Help with Leaking Canoe

[steelpulse007]

Hi Guys, Can anybody offer advice on fixing/patching up a hole in the hull of a canoe? The hull is made of fibreglass, and with the small hole that I noticed during my last fishing trip I could not use it as it is taking water. I noticed it was quite heavy after dropping a line, not sure how the hole appeared.

Any help would be appreciated

 

[Psy]

http://www.wikihow.com/Fiberglass


Fiberglass is quite an easy subject to work with, see link above and use Google (via your cell phone or the home p)c..... if your mother isn't around.

Ensure you have the correct cleaning agent beforehand ~ Acetone.

Allow you boat/canoe to dry thoroughly before you commence, prepare your work area beforehand with sandpaper, by roughening it up on both sides of the damaged area.

Chopped strand matting is somewhat stronger than cloth ~ build a base with the matting and close the hole, allowing the matting to overlap the hole.
You may want to sand or file down the repair once it has dried properly and re-coat it with more clear resin, for more security.

PS. Don't forget to add the hardener to the resin, and measure correctly as the quantities are important. i.e. too hot a mix will make your repair brittle, too little again will make the mix too supple and it won't dry correctly.

 

[steelpulse007]

Psy wrote:

http://www.wikihow.com/Fiberglass


Fiberglass is quite an easy subject to work with, see link above and use Google (via your cell phone or the home p)c..... if your mother isn't around.

Ensure you have the correct cleaning agent beforehand ~ Acetone.

Allow you boat/canoe to dry thoroughly before you commence, prepare your work area beforehand with sandpaper, by roughening it up on both sides of the damaged area.

Chopped strand matting is somewhat stronger than cloth ~ build a base with the matting and close the hole, allowing the matting to overlap the hole.
You may want to sand or file down the repair once it has dried properly and re-coat it with more clear resin, for more security.

PS. Don't forget to add the hardener to the resin, and measure correctly as the quantities are important. i.e. too hot a mix will make your repair brittle, too little again will make the mix too supple and it won't dry correctly.

Thanx Psy. I did a bit of googling and youtubing, while my mom wasn't watching and stumbled on some videos and guides similar to your guidelines, just need to get all the materials ready and get to patching it up before the fever starts getting to me

t(((up((t(((up((t(((up((

 

[Psy]

Shot....you may also want to cut a small piece of cardboard or plywood to fill the hole prior to using the glass.
This will ensure you have a base to work on, when you start the matting or chopped strand.
Tip; The chopped strand is by far a stronger application and can be spread and separated easier.

 

[Dr halibut hoffman]

If you can borrow a decent, gentle, orbital sander it makes life a lot easier, been fixing canoes since I was a kid and fixed countless surfboard dings and it takes the labour out of it.. Get different grit sand papers and a sanding block for your hand sanding and final work.
Remember to prep everything and get everything ready before you mix your resin, once mixed be focused on what you are doing and work until the resin is gelling or you have run out and need to mix more.
Mix about a teaspoon of catalyst to a 3/4 to full 250ml cup of resin in warm weather and use a teaspoon or 5ml to a half a cup in cool/ cold weather. Sand the surface to be fixed first and around it so that it is etched to give nice adhesion for the repair. Wet the area first to be glassed with resin, apply cloth and use the brush to push/dab resin into the cloth gently. If you use strokes you will push the cloth around and it will be a mission, also take care not to mix air bubbles into the resin when you mix and take care not to introduce much air when applying resin. Tape the area 1 cm at least away from your repair with masking tape and when the resin has started to gel, peel it away to leave a nice clean edge that can be sanded carefully flush later before a final sanding coat. Use the orbital sander to get your repair to the desired shape but take great care not to take too much off, then proceed to use a sanding block and courser paper and then finer paper to get it just right. Once done, use water paper and water to get it polished/sanded to new again and you may or may not want to do a final sand coat but you don't really need to. You can do a flow coat of colour after also with or in the sand coat to mask the repair or not, but I have never bothered so can't help you there. Fiberglass work is messy but fun..

Last thing, have acetone for cleaning brushes etc ready as well as clothes washing powder. That's the trick, once done, put the brush in an old yogurt container and coat with a tablespoon or 2 or washing powder and mush into a paste with the resinous brush till wetted completely. Then add a little water, mush, then a little more water, mush, more water.. repeat until you can wash the brush off into the water and the gunk just washes off. Rinse a few times and get it as clean as you can and only then soak the brush in some acetone and clean again under running water. The brush will be as good as new for next fiberglassing after this. Use the washing powder to clean your hands too. Good luck mate..

 

[steelpulse007]

Dr halibut hoffman wrote:

If you can borrow a decent, gentle, orbital sander it makes life a lot easier, been fixing canoes since I was a kid and fixed countless surfboard dings and it takes the labour out of it.. Get different grit sand papers and a sanding block for your hand sanding and final work.
Remember to prep everything and get everything ready before you mix your resin, once mixed be focused on what you are doing and work until the resin is gelling or you have run out and need to mix more.
Mix about a teaspoon of catalyst to a 3/4 to full 250ml cup of resin in warm weather and use a teaspoon or 5ml to a half a cup in cool/ cold weather. Sand the surface to be fixed first and around it so that it is etched to give nice adhesion for the repair. Wet the area first to be glassed with resin, apply cloth and use the brush to push/dab resin into the cloth gently. If you use strokes you will push the cloth around and it will be a mission, also take care not to mix air bubbles into the resin when you mix and take care not to introduce much air when applying resin. Tape the area 1 cm at least away from your repair with masking tape and when the resin has started to gel, peel it away to leave a nice clean edge that can be sanded carefully flush later before a final sanding coat. Use the orbital sander to get your repair to the desired shape but take great care not to take too much off, then proceed to use a sanding block and courser paper and then finer paper to get it just right. Once done, use water paper and water to get it polished/sanded to new again and you may or may not want to do a final sand coat but you don't really need to. You can do a flow coat of colour after also with or in the sand coat to mask the repair or not, but I have never bothered so can't help you there. Fiberglass work is messy but fun..

Last thing, have acetone for cleaning brushes etc ready as well as clothes washing powder. That's the trick, once done, put the brush in an old yogurt container and coat with a tablespoon or 2 or washing powder and mush into a paste with the resinous brush till wetted completely. Then add a little water, mush, then a little more water, mush, more water.. repeat until you can wash the brush off into the water and the gunk just washes off. Rinse a few times and get it as clean as you can and only then soak the brush in some acetone and clean again under running water. The brush will be as good as new for next fiberglassing after this. Use the washing powder to clean your hands too. Good luck mate..

Many Thanx for those pointers, your reply speaks volumes of your experience in this kind of thing. It's a small hole, I dont expect it to muck me around too much, you guys have given me more than enough to do a good job of it.