Ive recently come into possession of a handmade wooden canoe! The only issue is that the fiberglass finish on the gunwales has started to peel off. From what I was told is that it was stored outside for too long and the weather/water started to make it peel off. What would be the best way to approach this repair? Just peel/sand off the fiberglass and reapply? Ive never worked with fiberglass so im not sure where to start and I have not found any great resources yet. Thanks for the help!
Fiberglass repair on gunwales
- Thread starter pmcanoe
- Start date
Dave Osborn
LIFE MEMBER
Not sure why anyone would glass gunwales.
I would use a heat gun to remove it. Then sand and varnish the wood.
I would use a heat gun to remove it. Then sand and varnish the wood.
John Sand
LOVES Wooden Canoes
That's a handsome canoe. I would probe the wood underneath to see if it is soft. If it's sound, clean up any dark areas with wood bleach and sanding if needed. I have patched fiberglass on wood by starting with a sharp scraper. Any fiberglass that comes off easily needs to come off. Either scrape or sand the remaining glass to a feather edge. Apply new fiberglass over the bare parts, overlapping the edge. When it's "green" (dry but not completely hard) the scraper can cut off the overlap. Sand and varnish after.
patrick corry
solo canoeist
You may do well to address the question to members at canoetripping.net, there are several active builders of strip-built canoes like yours, as well as many detailed posts of strip canoe builds.
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