5. Epoxy Disaster

I learned some hard lessons using the System 3 Epoxy and not testing the quality of a new bottle mid-way through building my boat. I emptied my first bottle prior to finishing the process of fiberglassing the outer hull. I switched to the second bottle of epoxy (also sent to me in the Pygmy kayak kit) and thought nothing of it. I continued using the pumps (2 parts epoxy to 1 part hardner) to fill my mixing cup, and stiring it thoroughly before I applying it.

I poured the epoxy/hardner mix into a paint tray, and then used the 1/8" foam roller that Pygmy recommended in the manual. Then I laid the fiberglass over the hull and applied a saturating skim coat over the top of the fiberglass. I used a home made squeegy that consisted of a block of wood with rubber (from an old yoga mat) wrapped around it and secured with some wood screws. I obviously held the screw side toward the palm of my hand and it worked great to skim the epoxy mixture from the keel down to the edge of the boat.

This process of skimming seemed to work just fine. I didn't notice any air bubbles under the cloth. I would regularly wipe off the squeegy with one of my rags and disgarded all the glue that was skimmed off.

I turned down the heaters slightly in the garage (the manual said to ensure you didn't allow the temperature to rise during this drying process - because the wood can release bubbles if the temperature is rising) and planned to allow the newly fiberglassed hull to dry. I was really getting excited about the progress!

Disaster

I checked the hull the next morning. It was still sticky to the touch. I left it alone and waited another night. The second day it was still tacky in several places. I did some research and read that the epoxy would cure faster in slightly colder temps, so I turned down the heaters even more (down to the mid-60's) and left it another night. The next day I checked it again; it still was not dry.

I didn't know what was going on! I raised the temp to 70 and tried blowing some fans on the hull. Nothing I did worked. The epoxy wouldn't dry. I called System 3, got their answering machine, and left a message explaining the situation.

Since this is my first boat building experience, I didn't now what to expect. I had no experience with epoxy, but everything up to this point seemed to work fine. The 2:1 mixing ratio was simple enough . . . and the pumps in the bottle made that process even easier.

About an hour later a System 3 technical support person called me back. I explained the entire problem once again and he indicated that by relying on the pumps I had probably mixed the epoxy and hardner at the wrong ratio. He said I should ditch the pumps and rely entirely on mixing cups that clearly had the measurements on the side. Okay, I thought, I'll do that going forward, but what about the crap on my boat that won't dry?

He said, "You'll need to scape it all off - preferably down to the bare wood and then start over. Use acetone and good scraper."

I was crushed.

But I was still in the mindset that I must have mixed the epoxy wrong and thought it was somehow my fault. I started the process of scraping the uncured epoxy off the boat and tearing up the fiberglass (because the epoxy underneath had not cured either). It was incredibly laborious, disheartening, and painful to take such huge steps "backward" in the process.

Here's what it looked like once I started peeling off the fiberglass . . . it was still tacky underneath. Not Good!

Here's what it looked like as I started the scrape and tear-off session.

The manual scraping was taking day after day, weekend after weekend. I finally broke down and bought myself a belt sander. I had had it with this manual stuff. I drove down to my local Home Depot and found one of the best belt sanders on the market. I was concerned about all the epoxy dust it was going to create, so I bought one with a good dust bag (and I also got myself some good googles and 3M masks).

The belt sander did the trick. I probably went through about 1 dozen sets of sand paper (because they would get clogged up quickly with the uncured epoxy). At first I would try and scrape some of the glue off the sand paper, but I quickly resolved myself to the fact that I was going to go through one after another.

Later that weekend I succeeded in stripping all the uncured glue and fiberglass off. I was back down to bare wood and had been carefull not to sand "into" the wood itself. Well, let's just say there were a few places where I started to . . . but quickly stopped before it got too deep. You can see below where I was able to stop because the bow and stern had been completed with the previous bottle of epoxy and cured just fine.

Once I got to this stage - I was feeling better (hey, I wasn't thinking about burning the entire boat in my fireplace anymore ;-p ) and I started wondering whether it truly was my mixing the epoxy - hardener incorrectly, or something else. I mean, I had to know whether to try and use the rest of the bottles I already had . . . or get rid of them and use something else. I decided to do a little experiment. I used one of my small paint cups with the ounces clearly marked on the side. I used the pumps, but measured just to be certain.

Two pumps epoxy . . . yes, it was right on, 2 oz. One pump hardner . . . yup, that's correct, 1 oz. Okay, mix it thoroughly, and now pour it into another container and let it harden.

