I’m a newbie as far as posting here but have been gleaning information from this forum for a couple of years. I build wood kayaks and have recently built a couple of paddleboards using the stitch and glue method. On my kayaks I’ve been using either MAS or System 3 epoxies and seven coats of varnish to protect the epoxy. On this paddleboard I switched to RR so I didn’t have to spend two weeks varnishing the thing. I know there’s been a bit of discussion here lately on RR and some of the problems associated with it. I had some learning curve myself and thought I would share a couple of things.
You absoultely have to use Additive F in my opinion. I didn’t use it on my first fill coat (you guys call it a hot coat, we boat builders call it a fill coat!) on the hull and the whole thing peeled right off the next day. At least I wasn’t in the water like the surfboard that delammed. You should also sand between each coat, something I wasn’t used to doing when using the marine epoxies. On the deck I hot-coated while the laminating coat was still tacky. Works great but you have to be there for several hours while the epoxy sets and catch it before it goes off completely. I’m using the slow hardener.
There was some discussion about oil off your hands causing delam problems a bit ago. I’ve never had a problem with that and I use the palm of my hands to get all the dust off between coats. Wiping with a clean cloth builds up static which causes the dust to cling and I’ve found over the years clean hands will remove the rest of the stuff. I use this technique on everything I build and have never had a delam problem. Course if you’re Edward Corrosivehands it might not be a good idea.
Those are the two main things I learned. I’ll continue using RR on paddleboards and SOT kayaks and buff out the gloss coat. I’ll also use it on kayaks from now on but will use a coat or two of varnish to keep the “You have to varnish your wooden boat” tradition alive and well.
Thanks to all you guys who post here. I’ve learned a lot and will continue to learn. I hope…
Yeah me too…never had problems with sticky fingers messing things up…maybe its a FL thing. While surf conditions here could be lots better, the heat here makes for some good epoxy work.
Sanding between layers isn’t always nessasary. If you had trouble between coats it’s probably because you didn’t use Additive F in the laminate and it rained or was very humid and cool when you did the lam. Using Add F solves all the blush related problems. In warm weather you don’t have issues with bonding between layers.
My delam problem was caused by not using the Additive F and not by humidity problems. My shop is climate controlled and I don’t have problems with epoxy or varnish. I keep the temperature around 75 and humidity is about 50%. If I want the epoxy to kick faster I keep it around 80 degrees. I haven’t had a delam problem at all with the additive. And a light sanding between coats can’t hurt! Just my $.02 worth…
Recently I had a “sheeting” problem. I had sanded a couple of areas of my paddle and had brushed them over when I saw that I had a good amount of resin left over. I decided, what the hell, put another coat over the paddle blade.
Well the paddle had been in my hot (warm? I need to measure it one of these days) box for like 18 hours so the resin would brush on then start to sheet away. Not always the same place either. I never have a blush problem but I still do a full alcohol wipe down everytime. All the other times I had presanded the area after that much cure time. Also, I had no more resin to fill those spots so it was probably a combination of too little resin + bad bonding surface.
I should have known better but it did surprise me. I let it harden cause I didn’t want to wipe it off with a paper towel and have contamination problems with paper or whatever.
I am in love with the RR finish though. Oh so shiny. And it brushes on so thin and still goes smooth, unlike poly where you have to be sure you get a good thick layer on.
Nice board! You say that you modified a kayak hull, did you reduce the frames and reduce freeboard? Did you use RR on the inside also? Does it have a flat bottom?
I’ve been thinking of making a paddle board but I can’t decide if I want to make a Tom Blake old timer paddle board or modify a kayak.
I’m a BETA builder for a company that makes kits for kayaks, rowing boats, paddleboards, etc. and I did a BETA version of this board last year. This is a production model designed by a guy in California who also sells the kits. There are four internal bulkheads that support three stringers in the midship area for deck support. I used System 3 for everything inside, fillets, seal coats, glue, and then switched to RR for the exterior. You can get more info at www.clcboats.com or http://www.graywhalepaddle.com/ The bottom has a slight V and a wooden skeg that’s about 10"x6" about 30" from the tail. It has a good bit of rocker and is fast. Probably faster than the old Tom Blake’s. Weight is around 25 pounds. Depth is around 7" in the middle. Width is 19 7/8".
I’m a BETA builder for a company that makes kits for kayaks, rowing boats, paddleboards, etc. and I did a BETA version of this board last year. This is a production model designed by a guy in California who also sells the kits. There are four internal bulkheads that support three stringers in the midship area for deck support. I used System 3 for everything inside, fillets, seal coats, glue, and then switched to RR for the exterior. You can get more info at www.clcboats.com or http://www.graywhalepaddle.com/ The bottom has a slight V and a wooden skeg that’s about 10"x6" about 30" from the tail. It has a good bit of rocker and is fast. Probably faster than the old Tom Blake’s. Weight is around 25 pounds. Depth is around 7" in the middle. Width is 19 7/8".
