: I am building my first two kayaks at once, both Guillemot's. I am
: doing a lot of things for the first time to make my learning
: curve as steep and short as possible. I dyed the hull on the
: first one with a clear wood deck. On the second kayak I plan on
: using graphite powder for a black black hull and clear deck. I
: am using West system and West graphite powder. I am not sure
: where to add the graphite, to the glass coat or fill coats or
: all coats?? And, the directions on the can call for 1.5
: tablespoons per 8 oz. of epoxy, 10 strokes each of epoxy and
: hardener. To much, to little, just right?? Any do's and dont's
: will be greatly appreciated.
: Thank you,
: Randy

If you're just using the graphite just for color, consider using a pigment made for tinting epoxy and polyester gelcoat. It can be much cheaper than the powder and it's a much stronger color changer. It takes much more of the powder to get the same level of opaqueness without thickening the resin. for the powder it's best to follow the directions on the can. If you put in too much of the powder it will reduce the strength of your epoxy. It can also make the mix thicker than you want. Use the tinted epoxy for the initial seal coat and then for the fill coats. Only use neat (ie untinted) epoxy for wetting out the cloth. If it's tinted you'll have a much harder time telling when the cloth is fully wet out. If your graphite will be a final wearing surface (ie a hull bottom or cockpit interior) add some fumed silica (aerosil/cabosil) to the mix. About 5-10% by volume makes a nice mix. It really toughens up the surface (It also makes it really hard to sand).