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Re: Strip: Glassing Recurved Canoe Stem
By:Mike Savage
Date: 2/18/2013, 4:14 pm
In Response To: Re: Strip: Glassing Recurved Canoe Stem *PIC* (Bruce Berckmans)

However, I think I have (currently) convinced myself to go the single piece route as you suggest. As you can see from the attached pic (obviously not ready for glass) it has an interior stem feature. I like the pencil marking approach but to do that I would have to attach a stick to the pencil to get all the way in, mark then cut and try to lay the glass back in along either side of the stem. I see the inevitable multiple loose strands at the edge leaving a mess that would be very tough to clean-up in the narrow space. Perhaps if I used the "drape the cloth over the outside of the boat" technique to get an approximate cut dimension and then I could lay it into and up the sides of the stem, let it set, and cut the surplus with a razor blade on a stick along the base of the stem where they meet the strips?

Hi Bruce,
From the look of her, I can safely assume that she's very symetrical. :) Instead of using the glass cloth to get the correct shape, use a sacrificial piece to get the shape and transfer that to the glass, using the single pattern to cut both sides of cloth. Similar to home tailoring from patterns.
To prevent the inevitable loose strands at the edges, use cyanoacrylate glue to 'seal' the edge, like heat sealing nylon or polyester cloth cut edges. Use as little as possible and it won't show when the glass is epoxied. I used the gluing-the-edges trick when glassing a battery-box. I cut the cloth at the corners of the box, trimmed the glass flush with the side corner on each face and glued those edges together so it was a 'single' layer of glass on the outside before I resined it. Kurt M's 10' Philosophy works down to 2' (at which point I can't actually see it anyway) so I think it's a good technique.

Mike Savage
South West Cork
Luddite that I am, I didn't take photos of it and it's a few hundred miles away now.

Messages In This Thread

Strip: Glassing Recurved Canoe Stem *PIC*
Bruce Berckmans -- 2/18/2013, 10:11 am
Re: Strip: Glassing Recurved Canoe Stem
Etienne Muller -- 2/18/2013, 1:02 pm
Re: Strip: Glassing Recurved Canoe Stem
Bruce Berckmans -- 2/18/2013, 2:35 pm
Re: Strip: Glassing Recurved Canoe Stem *PIC*
Rob Macks/Laughing Loon CC&K -- 2/18/2013, 1:15 pm
Re: Strip: Glassing Recurved Canoe Stem *PIC*
Bruce Berckmans -- 2/18/2013, 3:40 pm
Re: Strip: Glassing Recurved Canoe Stem
Mike Savage -- 2/18/2013, 4:14 pm
Re: Strip: Glassing Recurved Canoe Stem
Bruce Berckmans -- 2/19/2013, 8:34 am
Re: Strip: Glassing Recurved Canoe Stem
Bill Hamm -- 2/20/2013, 2:43 pm
Re: Strip: Glassing Recurved Canoe Stem
Bruce -- 2/21/2013, 1:01 pm
Re: Strip: Glassing Recurved Canoe Stem
Bill Hamm -- 2/21/2013, 3:50 pm
Re: Strip: Glassing Recurved Canoe Stem
ancient kayaker -- 2/18/2013, 11:52 pm