pogue3one wadefish 2.?

[Kayak Jack]

I use three. Even then, some will get scuffed off on bad rocks.

And, as odd as it seems, it will be even more slippery if you sand the last coat to the dull grey rather than leave it shine. DO THIS OUTSIDE as it produces a lot of black dust that sticks to things. Wear a mask to protect your lungs. Wear an old pair of socks over your shoes, and discard them before entering the house. (Old socks will be cheaper than hospital bills.)

[jem]

3 thin coats or until you have solid black like Jack said.

It will go gray eventually.

Very nice finish! You'll get asked if that's a fiberglass boat.

[pogue3one]

Maybe I'm mixing too much graphite, I got solid black on the first coat.

[dangermouse01]

That is one yellow boat. Manatees love the yellow boats (at least here in Florida). Looks good.

I am currently redoing the bottom of my first built kayak (after 4-5 years), going from full varnish to the graphite epoxy. I am using West Systems brand graphite. They say to mix 1 tablespoon graphite for 5 fluid ounces of epoxy (or 10 percent by volume). On my first coat (for a 15 foot boat) I rolled on a very thin coat of the mix, covered the entire boat with just 5 ounces, 5 oz of epoxy isn't much. It was very thin, almost a stain-ish type coat, you could still see the grain thru it. Second coat pretty much made it black, after the third coat it was black. I only used 5 ounces for each coat.
I have heard that thin coats is recommended because the mix tends to sag if it is to thick.

DM

[Oldsparkey]

Maybe I'm mixing too much graphite, I got solid black on the first coat.

Lighter coats are better and more work but that is how I do it , I can't see where you would have a problem as long as it did not run on you. Then it is just the problem of cleaning it up.

If you decide to sand it , proceed with caution , it is a very messy job and in my way of thinking not necessary. You will not be racing the boat so removing the thin outer coat of the epoxy and graphite is really not needed.

I have done both to try it and as far as paddling , I did not notice anything except for the wife throwing a fit when I came in the house covered in the graphite and epoxy dust. Not even thinking about all the sandpaper I wasted doing that.

If you have a problem , tell the wife it is my fault , I read about the sail boats used for racing doing there bottoms that way to make them faster with less damage from oyster shells when they hit them and thought I would try it.
Not for the speed but for the ability to add protection and something slippery on the bottom for going threw weeds which want to stick to fiberglass. Plus it works good for scooting over logs and stumps.

Chuck.

[Kayak Jack]

A few years ago when I asked RAKA about how much graphite to use, he suggested 20% by volume. That's what I try to approximate.

[pogue3one]

I have been using apprx. between 14 and 17%. can't for the life of me remember where I got the graphite, It came in a heavy duty, plain ziplock bag. But it doesn't take much to turn the epoxy to jet black.

I played with the mix a bit while designing the rudder. I came up with a mix that is pretty tough. I didn't know How it would mix with the epoxy I got from JGreer (cheap;generic). I tried different amounts on the 3-4 attempts to come up with a workable rudder.

By the way, I did sand between coats and the powder is like ink to everything it touches. The girlfriend was cool with it, She rarely sees me dirty like that...

But I digress !

I know I didn't get them from the same place, and nobody told me that the products would mesh so well, but dang! I deliberately abused the test rudders and this stuff is rugged! Somehow the graphite acts almost like the colloidial silica that I started to use when I ran out of wood flour. It doesn't run at all and sets up nicely.

And Matt, If somebody asks if my boat is fiberglass, I think I can honestly say that it is. The only part that isn't fully glassed is the console. My kayak is a wood core fiberglass boat.

serously, I enjoyed every minute spent on this project. The next project will be something my gilrfreind can Paddle. I think she is more proud of my kayak than I am.

I don't think I could have done as well on this project if it weren't for all of you on this forum. I can't wait to share the final product. It is as much yours as it is mine (really, I stole Ideas from at least 6 of you). Thank you all!

[Mullet_Key]

I did the same thing with mine (graphite from RAKA) but applied one thin coat. Having no experience with graphite I want see how tough the stuff is. Later, I can wet sand and apply 2nd / 3rd coats. Pogue3one, I like the way you positioned the front hatch, think you can access it from the cockpit? See ya,

[pogue3one]

I could access it from the cockpit if I had better balance. I am a beginner so it ain't easy. If I straddle the yak I can scooch up to it but I haven't put anything in there that I need access to.

Took her out to galveston bay today and bloodied her with a flounder just big enough to keep, also caught a bunch of undersized trout. I'm Hooked!

[Mullet_Key]

Just saw your message on TKF, you answered my question. Hope to run into soon on TX waters.