JEM Watercraft

Looks like you tried to apply a little bit too much at once. I recently had the same thing happen to me.

The waviness is hard to get out but it's doable with sanding. I'd come back to it later. Don't get too hung up on imperfections. You'll quickly lose sight of them once you start paddling it.

Yep, I agree with Matt. looks fine to me. They are still making sandpaper

There is advice in a post somewhere from Kayak Jack about avoiding the worst of those runs. Worked pretty well for me on my swampgirl.

Will see if I can find it and post a link mate.

Hi Scott,

Here tis Jacks advice, ( Thanks again Jack. I owe you one mate)

Get larger, waxed, paper cups, 8 oz - 12 oz. Beer cups (used, of course) work well. Using a sharp knife or a razor knife, cut a sharp vee down into the lip at one point. Vee should be about 2" deep, and only about 1/16"-1/8" wide at the top. When you're laying epoxy and wiping it back off with the plastic squeegee blade, wipe the squeegee through this vee and it will deposit the excess epoxy into the cup.

Thanks guys! I feel better now. Another lesson learned. On to the interior of the hull!

Scott ... Flip it over and do the inside. When that is done ....Flip it back over , sand the outside , put on anouther coat of epoxy . let it cure then sand it (lightly) and varnish the boat.

A lot of my boat's when that last coat of epoxy has dried (about 72 to 96 hours) then I paddled them while letting the epoxy cure for about 20 to 30 days. Then I sanded them (lightly) and varnished them.

When the Red Wood Pirogue was done I took it up to South Carolina for a week long camping and paddling trip. It was rough and did not have the final sanding on it because I knew it would get scratched and need to be sanded when I got home, before I varnished it.
Why do one job twice?

Chuck.

An easy way to remove cured epoxy drips and runs is with a carbide scaper, or a reqular cabinet scraper. Easiest after the epoxy has cured and not sticky or tacky, or it just gets gummy, but still works on epoxy that has cured for days. Shaves the epoxy down nice and smooth. Easier than sand paper.



I like the small triangular blade (shown in the middle above), about 3/4 inch on the flat. Just watch the corners of the blades, they are VERY sharp and can dig into the epoxy if you arn't careful.

The cabinet scrapers (below) work good for larger areas. Is does to the epoxy pretty much like the sawdust is the picture



This type will work also:


Looks great so far. Love the picture of the whole bottom of the boat. Beautiful lines.

DM

Scott,

Unfortunately, all of my plans & kits came without drips, runs, and sags. So - I had to install them for myself. QC just ain't what it used to was.

Thanks for all the advice and support guys! I feel much better now. I'll come back to the hull exterior at the end of the build. I've flipped the hull and started filleting the interior of the hull (see pics below).

I also build some kayak stands from pvc piping and webbing (see pic below). Here's the site I got the idea from: http://www.kayakfishinggear.com/kayak_stand.htm

Off on vacation shortly (poor lonely kayak). So no new work or posts for a bit.

I'm back from vacation and happily working on my kayak. Actually, I've been working on the hull interior. So as I noted in Javier's build log, it's a bit of a nasty task.

Below are photos of the first half of the interior glassing of the hull & cockpit. Following Mick's advice, I'm doing the glassing in fore/aft halfs and tilting to accomodate the inward-angled upper panels. Hoping to finish the interiors this weekend. It'll be a big relief!

I've got a question for everyone:

I'll have my kids in the kayak once I hit the water. I'm thinking some internal floatation would be a good idea. What do you suggest (bags, foam, etc)?