Has anyone used this? It was recommended by Lydia at Hurricane Aquasports, so I’m going to use it to fill in a few scrapes on the bottom of my kayak. I’m assuming I can fill in or cover the scrapes using my finger (in gloves). Just wondering if any of you have tried it?
Use a putty knife.
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I used Marine Tex years ago for non-kayak repair. It’s a high-quality, high strength epoxy. But one drawback is that it comes as one jar of pasty white putty and a smaller bottle of clear (amber), liquid hardener. You have to mix it 5:1 by volume (or 6.3:1 by weight). That can be tricky for small batches. If you’re just filling in scrapes in gelcoat, a lower strength epoxy stick like JB Weld Waterweld is easier to use. The stick consists of the epoxy and hardener, both putties, one inside the other forming the round stick. You just slice a piece off of the putty stick, knead it by hand to mix the two parts and then spread it out, either by hand or using a plastic putty knife. I used some to fill gelcoat gouges in a fiberglass kayak.
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Thank you! I’ve got a small container of MarineTex, so I’ll mix the whole thing. A challenge will be getting it plied to the scratches, then sanded before it hardens. The Hurricane rep mentioned Devcon Plastic Welder and GFlex as alternatives to MarineTex.
Sand the marine Tex after it hardens.
For many years I left a bike at the train station These were yard sale bikes. Somebody once stole my brake levers. Replacement levers cost more than I paid for the bike, so I replaced the bike. I fortified the next bike with Marine Tex. I formed semi-spheres of marine Tex around nuts and bolts so that a wrench wouldn’t fit on them, and never again had any pieces stolen.
There were times I needed to work on the bike and access the bolts. The Marine Tex blobs were easy to remove with a utility knife. Sometimes I could grab the blobs with pliers and they’d crumble off. My point is, cured Marine Tex isn’t very hard and may not be your best choice for filling scratches.
Devcon is available in a twin syringe that squeezes out the correct ratio of epoxy and hardener. I had good results using it to repair an Eddyline, although you might find it runnier than desirable for scratch repair. I don’t know if thickeners are available. It set up quickly, so I had to mix batches I could use within 5 minutes.
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I respectfully suggest that you might have had the mix ratio a little off, because I’ve found that it cures quite hard. I used it to repair a rectangular hole that the base of the mast fit into on a sailing dinghy (sort of the square hole that a square peg fits into). The rig put a lot of pressure on the edges of that repair and it never cracked or crumbled.
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Either way you have to prepare the area for epoxy. Sand the rough edges. Clean the area with denatured alcohol then fill in. Grease, gunk, etc won’t let epoxy stick.
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I’ve used MarineTex on my kayak, and it works well for filling scrapes. Using gloves and your finger to smooth it out is a good method. Just ensure the area is clean and dry before applying.
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I used MarineTex to fair a sailboat keel years ago and all I remember was it took forever to sand it, it was so hard. I still ended up with the lumpiest keel on the bay.
Probably late for the OP but JB Weld makes a few formulas that come in conjoined syringes to accurately dispense the material.
I use disposable plastic or wood spreaders to smooth out. Gouging out small cracks larger helps the epoxy adhere better. It may also help to place painter tape on the sides of the crack to limit over-application. Leave on til cured and sanded.
I’m using WEST System G/Flex right now to fill a core void on a boat deck. Pre-thickened 655 goes on like cold honey but doesn’t flow much so it mostly stays in place. Their included instructions even include sample projects specifically for repairing canoes and kayaks. WEST has a lot of good info online, too.
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Or you can use marine epoxy with a filler like microballoons. For places that show, I like epoxy mixed with wood dust used as a filler. You can make epoxy as thick as peanut butter to fill voids. It stays put and is very strong with good adhesion.
I used the MarineTex. It doesn’t look great, but at least it’ll be underwater! I’ll try GFlex Thickened if there is a next time.