Date: Mon, 05 Jul 1999 20:58:36 -0700
From: Llama <llama@mb.sympatico.ca>
To: baidarka@lists.intelenet.net
Subject: Re: baidarka Dacron finishing
Michael:
Many thanks, Varathane is the stuff I will use. It is easy to find
around here - I didn't know you could get it in a pigmented form,
though. Where did you get your Dacron from? I would really like to get
it from a Canadian source as ordering from the States is so expensive.
Regards,
Jason
Michael O'Flynn wrote:
>
> Jason:
>
> I used water-bourne polyurethane. The brand was Varathane Diamond Outdoor
> Finish. If you're not from Canada, I'm willing to bet that pretty well any
> water-bourne polyurethane will work, especially if it says you can use it
> outdoors.
>
> I painted a test piece of stretched dacron with the stuff and submerged it
> for more than 24 hours. It became slightly milky, but didn't seem different
> in other properties from an unsubmerged sample (experiment and control!).
>
> I know that the test isn't highly scientific, but the boat works well. The
> skin is taut, never gets saggy, and withstood an errant whack up against the
> brick exterior of my house as I took it off the van the first time.
> Couldn't find the scrape.
>
> It's low cost, and the stuff comes as an "enamel" too, which is polyurethane
> with pigment added so it's just like paint. I'll probably use that some
> time. As it is, I probably have enough left from the original gallon to put
> 5 coats on another two and a half boats.
>
> Cheers!
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Llama <llama@mb.sympatico.ca>
> To: Baidarka List <baidarka@lists.intelenet.net>
> Date: Saturday, June 26, 1999 9:25 AM
> Subject: baidarka Dacron finishing
>
> >What is the best way to seal a Dacron skin? I have decided to use
> >Dacron for my skin kayak, mostly because of light weight, but the low
> >cost and ease of working (from what I gather from the archives) was also
> >a factor. Now I have to figure out what to finish it with. The ideal
> >sealant, it seems, should be light, flexible, inexpensive, and
> >non-toxic. I also do not want a transparent skin; an opaque colour
> >would be required. I don't think anything I've run across yet meets all
> >those requirements. Platt Monfort recommends acrylic house paint - how
> >is this as far as flexibility is concerned? What are your experiences
> >with the various ways of finishing this skin?
> >
> >Regards,
> >
> >Jason