Boat Building Forum

Find advice on all aspects of building your own kayak, canoe or any lightweight boats

Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
By:ancient kayaker
Date: 2/27/2012, 11:16 pm
In Response To: Re: Strip: Best sanding practices (Bill Hamm)

: It's much like going to boat shows and looking at the glass work on
: most modern fiberglass boats. Look at an acute angle and you'll
: see tons of waves. To me it's just poor workmanship.

: Bill H.

I have been to several kayak and canoe museums and looked at the old strip-built boats. The canoes were built with clenched canoe tacks rather than glue, and of course were restored by the museum with a varnish finish without glass and epoxy underneath. They do not have the perfect glass-like finish that modern strip-builders desire, and slight strip-to-strip misalignment is tolerated instead of being sanded out, but they still look great.

It occurs to me that much of the desire for a perfect finish is because the glass-epoxy surface shows up every imperfection. Such mirror finishes also highlight the small scratches that everyday will add.

Since my stripper is built with ribs like the olde-tymers, and I intend to treat it with respect, it does not require glass to hold it together. Therefore I suspect it does not need the perfect auto-body quality finish that is the subject of this thread, and will still look great with the semi-gloss paint and varnish finish I plan to use.

Anyone care to confirm - or reject - that suspicion? I'm not trying to down-play the need for an excellent finish under glass or denigrate those who aspire to perfection instead of mere adequacy, just wondering if I need to achieve it on a boat that will not be glassed.

Messages In This Thread

Strip: Best sanding practices
Robert l -- 2/24/2012, 12:03 am
Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
Jon Mortimer -- 2/24/2012, 6:39 am
Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
Rob Macks/Laughing Loon CC&K -- 2/24/2012, 9:13 am
Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
Etienne Muller -- 2/24/2012, 7:07 am
Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
Eric Mattison -- 2/24/2012, 7:26 pm
Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
Mike Bielski -- 2/25/2012, 2:20 am
Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
Rob Macks/Laughing Loon CC&K -- 2/25/2012, 9:21 am
Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
Mike Bielski -- 2/25/2012, 12:54 pm
Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
Bill Hamm -- 2/26/2012, 1:10 am
Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
Etienne Muller -- 2/26/2012, 6:05 am
Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
Mike Bielski -- 2/26/2012, 8:58 am
Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
ancient kayaker -- 2/26/2012, 12:46 pm
Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
Etienne Muller -- 2/26/2012, 1:10 pm
Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
Bill Hamm -- 2/27/2012, 2:05 am
Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
Mike Bielski -- 2/27/2012, 10:49 am
Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
Bill Hamm -- 2/28/2012, 1:37 am
Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
Mike Bielski -- 2/28/2012, 1:47 pm
Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
Etienne Muller -- 2/28/2012, 1:51 pm
Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
Justin -- 2/29/2012, 5:29 am
Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
Kirk Fredericks -- 2/29/2012, 5:22 pm
Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
ancient kayaker -- 2/27/2012, 11:16 pm
Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
dave g -- 2/28/2012, 12:42 am
Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
ancient kayaker -- 2/28/2012, 10:37 am
Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
Bill Hamm -- 2/28/2012, 1:40 am
Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
george jung -- 2/28/2012, 12:01 pm
Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
Bill Hamm -- 2/29/2012, 1:48 am
Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
John Abercrombie -- 2/28/2012, 3:48 am
Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
Rob Macks/Laughing Loon CC&K -- 2/27/2012, 11:08 am
Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
John Abercrombie -- 2/27/2012, 1:03 pm
Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
Rob Macks/Laughing Loon CC&K -- 2/28/2012, 4:15 pm
Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
dave g -- 2/27/2012, 10:41 pm
Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
Dan Caouette (CSFW) -- 2/27/2012, 11:55 am
Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
Mike Bielski -- 2/27/2012, 7:56 pm
Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
dave g -- 2/27/2012, 10:09 pm
Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
Bill Hamm -- 2/27/2012, 2:02 am
Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
Scott Fitzgerrell -- 2/27/2012, 11:56 am
Re: Strip: Best sanding practices
Ian Johnson -- 2/26/2012, 6:37 pm