It's Official - my '51 OTCA project

[Fitz]

With Kirby's I use a healthy dose of Penetrol, roll it on to get a thin coat and then tip it off to knock down the bubbles.

 

[Dave Osborn]

With Kirby Paint, I use a healthy dose of Epifanes Clear Varnish. Nothing flows better than Epifanes. When I don’t add it I get heavy brush marks and the brush skips.

 

[mmmalmberg]

It is and it isn't. It really depends upon the paint. Using a custom blended Kirby I found that it was initially way too thick to roll. To reduce the bubbles and at Kirby's recommendation I had to thin it to the point that it was barely covering. When the bubbles were finally manageable it was impossible to tip without leaving drag marks. It was drying too quickly. It was one of the most frustrating painting experiences I have had.
Since then I have seen several paint jobs using the Kirby pain that were applied with a brush. One, a high gloss yellow looked really great. You could not see any brush marks or imperfections. The other, a flat light greenish blue shows some very hard to notice brush marks but is otherwise perfect.
It is not an easy paint to use. You need to have your "A game" going and the shop temperature needs to be spot on.

I'm very happy with the flow of the paint and the gloss. I add a small amount of thinner. I don't think the paint is overly consistent from batch to batch. I had one can that was quite thick and definitely needed thinned, then another that was quite a bit thinner; both of those brushed out fine without bubbles. Then this can which is probably in the middle in terms of viscosity, but it comes off the brush like the brush was a bubble wand. All the strokes after that are about getting the bubbles out.

This could be about temperature and humidity; it's definitely cooler and more humid than when I brushed the previous coats. The second half of this coat (not shown above) came out better - it still bubbled coming off the brush but I had more luck brushing the bubbles out - and it was a bit warmer and less humid. Of course since the humidity had dropped I rolled up the big door to get some of that drier air into the shop and along with it, instead of bubbles I have a number of little gnats and other flies that liked the paint enough to die in it...

 

[mmmalmberg]

Is Penetrol a surface tension reducer? That's kind of what I felt like I might need. When I used to spray lacquer we had an additive for fish eyes when needed. Seems like a similar thing.

I have some Epiphanes gloss varnish that would be fine to mix in for a top coat, 'though makes it trickier to match touch-ups well down the road... Is like 10% enough to help?

 

[Dave Osborn]

I usually start with about 3 oz. But sometimes need more. Sorta varies can to can.

 

[mmmalmberg]

Putting this thing back together as we prepare to move. It's still short one coat each of varnish and paint. New can of paint coming from Kirby along with a flow or conditioner product George thinks will help the bubbling.

I annealed the old stem bands carefully with an acetylene torch, since they were age- and work-hardened and I didn't want to crack them. Annealing revealed two places where cracks were starting next to screw holes - you could watch the dull orange heat travel across one side of the hole and not the other. Did not attempt any repair although I suppose I could have tried to solder them but they are so small and tight I don't think I'd have been able to achieve clean-ness within the crack to get a meaningful joint. After annealing they were nicely malleable and I fit them carefully with taps of a small lead mallet, from one screw to the next, and got a very nice clean fit. On the aft end where I still have the original outer stem, I could see my new screw holes were about 5/16" off the original holes, as the result of the tip ending up about that much lower than it had originally been. Can't quite figure that out as I did not need to remove 1/4" from the ribs, but it all came together well in any case. The end screws through the stem bands, on the decks, are machine screws that go into the stout brass connectors I made for the tips. Experimental but it all feels good.

Oh and a little obsessiveness, the original flat head screws seemed a bit small in the stem band holes so I bought some oval heads. They had a good diameter but protruded slightly above the profile of the stem band, so I ground down all the oval heads slightly so they fit within the curve of the stem band.

Oh and it had been a while, at first I mistakenly put the short spacers on the front seat instead of the back; they're now removed and I'm waiting for 2 new bolts for the rear seats. I found that two bolts were partially stripped, and that I had two nuts that were steel not brass. Guessing not a coincidence.

I'm short one oval head #6x7/8" screw for the aft coaming. Blech...

? - We're moving up to Whidbey WA. Once there, should I take the seats and thwarts back out to sand and do a final varnish coat (or last coat with everything together)? Should diamond head bolts be varnished over, and the stem bands?

 

[mmmalmberg]

Are the original OT screws brass or bronze? Anyone else need #6 x 7/8" oval heads? I can only find them in 100's.

 

[Greg Nolan]

Bolt Depot sells by the piece, and has 6 x 7/8 in brass. <boltdepot.com>
I have found them to be fast and friendly, and quite willing to fill very small orders.

 

[Dave Osborn]

eBay is a place wheee I get screws occasionally.
Sometimes I even find vintage new in the box screws. Lots of times there are small lots as well.

 

[mmmalmberg]

Ordered. Thanks!

 

[mmmalmberg]

Both seats on properly. One coat of paint and varnish to finish, but I think it will have to wait 'til after our move. Wanted to get it all together so as to not move it as a bunch of loose pieces. Have not tackled the sailing rig yet. I think my dad probably made it and as I only remember it being sailed once, it may need some revisions, not sure.

 

[pklonowski]

Nice boat!

 

[Dave Osborn]

Head turner for sure!

 

[JClearwater]

Looks really nice! You should be very proud of it.

 

[mmmalmberg]

Thanks guys - means a lot! - I can't wait to be in the water with it! Hoping I can get the last coats of paint and varnish on before the move, then there's a chance of getting it on a lake up in WA later in the summer.

 

[mmmalmberg]

Have been sitting on this for a while as we are in the middle of a move out of California, hopefully to Whidbey, WA where we are now renting as of a week or so. Got the canoe in the water for the first time today for a few hours on a small lake. Canoe paddled just like I remember it 50 years ago smooth and quiet.

HOWEVER on taking it out there is a problem with the canvas, apparently swelling between the planks. What have I done wrong and do I, as I assume, need to go back to another new canvas? I'm guessing the canvas is stuck to the planks and so can't move as it swells, and water in the canoe is not distributing across the canvas but just where it can get between the planks...

 

[MGC]

Your earlier post about canvassing mentions putting primer on the canvas. Later you describe filling it several times and then working it almost immediately.
Did you prime the canvas before filling it?

 

[Dan Lindberg]

To follow on with Mikes question..

What is the "primer" that you 1st put on the canvas,

and

what was the "filler" you put on top of the primer? (this appears to be some auto body something/filler??)

 

[mmmalmberg]

I had to have mispoken when I said "primer", rather than "filler". I did three coats of filler, and tinted the coats slightly so I could see when I was sanding through from one to another. I experimented with using an orbital sander to get the filler well into the fibers, as I have terrible arthritis. The orbital seemed to work really well for this purpose, and I used a spreader to flatten the filler surface, which also worked nicely.

 

[mmmalmberg]

p.s. I used Rollins' filler.