Last year I added kevlar skid plates to my 16’ Penobscot (royalex). I didn’t have any experience with this, but I thought they turned out ok. However, after keeping the canoe outside, the skid plates are basically “crumbling”. It’s like they are deteriorating. I am not sure they are even providing any protection anymore.
Any ideas? Maybe I didn’t apply them properly?
Describe the “crumbling” more
precisely. Do you mean DEEP crumbling, or just surface sandiness?
Did you use the resin from a kit (which is now often a urethane rather than epoxy or polyester), or did you mix your own resin?
I’ve noticed surface sandiness on the thin Kevlar curtains the factory installed on the stems of my Bluewater Chippewa. I’m not concerned about it, as long as the substrate is sound.
Personally, I don’t like Kevlar mat skid plate kits. I prefer S-glass cloth. But recent Kevlar skid plate kits have been pretty reliable.
If you DO see deep crumbling, is there a chance something corrupted the resin when you mixed it?
maybe too much hardener NM
Let me be more clear…
I paid a little over $100 for the “kit” i used. I don’t remember exactly what I mixed together, but I know there was a VERY short window of time to apply it over the “cloth” skid plates before it would harden up. I remember that it hardened up before I could apply all that I wanted to. However, I thought I applied enough. The “crumbling” I am describing is pretty serious. There are some small places where the kevlar has completely “flaked” off and you can see the royalex.
I’m thinking maybe I just did a crappy job of putting it on in the first place and maybe the sun damaged it? I am debating if I need to remove all that is there and try again, although that sounds like it might be a pain in the A
did you apply the epoxyover the cloth
… as you said above?
Or did you soak the cloth in the resin before applying it to the boat?