HELP!

My father built a strip canoe. Unfortunately he passed away before completing it. It is all together but the fiberglass seems to have not adhered for one reason or another, it has seperated from the wood in various places  like bubbles. Question is do I have to remove the gunwhales, endcaps and everything else in order to make this right. It has been sitting for 8yrs and it needs to be in the water. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

3 replies:

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RE: HELP!

Hi,

Not clear how big the bubbles are and if they indicate that all the glass is not down well.  Generally, small bubbles can be punctured or slit.  A bit of epoxy injected under the glass and the glass pressed down.  Tilt the boat to get gravity to help and then put plastic (so the epoxy will not stick to what you use for a clamp), clamp, sandbag, or otherwise hold it down till it sets. For larger bubbles, cut them out, sand the edges, then lay in a small piece of glass and wet it out. Once it sets you can sand smooth, add another layer of epoxy or two as needed with some more light sanding. Hole is gone.  

Varnish with UV inhibiter over everything keeps the UV from weakening the epoxy over time.

Hope that helps.  Others may chime in.

Ed

 

 

 

RE: HELP!

Thanks Ed

Guess I should have been a more descriptive of the problem. they are big bubbles and if you push on them it seperates the glass from the wood even more. I have a feeling it had soomething to do with the epoxy he used and I don't know what kind that was. May have been a mixing error or application error.

Craig

RE: HELP!

That glass needs to come off. Pull it off carefully, back over itself where possible.  If you get to areas where the glass doesn't want to come up, use heat to help the peeling process (don't burn yourself or the boat and do this with lots of ventilation or outdoors).  Where the glass is really stubborn, carefully sand it off; you'll quickly learn where the glass ends and the wood starts.  Don't be too aggresive.  Let us know how it's going as you get into to work.  Good luck.

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