: Half gallon then, that should about do it.

: I figure a 12oz ballistic nylon goop or varnish skin weighs
: somewhere around 8 pounds, based on weighing frame before and
: after skinning over several kayaks. Would you venture a guess to
: what your epoxy skin, say with a single layer of 6 oz glass
: might weigh?

: I am looking to this method for several reasons:
: • It seems to promise greater longevity than nylon/varnish or
: goop.
: • Less issue with sagging/wrinkling.
: • Easier incorporation of bulkheads/hatches.
: • Stiffer, possibly less skin deflection, possibly more efficient
: hull realized, somewhere between skin boat and wood-core FG?
: • Better finish possibilities, neater appearance with lack of my
: trademark Frankenstein stitch up the deck
: • Durability... sounds promising, I still have a hard time
: getting my head around this thin a layup being very puncture or
: tear resistant though. Is this a kayak I can bash over submerged
: logs with, or do I need to treat it gently? Can I pound over
: waves and get mixed up in the surf with this skin?

: One cause of concern, in reading around about this over the
: weekend, I've seen plenty of references to dacron being used as
: a cheap peel-ply because *epoxy doesn't stick to it*??? Surely
: they are meaning something besides the aircraft dacron you're
: using in this skin?

: So, I read the Duckworks Epoxy/Dacron/Xynole Matrix article again.
: http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/07/howto/skin/index.htm Is this
: essentially the same basic process you are using?

: Does the dacron heat shrunk on the frame make a solid enough
: surface to allow squeegeeing excess epoxy out of the glass
: layer? This is just like glassing a hard shell kayak, right? You
: mentioned in one post that the lightest dacron was like
: "working on the surface of a balloon". Is the heavier
: dacron then have give more like a kayak skinned tight with nylon
: or something? To what can I relate what I might expect? Because
: the dacron is more or less sealed with a thin coat of epoxy
: before the glass is applied, I imagine that during the wet out
: stage of the glass, you don't really have to worry about the
: dacron either sucking resin and starving the glass, or pushing
: resin through both layers to create a heavy build up on the
: inside of the kayak? Mostly have to worry about not floating the
: glass? I imagine the thicker the epoxy layer, the more prone to
: cracking it might be?

: Thanks for your help, Bill and Dan. I've got the building itch
: something fierce, it's all I can do to stay at my desk right
: now.

Oh yeah, Duckworks article. I've never seen it, so no it's not the method I use :)

Bill H.