Hey Folks - new guy here from MD Looking for a little guidance.
Was given a strip canoe years ago. Used it a couple times but otherwise sat under the deck. Came home one night to find my 16yr old had decided to "restore" it. He had pulled the seat and started sanding damaged areas on the exterior. I did just enough research to find that heat gun is preferred method of fiberglass and resin removal so he went out and picked up some tools (and a respirator) and spent a couple nights in the garage. So now he's pretty much committed. I am going to let him run with this. More concerned that the boat is finished correctly than cosmetics, but obviously if he's going to make the effort we would hope it would look nice. He is 16, spends a lot of time on the rivers, will bounce off some rocks so want this to be as durable as one might expect of a strip boat (I have no idea what durability means in regard to a strip boat).
He has stripped the majority of the exterior glass and resin - leaving behind a lot of burn marks. I assume next step is sanding. Question on the rails - do they need to come off or can he glass the boat with them installed? They are not in bad shape (no rot) - jsut need sanding and finish. They are screwed and glued and not sure best way to pull them without damage. Interior of the boat is in good shape - prob won't do anythign with that.
Right now goal is to complete the prep. Once (if) he gets to fiberglass stage will have a few (lot) more questions and will prob have him register. Very informative site - appreciate a little help getting him started then he can search the site to keep things moving.
Was given a strip canoe years ago. Used it a couple times but otherwise sat under the deck. Came home one night to find my 16yr old had decided to "restore" it. He had pulled the seat and started sanding damaged areas on the exterior. I did just enough research to find that heat gun is preferred method of fiberglass and resin removal so he went out and picked up some tools (and a respirator) and spent a couple nights in the garage. So now he's pretty much committed. I am going to let him run with this. More concerned that the boat is finished correctly than cosmetics, but obviously if he's going to make the effort we would hope it would look nice. He is 16, spends a lot of time on the rivers, will bounce off some rocks so want this to be as durable as one might expect of a strip boat (I have no idea what durability means in regard to a strip boat).
He has stripped the majority of the exterior glass and resin - leaving behind a lot of burn marks. I assume next step is sanding. Question on the rails - do they need to come off or can he glass the boat with them installed? They are not in bad shape (no rot) - jsut need sanding and finish. They are screwed and glued and not sure best way to pull them without damage. Interior of the boat is in good shape - prob won't do anythign with that.
Right now goal is to complete the prep. Once (if) he gets to fiberglass stage will have a few (lot) more questions and will prob have him register. Very informative site - appreciate a little help getting him started then he can search the site to keep things moving.