: Hi!
: I just recently built a little stitch and glue rowboat and now I've
: got the boat building fever. Next project is a skin-on-frame
: kayak eventually to be used sea kayaking around lake superior
: and potentially isle royale.

: My question is about the potential coatings used on fabric. I'll
: probably use nylon as it seems to be the standard, but I'm
: wondering if anyone's ever used polyester resin (of the variety
: used in polyester FRP laminates, surfboards, boats, etc) instead
: of the two part polyurethane. The reason I ask is because I'm
: trying to minimize cost, polyester resin is a lot cheaper as far
: as I can tell. I assume there would be some decrease in
: durability, but would it be significant enough to really matter?

: Another option would be regular 1-part exterior polyurethane,
: what's the drawback of this vs the two-part? More coats, longer
: drying time, decreased durability - if any of these things, to
: what degree?

: Thanks for the help,
: Luke

Hi Luke,
Polyester resin on nylon would be a waste of time, money and nylon. It's too brittle for use on SoF. Almost anything else would be better. 1-part polyU would be a lot better.

Mike Savage
South West Cork