Building a stitched lapstrake canoe - Coating the bare wood with epoxy

August 26, 2007
Coating the bare wood with epoxy

I have been sanding the surface on and off throughout the project so that now it is time to apply a light coat of epoxy to all the bare wood surfaces I didn't have much sanding to do. I did vacuum the workshop thoroughly to reduce dust. Then I vacuumed the boat and wiped it off with a rag. I mixed up 8 ounces of slow cure epoxy and rolled it on with a 3" roller, I didn't cover the bottom 2 planks as they are already well covered. As soon as I had rolled on a full coat to the planks I tipped off the bubbles with a disposable bristle brush. I then used that brush to paint the outwhales -- along the under and outer edges. I am able to re-use the cheap bristle brushes a few times by washing them off in lacquer thinner.

So far it looks pretty good. After the second coat I will decide whether I will paint or varnish the outer hull.

The first coat left the surface a bit rough, and there were a few drips, but an hour or so of sanding took care of that. The second coat looks really nice.

August 26, 2007
Coating inside with epoxy

I has a nasty surprise this morning when I flipped the boat over - drips! Once again I resorted to my favorite tool and sanded them all off with a 220 belt. It didn't take long compared to all the other sanding I have been doing almost every day.

As I went to mix another 8 ounces of epoxy, I ran out of the slow hardener. So I had enough to coat 3/4 of the inside before I had to run out to the hardware store and buy a small 7 oz can of 206 slow hardener. Then when I mixed up another batch of 4 ounces I ran out of the epoxy! Fortunately I have covered everything with one full coat, and the decks and gunwhales have a heavy brushed on coat, so I think I have enough surface preparation to go right to varnish -- after hours more sanding! The image above left taken from my web cam shows me sanding down the inside after the first coat of epoxy.

It sure looks great with a full coat of finish! I think I have decided to go with varnish on the outside because I really want this to be a real "woody" boat, in fact I plan to name her "Sawdust"!


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HOME	1. laying out the planks	2. cutting planks	3. gluing planks	4. rabbeting edges	5. stitching seams	6. shaping hull	7. filleting stems	8. gluing seams
	9. removing stitches	10. filling holes	11. gluing inwhales	12. gluing outwhales	13. glassing outside	14. glassing inside	15. glassing keel	16. decks and seat mounts
	17. installing seats	18. epoxy coat	19. sanding	20. varnishing	21. finishing up	22. launching	storage	BILL OF MATERIALS
	This canoe was built from plans in the book "The Canoe Shop"