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Epoxy: Filling tiny holes in weave along seams *PIC*
By:rmora
Date: 7/8/2015, 6:50 pm

I'm getting to the end of my guillemot build, but I'm seeing an issue with little pits or holes in weave of the fiberglass in certain sections along strip joints. I assume the problem stemmed from epoxy getting drawn into the voids between the strips starving the cloth in parts. I was hoping that fill coats would fix the problem, but that doesn't really seem to be the case and even after several sanding and thin rolled-on coats, the epoxy seems reluctant to flow into the pits when rolling on new layers.

I've tried to heat up the epoxy to lower the viscosity (epoxy is Raka btw, which I don't believe to be particularly high-viscosity to begin with) and paint on a very generous coat. It might have been an improvement, but it hasn't really fixed the issue. Or would I want to use a higher-viscosity instead?

Should I maybe try to sand further down and lay down a second layer of cloth on the affected areas and try to feather it in? The problem is really only on the deck (4-oz plain weave cloth - I'd used 6 -oz on the hull) and mostly (but not entirely) confined to a 6"-wide stripe that runs the length of the boat.

Picture of a particularly bad section:

Messages In This Thread

Epoxy: Filling tiny holes in weave along seams *PIC*
rmora -- 7/8/2015, 6:50 pm
Re: Epoxy: Filling tiny holes in weave along seams
Jay Babina -- 7/9/2015, 6:47 am
Re: Epoxy: Filling tiny holes in weave along seams
Joe -- 7/9/2015, 7:54 am
Re: Epoxy: Filling tiny holes in weave along seams
Rob Macks/Laughing Loon CC&K -- 7/9/2015, 11:44 am
Re: Epoxy: Filling tiny holes in weave along seams
rmora -- 7/9/2015, 4:03 pm
Re: Epoxy: Filling tiny holes in weave along seams
Dan Caouette (CSCWC) -- 7/10/2015, 6:05 am
Re: Epoxy: Filling tiny holes in weave along seams
Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks -- 7/9/2015, 4:28 pm
Re: Epoxy: Filling tiny holes in weave along seams
scottbaxter -- 7/9/2015, 6:46 pm
Re: Epoxy: Filling tiny holes in weave along seams
Bill Hamm -- 7/12/2015, 2:20 am