Kennebec: Prepping for canvas and CPES?

[Carlton]

I have a 1924 16ft. Kennebec. The canoe was covered in fiberglass when I purchased it. Well it took about 4-5 hours using a heat gun to remove the fiberglass. One question I have is how much of the residue left from the fiberglass do I need to remove before applying the canvas. It's not like any fiberglass adhesive I've seen before. This stuff is green and only is found in some of the deeper grain of the planks. There isn't a lot of it so I'm thinking I could remove it by sanding. Or I could go back and use the heat gun some more.

Another question: I'm currently restoring a 14 ft. Wolverine runabout. This restoration will involve the use of Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer (CPES). Could this be used on the interior of the canoe?
The fellow I bought the canoe from recommends using linseed oil. I've seen the results, and the linseed darker with age. I know it beats re-varnishing the interior every once in a while. But I was thinking the CPES prior to varnish application may lengthen the lifespan of the varnish.

Thanks for your help.

 

[MGC]

Removing resin can be a real PITA, especially if it's founds it's way into gap toothed planking or behind ribs. Your best bet to remove the lions share of it is to continue to work it with your heat gun and scrapers. Once you have the worst of it sorted sanding is helpful for faring. It is not usually a good way to remove the resin. The resin in the gaps and behind the ribs can be picked out. A dental pick, sharp knife, exacto knife, awl or any other tool that can separate the resin will eventually win out.

Once your hull is fared and the tacks have been reclinched and any required rib or planking repairs are done you can get on with preparing it for canvas. The traditional way is to apply hot linseed oil...some use tung oil, some apply varnish...I use a blend of linseed oil, mineral spirits and turpentine on the outside of the hull. I apply it hot and allow it to dry before canvasing.

On the inside of the hull I use a thinned coat of spar varnish as a first coat and then follow with at least 4 or 5 more coats of good quality spar. I do not use polyurethane or anything other than spar varnish. On occasion I have applied shellac as a first coat and then followed with spar varnish. Most other canoe restorers use spar varnish.

This is a popular topic on this forum so if you search on linseed oil or spar varnish you will be able to find lot's of helpful information.
Good luck and have fun.

 

[Rob Stevens]

Are you asking if CPES should be used to coat the inside of a canoe? I wouldn't. Expensive and hard, would make the planking brittle. CPES is used for stabilizing rotting wood. Better to replace with new given that wood/canvas canoe design/construction allows that.

 

[Todd Bradshaw]

CPES will most likely also guarantee that the inside of that canoe can never again be refinished. Any attempt to strip it or sand it clean is quite likely to end up blotchy, because you're not going to get all of that stuff out of, or off of, the wood. There are some really good reasons why that stuff is considered by many to be the snake oil of wooden boat building products.

 

[Carlton]

Thanks for the heads-up on the CPES.