Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on August 31, 2009 at 11:58am

Wow! Loved all your illustrations, you are very talented!

Rick

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Permalink Reply by Dan Burr on August 31, 2009 at 12:36pm

Thanks, It's a good thing I'm good at something, my epoxy skills need some help.

Dan

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Permalink Reply by Les Kirk on August 31, 2009 at 1:25pm

Reminds me of a fly tying student I had from Dalton, Georgia. Another student was lamenting how mad his wife got when he tied flies on the dining room table and made a mess. The fellow from Dalton spoke up and said, "I pay four hundred dollars a month not to have a wife and it's worth every penny of it."

Later the same fellow overheard me describing to a customer the benefits of vises of various price points. He chimed in "When was the last time you said to yourself 'I wish I'd bought the cheaper one.'?" I used that line frequently until I sold the fly shop and still think about that guy when I buy a new tool.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Knight on August 31, 2009 at 3:28pm

Dan,
I was reading some threads about this pitting problem and it the consensus was contamination of some sort... like oily surface or blush. I mixed my epoxy in a clean paper cup (used Tim Horton Coffee cups) and it worked fine. I also lightly sanded all the panels before applying the epoxy. Sorry if that is a redundant answer - but I would be making sure the surface doesn't have any film or foreign matter on it before applying the epoxy.

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Permalink Reply by Greg Hatten on August 31, 2009 at 3:33pm

Hi guys... Dan - your illustration of the mahogany drift boat with two fishermen in the fog/mist will always be my favorite... looks exactly like the stretch on the McKenzie just down from Randy's place!!! Awesome.
On that fish eye epoxy thing - I couldn't get it to set up right either - the garage was cold and wet and I was impatient.... so I did what Steve did - waited til my wife went shopping and moved the project indoors. Nice and warm, dry, relatively dust free environment... the epoxy sets up very nicely in those conditions... it's a VERY expensive option - I needed the indoors for an entire week and had to send my wife out on several shopping trips.
GH

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Permalink Reply by Charles Ray Heater on August 31, 2009 at 7:37pm

Dan:

Something that has not been mention. Your rags might be a problem. W.E.S.T. System indicates that you should not use rags that have been dried with a fabric softener. Perhaps yours were.

Ray

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Permalink Reply by Dan Burr on September 1, 2009 at 5:47am

Thanks Greg and Ray, I don't think my wife would mind the house option but I'm sure one of kids would knock it over or something like that.
Ray I was going to call you but chickened out at the last minute,the whole legend boat builder thing must have been too much for me to handle. Yesterday afternoon I did a second coat on one side of my boards, I cleaned with an ammonia solution like the instructions indicate then wet sanded and cleaned and cleaned again with heavy paper rags, (Ray I think you were right about my cloth rags) then rolled out the epoxy a bit more carefully and a bit heavier than last time and "voila" it turned out much better this time, I only hope I can duplicate it on the other side... Thanks for all the help and suggestions with my inexperience and adventures in epoxy application.

Dan

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Permalink Reply by lhedrick on September 1, 2009 at 8:46pm

I have used about 30 Gallons or Raka epoxy over the years and I have never seen anything like that. Some of the pits seem to have small air bubble hole in the same area. Could it be possible that some spots on the plywood pulled in more resin then others? Is the plywood covered with glass?

When I fill in the weave of the glass cloth I use foam rollers and try to build up with just enough coats to get it smooth. 2 thin coats is usual enough.

Are the pits easy to fill?

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Permalink Reply by Dan Burr on September 2, 2009 at 6:57am

There is no glass on the plywood, maybe there should be...it looks like the plywood is pulling or repelling the epoxy in those spots, the last coat yesterday seems to be better, a few bubbles but no pits. Do you like the Raka epoxy better than West System epoxy? I am inexperienced with epoxy and have nothing to compare it too.

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Permalink Reply by lhedrick on September 2, 2009 at 1:51pm

I have never used West System Epoxy.

In about 10 years I have never had any issue with using Rake epoxy. The price is good and they offer a large selection of resin, fillers and cloth. I build stitch and glue boats. I never work plywood without bonding fiber glass to it. For hatch covers and decks I us light 4 or 6 Oz glass. For side pannels I use 10 Oz glass. Bottoms get 1 layer of kevlar then a layer of 10 Oz Glass or just 2 layers of 10 Oz glass. Even if it gets paint I still use at least light glass.

I have found that bright work holds varnish much better if there is a layer of fiber glass. As for all hardwoods I no longer varnish them. I use oil only.

I read a lot here of people using oil finishes on the plywood inside of their boats. I have not seen one and I wonder how it works out with river sand and mud especially with frames. Seems like they would collect sand and gravel.

In the past I have epoxied and varnished ash gunwales. A total waste of time in my view. It just peels off. I now mix oil of about 80 percent penofin UV exterior oil 20 percent turpentine. The I dissolve in bees was until it becomes thick. When the wood start to look dry I just rub on more oil. Takes no time at all.

As for the pitting the only thing I can think of is that in some places the wood is pulling in more of the epoxy. With light glass I don't think you would ever see anything like this. The glass should seal off the wood.

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