: I just use a sharp blade and drag it perpendicular to the seam
: edge. Fast and efficient. I hate sanding 'glass, and will try
: anything to get out of that nasty job. That's why after building
: three strip boats I now only build SOF. What a joy, and you get
: to paddle your boat before you die!! :)

I am of a like mind. I friggin' hate sanding epoxy, and I had a good (or what I thought was good) cartridge respirator when I last drove the ROS up Pike's Peak every night for a week. Still felt like I'd smoked a day's output from the Camel factory all at once for a few days after sanding. Now if I mess with epoxy, I will scrape it when it's a just hard enough, or mash it flat so I don't have to scrape it. Never again will I think "I'll just sand that off later." Ha! I think one of the best tips I picked up here for seam tape was to cut the selvage edge off first to aid feathering it in later.

Not to say SOF are a perfect solution, they do create a few new problems but generally so much more pleasant to build, and seem to stave off the build demons for a little while, anyhow. And at around $300 a pop, much more money stays in the wallet. A buddy once said a profound piece of wisdom: "Strippers are only after your money", and he wasn't even talking about kayaks. They are still pretty to look at though, and I'm regularly in awe of the results many of the folks here achieve. Maybe one day I'll have that much patience. Including enough to wait for the epoxy to actually get hard enough to sand -- in hindsight, I suspect that is part of my problem why I had such a bad experience with the sanding. Probably gets easier when one goes about it properly and with the right tools. The only thing I have to say about the dremel is to make sure to add safety glasses if nothing else. Being blind while gasping for air is even worse, and it seems like every time I touch a dremel something flies off and hits me in the face, or the cutoff disc or sanding drum disintegrates at 94,000 mph.

However, when Mr. Hamm gets around to posting on his dacron/glass skin, I may be shopping for a new respirator. Hope the instructions don't include buying more than 1 gross of sandpaper packs though! : )

And that's the only thing I'm writing on the internet before I finish this coffee. Hope I didn't say anything too stupid this time. : ) Carry on.