Has anyone ever figured out the secret of patching either with a piece of fiberglass or with just plain epoxy the curved part of the bow of a kevlar canoe
(with no gelcoat).
I have no problem at all with the hull using the “covering it with a plastic film method”. It comes out great.
But no matter how I try on the bow or the stern I end up just squashing the plastic down and holding it firm with a bunch of duct tape. It ends up acceptable, but not like the less rounded parts where no sanding at all is required.
Not interested in grunge plates. These boats are ultralight.
If anyone has any tricks on how to do it, I sure would like to know.
Cheers,
JackL
Bias Cut Patch
Stems are difficult. That said, a bias cut patch, one cut at 45dg to the square of the fabric, will upset and lay flat. in a perfect world, the patch edges will be laid down with peel ply strips, which will eliminate sanding. Eliminating sanding will allow the use of Kevlar rather than fiberglas.
What are “Peel Ply strips” ?
thanks in advance
Jack L
Peel Ply
– Last Updated: Jun-20-08 8:57 AM EST –
Peel Ply is a shear nylon that is permeable to resin and is often treated to release from resin easily. It can be used to flatten patch edges which eliminates the need to sand them. This also allows us to use kevlar patches.
We at Placid boats use peel ply as a release layer when infusing hulls, flotation tanks, seats and thwarts. It's available through Sweet Composites and Jamestown Distributors, but I'll mail you enough scrap to do a couple stems.
Many thanks,
I have sent you a private e-mail.
The people on P-net have helped me tremendously and you are a good example of that.
Hopefully I can return the favor to others.
Regards,
Jack L
Old and new
Maybe a bit off topic, but related.
I too don’t want kevlar felt bang-plates on a light lake-tripping canoe.
I have taken some good advice and bought stem bands that I will install. Brass looks nice, but I went with aluminium as it was cheaper and lighter. This, hopefully, will help prevent the typical wear on the stems, and might distribute the force of a solid impact a bit better too.
I know Bluewater does this. I don’t think many composite manufacturers do, though.
metal skids
– Last Updated: Jun-22-08 6:02 PM EST –
No, most of us composite manufacturers don't use brass or Aluminum skid strips.
Attachment screws put holes in our high end boats. We don't want that.
The metal decreases rocker and affects handling. Our customers don't want that.
The junction increases drag. Our customers don't want that either.
By the process through which folks arrive at selecting expensive composite boats, most have learned not to run them up on shore and to not hit rocks.
Lastly, most top end boats are more than adequately reinforced in the stems. As an example, Pb hulls have 19 oz carbon fiber and 40 oz of Kevlar in the stems. A half-round of mild aluminum or brass is pretty superfluous, even if it seems a good idea upon casual reflection.
Now, with a wood and canvas, or better, dacron hull, yes, that brass stem band is pretty much a most.
wal, I guess
my learning curve is upside down!