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fiberglass thoughts

Posted by Lenny Flank on Oct 12, 2005

Just thinking out loud here . . .

It occurs to me that a stitch'n'glue is basically a fiberglass kayak with a thin wooden core. That would seem to raise the possibility of eliminating the wood entirely and making one's kayak entirely out of fiberglass. I'd guess this would have to be done by making some kind of mold or form and then layering the glass/epoxy over it until sufficient strength is built up, then popping the glass off with a release agent. Anyone ever tried to do such a thing? I do know that fiberglass kayaks are quite brittle, but hey, people still pay mucho bucks for them, right? Is it possible to make one's own?

It also occurs to me that, instead of using closed-cell foam to make a seat for my kayak, I might be able to find a nice comfy plastic yard chair and make a fiberglass copy of it (the "seat" part of it, anyway), by layering fiberglass over it, popping it off with some sort of release agent, and then foam-padding that. Anyone ever tried such a thing? I'd guess that, properly done, it would result in a much more comfortable seat. I'd have no idea how to attach it to the kayak, though, short of epoxying it in place.

Builders' Forum Archives

fiberglass thoughts

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