I'm in the process of restoring a cedar strip canoe. I've stripped almost all the fiberglass off the hull and I don't plan to refinish the interior. My problem is that a small (apprx. 6") strip of cedar has come unglued from its neighboring strips and is pulling up away from the interior fiberglass, making a kind of bow shape. It doesn't look like it's in danger of breaking, but there's maybe a 6"x6" area total that feels like it has pulled away from the interior glass/epoxy. Can I glue the strip back in place, inject new epoxy under the area, and clamp the "bubble" down so it re-adheres to the interior? Other advice?
fiberglass problem
- Thread starter hikermc
- Start date
Todd Bradshaw
Sailmaker
With the glass removed from the other side, that may be the only way to do it at this point. Normally, little bubbles can be resin injected, but big ones or any kind of serious delaminations do better if you cut out the loose fiberglass and patch it with a small new piece. With no glass on the outside of the hull though, I'm not sure it would be a great idea at this point to monkey around too much with cutting holes in the inside layers, too. I suppose it depends upon how stable you think the area is and whether the strips will stay stuck together for a few hours on their own.
Keep in mind that even if it's a spot with double layers of fiberglass cloth (like the bottom) those layers only have limited stiffness. Two layers of 6-8 oz. fiberglass is about as stiff as a plastic milk jug's sides, at best. It doesn't have much ability to counteract tension on the wood and force it back together (at least not when one third of the glass/wood/glass sandwich is missing) so the job of holding the wood back in position may depend much more on renewing the strip-to-strip glue line. Re-bonding the fiberglass will certainly help though, even if the injecting job doesn't come out perfect. After the outside is done, you can always remove the bubble area on the inside and add a small patch, if needed.
You're certainly getting in a lot of interesting practice. Your next boat (the one you'll build from scratch) should be a doozie!
Keep in mind that even if it's a spot with double layers of fiberglass cloth (like the bottom) those layers only have limited stiffness. Two layers of 6-8 oz. fiberglass is about as stiff as a plastic milk jug's sides, at best. It doesn't have much ability to counteract tension on the wood and force it back together (at least not when one third of the glass/wood/glass sandwich is missing) so the job of holding the wood back in position may depend much more on renewing the strip-to-strip glue line. Re-bonding the fiberglass will certainly help though, even if the injecting job doesn't come out perfect. After the outside is done, you can always remove the bubble area on the inside and add a small patch, if needed.
You're certainly getting in a lot of interesting practice. Your next boat (the one you'll build from scratch) should be a doozie!
