Skinned and dyed the solo canoe today. Cool shadows on the sidewalk. I really like the curved laminated walnut and ash seat I ordered from Northstar Canoes. Not a super hard thing to make but the economics of the time involved makes just buying one the easier option, plus it supports canoe people.
I went dark on this one, mixing 2 teaspoons of chestnut with 2 teaspoons of brown Jacquard acid dye in 5 cups water 3 cups vinegar brought to a boil and painted on with a 4 inch foam brush.
One of the big issues with using acid dye to color a skinboat is that heavy concentrations of dye can create issues with the polyurethane not sticking well to the skin. To guard against this I never add more than 4 teaspoons, I don’t dye certain skins, I work fast, and finally I wipe off any excess with a towel. These constraints can make it hard to get a darker boat so I usually add some amount of chestnut any time I want to go dark because a little bit darkens a lot. Painted on by itself it starts out a striking red wine color and slowly warms to a deep russet with UV exposure.
Dark boats weather a lot harder than light ones, rapidly mottling almost like a sealskin, it’s a nice look if that’s what you want. It also makes it easier to hide your boat when you land places you aren’t supposed to.
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