: Hey Rehd,

: You didn't happen to try shellac did you? I've been thinking about using some
: shellac on a deck feature so went researching.

: There are a lot of references that say shellac is fine under epoxy, but I
: have just read that shellac softens in the 40-50 degree celcius range,
: which is pretty easy to get to on a deck in full sun. I don't think that
: sounds good and might lead to delamination.

: According to my converter, that's 104-122 deg F and I see you were in 102
: which makes me really curious about shellac in y our part of the world.
: We're going to be in the full swing of summer soon - mid 30s C usually, so
: I'll do a test once the heat picks up a bit - we're already humid enough
:

: peter...
I used shellac on an oak table top and it is highly sensitive to heat. Got serious problems from placing a mug of hot coffee on the table fro just a few minutes. Don't think I'd want to risk my boat to it after all the effort of building it. So why use oak in the first place? It's awfully heavy, and you certainly don't need that strength for a kayak. Though someone on this board built a boat, at least his hull, with red oak and I don't recall him reporting any finishing problems with epoxy.

Roger T.
Orr's Island, ME