I’ve gotten some fairly ugly scratches on the bottom of my PVC kayak any suggestions for filling them in?
Leave it alone
Scratches are a sign that you actually use your boat
and it doesn’t just sit around like a prop on a movie set
Let them be …
Scratches are just a sign of a kayak that gets used.
Not worth the work of filling them, smoothing with a p-tex candle.
more scratches
When you have a few they’re noticeable but once you get the hull covered in scratches hey’re fairly innocuous.
p-tex
As somebody mentioned, you can get a p-tex “candle” from shops that sell downhills skis that you can use to melt some material into deep gashes, then you have to carve or scrape it smooth. Not really worth the effort in most people’s opinion, but it is an option if a gouge really concerns you. Scratches don’t really affect the boat’s performance. Consider them badges of honor.
what model and make kayak is it …
… sometimes there’s good reason to repair deep scratches in plastic boats .
Much depends on hull thickness and severity of depth in the scratch , and where it’s at .
If it’s deep enough and in an area that flexes much of the time … it can become a complete crack through and repair and reinforcement become more complicated and expensive .
Early intervention can be helpful … sometimes .
Superficial surface scratching and not very deep isn’t something I would concern with in a single layer rotomolded polyethylene canoe/kayak though (what the others said) .
But something I feel will become a complete crack through sooner or later , and give a dam about the boat … that’s another thing . A hull is only as solid as it’s weakest link .
not pretty, but
two part epoxy putty for plastic will work just fine.
Home Depot has several variations - sometimes knows as plumbers epoxy - just look for the kind specific for plastic
the kind I’ve used dries white, so it may look like your kayak was sitting out under a roost tree when your done
just cut off a small chunk, roll knead to mix, press into the gouges and smooth with a putty knife - wash the gouges with alchohol first, and the putty will stick better.
I’m thinking no
I don’t think that adheres to PE plastic. Not much does.
Old wives solution
My pappy taught me an old sailors trick for smoothing cracks or gouges in plastic.
Take 1/2 rubber cement, 1/4 toothpaste (must be a creme paste not a gel), then you need to add the secret ingredient (a binding agent)…which is none other than human foeces (1/4)
Heat the first two ingredients in the sun to jellify, then mix and allow to set for 5 minutes…add the foeces (it must be as close to body temp as possible).
The organic compounds in the foeces act with the rubber cement to turn it into an epoxy like substance. Apply using a rubber spatula. After ir dries (24 hours) you can use a low grit sandpaper to smooth it out flush with the hull.
You are welcome!
something smells here
I think someone is full of feces.
patch job
Bog, really 1/4 ? That sounds like a load of shit to me.
gasp
BAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
repair
Actually I owe Bog an apology. Yesterday I was paddling upriver when I decided to take a break and brush my teeth. All of a sudden I noticed a leak in my kayak.
Lucky for me I noticed a used prophylactic floating downstream and since I had Indian food that morning…well you do the math ( I was never good at fractions ).
Needless to say I plugged the leak and paddled on.
odd patching materials
I was canoe camping eons ago with friends in an ancient glassed-over wooden canoe on Tionesta Creek. We scraped bottom on a gravel bar and started taking on a little water through a gouge in the keel. We hauled out and flipped it over and improvised a repair using wads of chewing gum (Dubble Bubble, I believe) packed into the deep crack, then sealed over with a strip of peel-and-stick Ripstop nylon sleeping bag repair tape. Ten years later, my friend was still paddling with that day-glo nylon patch along the bow keel.
Chewing gum is great for patching boats
When I was a kid I had an old jon boat that had some holes in it from where it had fallen out of a pickup on an asphalt road and the resulting road rash had created several small holes through the aluminum. I would chew up a couple of wads of double bubble and stuff it in the holes and apply some duct tape over the bubblegun. The repair would last all season and was much cheaper than a trip to the welding shop.
Not all Poly is equal
– Last Updated: Aug-02-13 8:50 PM EST –
People need to be aware exactly what their kayak is made of
- before they attempt to "weld" it with other stuff.
Different manufacturers, different years, various stuff.
Linear poly versus Super Linear versus cross-linked poly
High molecular poly versus Ultra-High molecular poly
Some stuff recycles nicely, others do not play nice.
What sticks to what is truly science - NOT art.
Some people shave their cockpit combing a bit
and use the shavings to 100% match their repair area.
I’m not going to touch that line …
shaved cockpit coamings …
that’s gratuitous
What is a PVC kayak? Do you mean
a poly or polyethylene kayak?
But PVC would suggest a vinyl plastic, rather unlikely unless it’s an inflatable.
Gotta know what the plastic is. Otherwise they’ll just make jokes and horse around.
Many plastic weld video’s
An example
http://youtu.be/5bos4lfOA3k
The catch is knowing what you are starting with…