We finished re-shooting the coating section of the skin on frame canoe building course yesterday, completing a month long work push to reshoot the entire course. I’m looking forward to getting back to the more creative side of things in the coming months!
The coating I’m using here is the two-part polyurethane sold by Corey Freedman at skinboats.com.
This stuff has developed a reputation over the years as being hard to work with, but in my opinion when you consider the total cost, effort, and toxicity compared to any other coating system I think it’s actually easier.
We apply 3-5 coats, wet on wet, it takes about four hours, and then you’re DONE for the life of the skin which is generally about five years or 5000 paddling miles.
Most of the horror stories involving this stuff just have to do with people using it wrong. The mixture needs to be precisely one part A to two parts B, with just a tiny bit of extra part A. That’s pretty simple to understand but do you have to be aware of the effect of the residues left over in measuring cups and how to compensate for it. And then there’s a whole list of unlikely disasters that only happen once in a while like someone grabbing the part B instead of the part A from a half batch they ordered because it comes in the same size and shape container as the larger size Part A. Or not checking your measuring cups with water to make sure that they were manufactured with accurate measurements.
As far as the application goes, really it’s all about working as fast as possible so once you roll it out it has time to self level before the next coat. This can be challenging for people who are used to being very meticulous. Less is definitely more here. Roll it fast, roll it hard, and then STOP, chill, and just wait.
Of course there’s ways to deal with problems if you got a little OCD with the roller, and there’s even a way to rescue a sticky boat if you didn’t mix correctly as long as the ratios weren’t too bad. But it’s always better to just get it right the first time!
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