Gesso

Mark Mc

Curious about Wooden Canoes
This may be a dumb question: Has anyone tried filling canvas with "Gesso"?
We used this in Art class to fill the canvas before painting...
 
Traditional gesso formulas use animal glues (hide, rabbit skin, and the like) as binders for the solid materials -- chalk, gypsum, and the like.

I would not expect gesso to hold up well with prolonged wetting, as such glues are water-soluble. They may be a bit resistant to a brief wetting, but they are not anything like water proof.
 
I used an acrylic-based artist gesso on my 50-pounder last year. I'd been wanting to try it for several years, but was too uncertain about it to try it on a client's canoe.

It worked pretty well, and I would use it again. Some observations:
1. I was able to apply 3 coats in 1 day, allowing each coat to dry between reapplications.
2. I let the last coat dry for 2 days before sanding and painting, but could have painted after a single day's drying. This was much quicker than a traditional filler.
3. I didn't weigh the gesso, but I didn't seem to save any weight over traditional filler.
4. It might have been because I was in a rush to get the canoe in the water and didn't spend my usual amount of time in sanding the filler, but it seemed a bit more difficult to get an even fill with gesso than with traditional filler.
5. Being acrylic-based, cleanup of tools was easy, and oil-based fumes were not a concern.
6. The paint finish coats adhered very well.
7. I've not used the canoe extensively, but have had no problems with the canvas being watertight.

All in all, I found gesso to be an acceptable filler, particularly if I'm not inclined to wait the usual ~3 weeks for traditional filler to dry.
 
Wow, what a great question from Mark, caveat from Greg, and case study from Pat!

I would add that gesso is cheap too, as far as items from art stores go. The drying time would seem to be by far the biggest advantage, and I also know from experience that it reacts wonderfully to sanding.

In the realm of restoration, I don't whether applying several layers of paint is more about improving the barrier against water (functional) ...or simply about making sure you don't see any of the filler underneath (aesthetic). Either way, when using gesso as a primer in the art world we often tint it when filling the canvas, something you couldn't effectively do with the gray stuff.

Tinted gesso, however, would provide you with way better color coverage when applying a final coat, possibly decreasing the number of top coats needed.
 
Brad, I am so dense! It never occurred to me to tint the gesso. In theory, this would make scratches,etc. less visable? For the record, the Indian Girl I recently acquired will be restored properly by someone other than me. I was thinking of future projects...

Thanks,
Mark.

Thanks to Greg & Pat also. Pat do you have any pics?
 
Sorry, I don't have any photos of the filling process with Gesso, but here are a couple of me in the finished canoe. These were taken by Mike Livdahl, who has become the NW Chapter WCHA's "unofficial official photographer". You can see lots of his photos of the NW Chapter's gatherings on the Events tab of the Chapter's website http://www.nwwoodencanoe.org/

By the way, I once tinted the filler of a canoe with a partial can of old red paint I had laying around. If I had then just put a clear coat over it, that canoe could have been a testimonial for breast cancer awareness, or Pepto-Bismol's answer to the Oscar Mayer WeinerMobile! Lesson learned - have a paint shop tint the filler!
 

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I second Pat's comment on unfortunate tints. Best be sure there is no one around with a camera.

When I added some finish coat to filler, my canoe spent a few weeks looking as embarassingly pink as I did when I washed my sweatpants in with my jockey shorts.
 
Makes sense, you would need alot of color, which would add weight, so maybe not a good idea....
 
Adding color at a paint shop will result in an unnoticeable weight increase. If you've ever watched someone color a gallon of base paint you'll see they add only a few squirts of concentrated colorants in the proper ratio to get the desired color. You'll never be able to tell the difference, so don't let weight concerns hold you back.
 
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Cool....wonder if gesso would work with dacron? I realize I may be opening cans of worms.... just that it's a cold rainy Sunday....
 
No worms--- this has been an interesting discussion. Worm-cans are only opened if you suggest cutting a canoe in half for bookshelves... even then, I think we once had a very interesting discussion about that.
 
Hi Kathy! When my father ( a Grumman guy) dropped off the Rushton we were looking for the serial # and he casually said " I've heard of people putting fiberglass on these things...." Now, that's a can of worms!
 
I'm intrigued by the possible use of gesso as a filler, as my wife and I are visual artists. Do you mind telling me what kind of paint you used on top of the gesso? Looks pretty nice!
 
For that canoe I just used Rustoleum enamel. I've had good luck with this on all types of fillers. It's relatively inexpensive and you can get it at most hardware stores. One drawback is it comes in a limited color palette.
 
Thanks for that information Pat - I'll see what I can find for Rustoleum paints here. I think the palette is improving from what it was a few years ago.
 
Let's drag this old thread out of the shadows!

I recently found a 50#er that needs a few touch ups and some new canvas. Since this will be a boat that I use often myself and hang on to, I'd like to try out an alternative canvas filler.

Pat, 12 years later, what is the condition of your Gesso covered boat?

I bought a small bottle of Liquitex acrylic gesso to experiment with. What is it filled with? gypsum? Would it stay flexible enough or crack and fall off over time?
 
I replied to a question about this today on the WCHA fans Facebook page. I haven't used the canoe a great deal, but the filler has held up just fine. I have no complaints about it at all. I don't recall the brand I used, but it was whatever was available at my local artist supply store. Looking at prices of gesso online, though, I see it is quite a bit more expensive than traditional fillers.
 
I posted the question on Facebook to see if that cast a wider net to other people who may have used gesso for filler.

Gesso does appear to be more expensive. My thought with testing alternate fillers is being prepared for when we don't have the chemicals it takes to make a traditional filler left, or at least have the chemicals in formulations that still work. Maybe I'm paranoid.

Gesso also dries faster and seems to be much more available than the other alternate fillers I've read about. I can't seem to find the latex based mastic fillers in the US, but maybe I need to do more searching here on the forum.
 
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