Boat Building Forum

Find advice on all aspects of building your own kayak, canoe or any lightweight boats

Re: Skin-on-Frame: PL Premium on Polyester Tested
By:Dave Gentry
Date: 10/17/2017, 8:03 pm

That's good to hear. The SOF I recently sold, and the one I still have in my 'fleet', both have PL Premium on them.
I have tried paint only, epoxy, fiberglass cloth with epoxy and PL Premium. The PL Premium seems to be by far the best. And it requires a lot less paint...

You might want to also post on the Kudzu Craft forum - they might be interested although in any mention of it in the past most did not seem to receptive of the idea.

I'm happy to see that the idea has spread.

For the uninitiated, this post is referring to Loctite's PL Premium 3X polyurethane construction adhesive, used as an undercoat on the fabric of the hull. It is inexpensive and available at any hardware store (in the US, at least). It does not have UV resistance, so needs a coat of paint or varnish, etc, over it.

The PL is remarkably tough - it's just not coming off, and apparently greatly strengthens the fabric . . . securely gluing the fibers together. I apply it to the bottom of all my boats, and have for a while now. I still have the first test pieces from (circa) 2009, on both nylon and polyester. They were immersed for weeks, run through the wash multiple times, crumpled/twisted/folded regularly and scraped hard with various implements - including bricks. Nary a change back then, and the test pieces still look the same after all these years.

Two issues with the PL: One is that getting a very smooth coat takes more effort than I am willing to give it. The other issue is that some paints do not adhere well - White Rustoleum and Rust Stop paints seem to be the main culprits - I've had patches of these paints randomly flake off on a few boats. Most of the other colors work OK, though.

For those interested, here's a link to my short application video: https://youtu.be/o2FXKmFrmxw

Dave

Messages In This Thread

Skin-on-Frame: PL Premium on Polyester Tested
Noel Bennett -- 10/16/2017, 10:54 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: PL Premium on Polyester Tested
Rich D -- 10/17/2017, 9:50 am
Re: Skin-on-Frame: PL Premium on Polyester Tested
Dave Gentry -- 10/17/2017, 8:03 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: PL Premium on Polyester Tested
Jay Babina -- 10/18/2017, 2:55 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: PL Premium on Polyester Tested
Noel Bennett -- 10/18/2017, 7:37 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: PL Premium on Polyester Tested *PIC*
Rich D -- 10/18/2017, 9:05 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: PL Premium on Polyester Tested
Noel Bennett -- 10/18/2017, 9:12 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: PL Premium on Polyester Tested
Noel Bennett -- 10/18/2017, 7:30 pm