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> Two coats of thinned epoxy over the entire frame. Gotcha.

No, no no. NOT thinned epoxy. Regular viscosity. No need to thin it. It is thin enough right up to the time it starts to jell. At that point you just dump what you have not applied, and mix a fresh batch. In warm weather mix small batches--maybe 3 or 4 ounces ( or 100 mL) I used about 3 batches (somewhere from 9 to 12 ounces total) over the hour and a half it took me to cover the frame.

Since you are coating top, sides and bottom of every part it helps to think through what you are going to paint first, second,... etc. You'll want to figure out how to support the frame while the epoxy sets. Remember, this stuff is really good glue !! Suggestion: Cut a couple of 2x4's to about 3 feet long. Wrap them neatly in Saran Wrap or Wax paper. Use these to support the frame. Any Saran wrap or wax paper that sticks to the epoxy can be easily removed.

I have 2 two-wheeled hand trucks. (The kind you use for moving boxes) I put them in some shade in the middle of my yard, weight them with old car batteries and clamp my covered bar by the handles. This raises my frame about 4 feet off the ground. I do't have to stoop while painting it, and I can get under it easily to paint the undersides of pieces. Drips (and there are many) fall on the grass and get mowed away the next weekend. Inquisitive mosquitoes are embedded for posterity. If you have sawhorses, just cover the crossbars with Saran.

Usually I'll flip the frame and cover the bottom first. The first parts I cover are those areas that the frame will rest on when I flip it upright. After that I start at one end and work to the other. When the bottom is done I flip it upright, to do the sides and tops of all parts. Usually, somewhere along here, I find a spot that is underneath something that I missed before. This is where it is convenient to be able to get under things.

Another thought is to put at least one coat of epoxy on the parts before you assemble them. After assembly you either put on the second coat over the entire frame, or, if you have already put two coats on the parts, just touch up the joints, and other areas where you might have cut through the surface of the wood with tools or fasteners. My references suggest this method.

Sanding cam be minimal. Most of the boat is covered with fabric and the frame is not seen. Just sand off any lumps or bumps on the outside of the stringers which might cause extra wear on the skin. If you are planning to do a fancy job in the cockpit, then you might want to do more careful sanding there.

> But will that coating crack as the frame flexes with use? The guy at the
> Wood Worker store suggested some kind of marine varnish (I don't remeber
> the brand name) which, acording to him, has a bit more elasticity
> than other varnishes.

Epoxy is pretty flexible. I doubt that it will crack. I understand polyester is much stiffer. I have some scraps of fiberglass fabric that have been saturated with epoxy. These are from pieces that I trimmed off after covering the hull of my canoe. I can roll them up around pencils, and unroll them without any sign of cracking. If it won't crack with that kind of flexing, it won't crack until the wood it is on snaps. I have heard of people using epoxy saturated fiberglass cloth as a skin for covering their skin/frame kayaks. (By the way, I`m interested in knowing how durable that is. A translucent cover that shows off the frame could be neat.)

There are some varnishes that stretch a bit more than others. Doesn't hurt to use that brand. You don't need a lot of coats. For that matter, I can't think why you would need any varnish at all. The skin of your kayak is going to provide all the UV protection that wood is going to need. Maybe in the cockpit, and on the coaming you might want to put a couple of coats of varnish, but I'd say buy the smallest can, and plan to use most of it on other projects.

Before finishing the frame I coated with epoxy the parts that I had assembled. After installing a few more pieces I thought I'd try just covering them with varnish. Bad idea. After two years I can very clearly see where the varnish has not done diddley in protecting the wood. The areas covered with varnish only have cracked and the wood underneath has weathered. The epoxy coated areas ( which also got a coat of varnish) are still bright and shiny, looking like fresh-sawn wood. Now that I can afford to put a skin on that frame I'm going to sand off all that varnish, and seal the wood with epoxy.