dryfly.ca started as a website for sharing one of my DIY projects, a stitch and glue kayak. Since then I've added several more projects including a skin-on-frame kayak, cedar strip canoe, kayak paddles, canoe paddles, building a spey rod, and an antenna for receiving OTA HDTV. I also occasionally ramble on about politics, technology, bike racing, product reviews and last but not least, our kids.
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Tight Lines!
January 21, 2006 at 10:02 pm
· Filed under Tern 14 kayak
Upon reading other people’s experiences with building pygmy kayaks, I’m rethinking the heating situation in the garage. It is becoming more and more apparent to me that I will continue to have difficulties working with the epoxy at the cool temperatures that my unheated garage provides (under 10C).
I’ve read other people describe how the epoxy flows nicely when they apply it to their boat. Not so with moi. When I’m applying the epoxy it is quite sticky and thick.
If anyone has experience or advice on heating an non-insulated garage (20′x12), I would like to hear them. Insulating the garage at this point is not really an option, I have way too many things stacked against the walls along with the bikes attached to the wall studs. Not only that, but insulation is really expensive.
By the way, I ended up returning the heater that I bought from Home Depot. It turns out that there was a recall on it.
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Have you thought of building a tarp enclosure in the garage around the kayak and epoxying area and heating that? It would be a smaller space that would be easier/practical to heat. You could even use an insulating tarp. And rope.
sluggo wrote @ January 23rd, 2006 at 11:43 pm
No I didn’t think about it, but someone else did for me. I’m working on it. I’ve already aquired a quartz heater ($55 LeeValley) for radiant heat. Next step will be an enclosure if required. I certainly hope so, because I’m really enjoying spending money on things I never thought I would have to.
sluggo wrote @ January 24th, 2006 at 12:43 am
Okay, I just learned another valuable lesson. Keeping the epoxy in front of a halogen lamp to keep it warm is not a great idea. The first 5 minutes are good, the epoxy flows fantastic. Unfortunately, between minutes 5 and 6 the epoxy will harden to a solid. I was quick enough to pull off the fibreglass and scrape the epoxy before it really set. I then made a new batch, re-wet the panels, put down new fibreglass, and then applied the epoxy on top of it. I think it will turn out the same as the other joints I’ve done. I’ll probably be 12″ short of fibreglass now. For a guy that considers himself to be moderately “handy”, I can’t imagine how I could screw this up any more than I already have.
DOING THIS EPOXY WORK IN COOLER TEMPERATURES IS TRICKY!
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