I have an old wooden kayak paddle that is showing it’s age. I would like to refinish it. The blade is laminated with fiberglass and some of the fiberglass is worn off (the edges) and is peeling off the blade. Should I remove the old fiberglass and re-laminate or should I just re-laminate over the old layer? Or just sand and epoxy? Thanks.
Post a picture.
Fiberglass is a great material. I’m not and expert even remotely on this. I’d say you could repair it with partially replacing the glass. That said best way if you’re not concerned with you labor would be to remove it all and redo it. Not sure on you experience working with glass but the most expensive and time consuming part is removal or prepping it. Go slow removing or sanding it and possibly have someone experienced with this type of work install the laminate when you get it to bare wood. Sanding it you need to protect you lungs with the proper gear.
Sounds good. I love the paddle and would like to get a few more years out of it. I think a good enough partial repair would do fine. Peeling off the existing glass may actually cause more damage. Thanks for the feedback.
1 Like
Most fiberglass is epoxy coated. Epoxy is uv sensitive and covered with a marine varnish for UV filters. Thus you have to remove the varnish to get a good bond with the base layers. Then too you have to get any loose glass .
I usually sand the whole paddle add 550 cord to the end and glass to worn areas. Once the fabric is filled, shaped and smooth I varnish with Petit varnish.
2 Likes