Diolen Construction

Advice
#1

On a lot of the Valley kayaks the composite is listed as “standard Diolen construction”. I see it refered to a lot but can’t seem to find just what Diolen means. Can anybody help me out?



Thanks – Bill

#2

Diolene discussed on this thread

– Last Updated: Oct-16-06 12:42 PM EST –

http://www.paddling.net/message/showThread.html?fid=advice&tid=464236#464568.

And to address somebody who thought i got it wrong: I loved my pintail (built with sime diolene I think) but thought the deck on my quest (diolene deck, carbon-kevlar hull) was too flexible.

A fine material; if well engineered it's strong but flexible. Matched up to the right gelcoat and not trying to go too light, I'd buy it.

#3

Diolen is polyester fiber.
If used with vinyester resin (not epoxy), it forms a very tenacious resin-to-cloth bond. I have an old Noah where pieces I cut out when installing a larger cockpit can literally be folded flat without breaking or delaminating. Of course the crease is rather flexy…



And Noah boats are rather flexible. Mine has full three inch front and rear walls and a foam bulkhead seat, so that stiffened it up quite a bit.

#4

Most older VCP boats…

– Last Updated: Oct-16-06 1:55 PM EST –

...seem to have Diolene only as the inner most layer where it doesn't add much to the structure. That's what the white stuff is that never seems to be fully wet out.

#5

If Valley has
been using it in their boats is it probably safe to assume that they are using it in conjunction with fiber glass and other materials?

#6

P&H uses it too…

#7

Pintail layup
I have a Valley Pintail with a diolen layup.

I think the Brits like it because it’s tough but reasonably priced.

The cloth inside the cockpit tends to get fuzzy and rough but resists sanding much like kevlar.

I sanded the floor with a wire brush,vacuumed it clean and applied epoxy with a brush.The epoxy made the diolen hairs stiff and solid enableing me to sand the floor pretty smooth with a power sander. Then I applied a couple coats of white marine paint and the floor is smooth enough for barefoot paddling now.



Bert