-up is a good thing. I am all for West as I have not had a bad experience with the system and have used it quite a bit, the slow will be stronger as you have been informed. Hope this helps. M

I've started the process....................Did a quick.....light sanding tonight.

Took all the shine off.........there were some places the epoxy was really, REALLY thin..........I have about 5 places where I have kevlar that fuzzed up a little with the deep scratches.

I'm getting the West Marine 105/205 system and pump tomorrow......

Per Old Scout and a couple from here, I taped an "artificial" waterline using some painters tape......I'm hoping to eliminate runs with it.  I know I might have to do some very light sanding to blend it in, but that is OK.

One other question..........

Do you suppose I need more than one coat of epoxy resin?  I am only planning on doing one coat, but I'm REALLY hard on gear, and a second coat will not bother me too much............

What do you guys think.

Thanks,

Geo