bavariaboy.com

24 March 2009

Adding Artwork To Your Boats!

Posted by bavarian under: kayak building; kayaks .

Someone emailed me the other day on how to ‘bury’ pin striping into the fibreglass. I have used the following method to bury striping and veneer artwork into the cloth as well. Going through the steps will result in a surface that is completely flat and devoid of bumps. The effort is spent on making the highlight look like an inlay as opposed to an onlay.

• Sand the surface. On cedar I rarely go higher than 60 grit ALWAYS finishing with sanding in the direction of the grain.
• Lightly wet the surface to raise any compressed grain. Use a damp cloth and a hot iron pushed on top of the damp cloth to swell any deep bumps. (i.e.: staple holes)
• Lightly re-sand still using the 60 grit and a long board to get a fair surface.
• Apply dye or stain that you know will be compatible with epoxy if you want.
• Apply seal coat of epoxy to harden and stabilize the surface.
• Lightly scuff sand the epoxy because there will quite likely be a few raised grain hairs still.
• Before the epoxy completely cures, apply your automotive tape, being careful not to stretch it. For veneer I simply apply a generous amount of epoxy on the backside of the veneer and lay a piece of plastic wrap on top of it plus a weight. On a kayak you can hold it down tightly with shrink-wrap. Roll out any bubbles with a roller but do not squeeze out all the epoxy.
• Let the epoxy set up but not fully cure.
• Before the epoxy cures lay down your glass, and finish as you normally would.
• Around and over top of the surface of the veneer brush on another layer of epoxy and along the line of your tape do the same thing. Extend this well past the ‘bump’ of the line generated by the artwork or tape.
• Sand with the long board (mine’s a 10” ;P) in all directions. What you’re trying to do is blend the surface in with the surrounding layer of epoxy. The long board will highlight low areas that can be filled in. Don’t cut into the edges of your tape or veneer.
• Repeat above process until no more low spots show through. Please don’t sand into you glass mat!

Here’s a link to the Osprey Triple Kayak from Pigmy Boats that I’m building. I’ll be doing this process soon on this kayak. In the meantime here’s some of the one’s I’ve done.

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