I like to seal coat and then fill gaps, etc. Makes a perfect match easier.

: I learned a lesson the hard way this weekend. After sanding out the
: inside of my hull I put on a seal coat of epoxy to prep for the
: glassing. I used a scraper squeegee thing instead of a roller
: like I did for the outside hull and deck. I had it in my head to
: keep it thin just to seal the wood so I poured and spread
: quickly and thinly from the center out and up. By the time I got
: to the end I looked back at my work and saw the zebra effect of
: the epoxy soaking in to the wood. Doh! I immediately applied
: another coat around the cockpit area hoping to reduce the effect
: there. It helped but didn't eliminate it. I didn't bother trying
: to fix the rest because it's going to be enclosed anyway and the
: epoxy had started to thicken enough were more wasn't going to
: help much anyway.

: So I learned the key is to apply enough epoxy to soak well into the
: wood so as not to leave some of the wood with a lighter tint. So
: then why apply a seal coat in the first place? I thought it was
: for two reasons; 1) weight savings and 2) prevent glass
: starvation from epoxy soaking into the wood. I'm not so sure
: about the weight savings now because it seems to me you need to
: apply just as much epoxy either way. I'm almost thinking it
: better to saturate it until it wont take any more to get the
: deepest, richest color from the wood.

: Your thoughts and techniques?