I have a 25+ year old strip canoe (built by my Dad, with some help from the teenaged me, from Hazen's plans), glassed mahogany (polyester resin), that has a lot of scratches and general roughness and needs a smoother, shinier surface. None of the scratches compromise the integrity of the glass or the hull, but some rock scratches are pretty deep. Lots of wear on the hull from rubbing against the metal legs of a dock.
It has, in its lifetime, had coats of varnish and wax, but none since about '91, after which it hung underneath my parents' deck for about 15 years.
I have washed it thoroughly, sanded the outside lightly with very fine sandpaper, washed it again, and cleaned the whole thing with a soft cloth and acetone. I don't think there's any finish on top of the polyester now (there really wasn't any, even before I did the above).
I plan to sand it (carefully!) this winter/next spring and put on a coat or two of epoxy, along with replacing the gunwales--they are pretty ugly after all those years unprotected.
In the meantime, I want it to get it looking better for the rest of the summer and the fall, and I expect that a more uniform surface will also paddle a little better (even if I won't be able to tell while fishing).
It needs to be ready to paddle in varying wilderness conditions in a week and a half, so I think for now I want to just wax it. Then in the winter I will strip the wax and clean it up for the addition of epoxy.
I've read a lot about the evils of silicone in wax, so I tried finding a paste wax that didn't have it. Couldn't find anything that was clearly labelled as such.
So: can anyone give me a specific brand name of a wax that will make for a good finish, be relatively easy to remove completely in a few months, and not have any negative effects on the future application of epoxy? My searches here and on the web in general haven't led to any definitive results.
Thanks!
Olaf
It has, in its lifetime, had coats of varnish and wax, but none since about '91, after which it hung underneath my parents' deck for about 15 years.
I have washed it thoroughly, sanded the outside lightly with very fine sandpaper, washed it again, and cleaned the whole thing with a soft cloth and acetone. I don't think there's any finish on top of the polyester now (there really wasn't any, even before I did the above).
I plan to sand it (carefully!) this winter/next spring and put on a coat or two of epoxy, along with replacing the gunwales--they are pretty ugly after all those years unprotected.
In the meantime, I want it to get it looking better for the rest of the summer and the fall, and I expect that a more uniform surface will also paddle a little better (even if I won't be able to tell while fishing).
It needs to be ready to paddle in varying wilderness conditions in a week and a half, so I think for now I want to just wax it. Then in the winter I will strip the wax and clean it up for the addition of epoxy.
I've read a lot about the evils of silicone in wax, so I tried finding a paste wax that didn't have it. Couldn't find anything that was clearly labelled as such.
So: can anyone give me a specific brand name of a wax that will make for a good finish, be relatively easy to remove completely in a few months, and not have any negative effects on the future application of epoxy? My searches here and on the web in general haven't led to any definitive results.
Thanks!
Olaf