The next day I came out and checked it. Normally the mixture would have heated up and turned as hard as a rock. My mixture was not. Oh sure, part of it had partially cured, but the top layer was still wet and sticky. I cut the top off the plastic cup I had used for curing (which, by the way, would have been melted under normal curing conditions.) This is what my mixture looked like:

I scoop some of it up with a piece of fiberglass. Obviously not fully cured.

I had gotten a bad bottle of epoxy from Pygmy and System 3. Wow, it really wasn't something I had done wrong! Despite all the work I just gone through to fix the boat, at least I felt somewhat vindicated knowing it was bad material.

Next time . . . how I recover from this and finish the hull.

4. Glue the Seams - Clip the Wires

The hull is basically all wired together now and it's time to start putting epoxy into all the seams. I mix the standard 2 parts epoxy to 1 part hardener and pour it into the syringe. Then I carefully run the tip down each seam - giving it just the right amount or pressure so the epoxy complete fills the varying width seams.





Seams after first round of fill.




Let it dry overnight (or a couple days) and then it's time to clip the wires. Yep, all 200 or so of them. This can be tricky at times because the wire can get kinked on the inside and not pull through very easily. I used a variety of techniques including:

a) clipping one end of the wire very close to the hole, and then wiggling and gently pushing the other end inward (until the clipped side slid inside the boat, then angling the wire down or up so it followed the natural curve inside and slide right out.

b) grasping one end with a pliers, then placing the rubber end of my side cutter under the head of the pliers (to give it leverage) and slowly pulling the wire all the way out.

What you want to avoid is pulling so hard you damage the wood around the holes or gouging your hull with the head of the pliers.




Once the wires are all pulled you can completely coat the hull with epoxy. Pygmy recommends using a 1/8" foam roller, but I found the rollers tended to leave too many air bubbles or caused drips. (Which you'll see in a photo a little further down.) I would have to keep brushing the epoxy over and over again with a paint brush to knock down the air bubbles and eliminate the running.



Here you can see a close-up of some of the epoxy drips and runs.




I eventually decided to sand all these blemishes down smooth before applying another coat of epoxy completely with a good paint brush (being careful to continue brushing the sloping sides for about 30 minutes after applying) and this virtually eliminated the air bubble and drip problem.

The final result (before applying the fiberglass) was a pretty nice look:



Next time . . . Applying the Fiberglass.

3. Stitch and Glue the Hull

A side view of the hull (stern). You can see some of the tools used during construction, including lots and lots of clamps (courtesy of my good friend Brent Slattengren).



Another shot of the inside of the stern. Can you believe how many wires there are? I've poked my fingers too many times to count. (ouch)



A close-up of the stern.


Here's a shot of the inside looking toward the bow.



I've covered the bow with an old t-shirt so we don't snag our clothes as we walk by.


A nice shot of the bow. You can see why we had to cover it with a t-shirt :-)



Looking from bow to stern and a few more of the tools used. The cordless drill was invaluable (here with the trusty 1/16" bit).


More tools included a power sander and safety equipment (glasses, disposable gloves while working with epoxy, masking tape, etc.)


Inside looking toward the bow. You can see how all the joints match up (pretty well). But the main point of "matching" is at the bow and stern. The little white squares are the lables that Pygmy Kayaks provides so you know what piece goes where.

Next I'll be flipping the kayak over to start gluing the seams between each hull piece. Then I clip and remove all the wires.

2. Early Hull Assembly

I couldn't believe it myself, but you actually "drill holes in your boat" to complete this process . . . they call this Stitch & Glue. Once the holes are drilled, you stitch together the hull pieces with wire. You're only drilling 1/16" holes and you fill them later with epoxy and cover them with fiberglass.


Here you see the temporary frames that the hull pieces follow. By wiring them to these guides as you go the boat begins to take shape.


Here's a close-up of some of the stitching. You can also see where the seams of the pieces are lining up.


The bow of the boat is starting to emerge.

1. Starting the Building Process

I started the process of building the Pygmy Kayak by reading the instruction booklet and getting all my additional materials and tools ready.


In this photo you can see all the pieces that had to be glued together to make the hull. The darker areas on the wood are where the epoxy was applied and allowed to cure overnight.


Here you can see a close-up of a seam being glued together. The shiny color is wet epoxy. Once applied you lay down a strip of fiberglass, wet it with epoxy, lay some clear plastic over it, then a flat piece of wood and a brick for weight.

Return the next day, remove the brick, wood and then peel off the plastic to reveal a secure joint.