If you have never worked with epoxy, here are a few things you should know. It is very expensive. It requires a whole bunch of plastic tools that are flexible enough for epoxy the break off of once it's dry. It will ruin your clothes when you get it on your self. Not if, when. Once you start putting it on, you are committed to finishing as many coats as you hope to apply. This can take a few days. Seriously. Depending on a bunch of factors like temperature, humidity and which hardeners you use, you can blow a weekend trying to re- apply as your gel up time ends. It's like climbing a mountain. After the exciting part, you have to climb down. But with out the word exciting. Ever been divorced? You lived through that, you can live through this.
Once you get up the nerve to start, make sure you use a tack cloth before you lay out the glass. Here is where you you might want to use a cheap sacrificial brush. Some recommend a foam brush or roller, but they will introduce too much air into the cloth. You don't want to pour the epoxy at this point, either. If you've never done this, you will likely pour too much and the glass will float on the resin, and a lot will drip off. Start in the middle of the boat and work towards the stems doing one side at a time. Work fast, but try not to work up a lather in the resin. You want the epoxy to soak into the glass, but with out too much excess. This is really tricky at first. You will have to squeegee off the excess once you've completed the first coat, so try not put it on too thick. Make sure you keep an eye where you've been, and add epoxy to resin starved areas. If you can see the glass as white, you need a bit more. The squeegee or plastic applicator or spreader or thing-me or whatever you choose to call it will be a tool you will need to become one with as you continue in boat land. This little fella will set the standard to how much sanding you will need to do. Good luck with that.
To be honest, I did not really get the hang of it right off. Not even close. The kids would say I was pwnd by the epoxy, but thats silly. There aren't even any consonants in pwnd. I was out matched. Defeated almost. I probably sanded off more epoxy than I put on, which is impossible, but I probably did anyway. It's my story, so shut up. I added a strip of 9 ounce tape down the length as an abrasion strip. I didn't know I had purchased 9 ounce tape and it doesn't wet out very well. I was not impressed by this fact, so be warned. If you put it on, you will see it. You will also see that you didn't get it exactly straight, too. I hate being reminded that I screw up. Often. The other problem I had was low spots. What I didn't figure out at this point was epoxy is workable for a long time. As it gels up, you can keep leveling it. Sags can be smoothed out, hollows raised, and drips and ridges flattened. This can be as much as six to eight hours after application. It can also be 2 or 3 hours after application. It depends and the aforementioned conditions. Why should it be easy for you? But you will prevail or you will suck. One of the two. Once you have started to sand and you find all your imperfections as shiny spots, make sure you rough up said shiny spots, or your next filler coat will not bond. You probably won't know this until you hit a rock while paddling and the epoxy de-laminates. Sanding is required to get a good mechanical bond between the cured and un-cured epoxy.
How fair the hull will be is up to you. If you did good carpentry, and everything is straight, the likely hood of a fair hull is promising. If not, you will probably end up paddling in circles. That won't be good.
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