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Thanks Jim! I hadn’t even thought about how the tumblehome would affect the shrink wrap, shoot. Maybe a strip or two of packaging tape in that area would work? Also, how have others handled laminating over tumblehome? I’ve seen Jim’s method of tilting the canoe and doing one side at a time...

I’ve buffed with these products with some success. Not sure if it is a good idea, but really light sanding (starting with 220, finishing with 400, 1000 wet sanding) will take off the faded gelcoat but you definitely don’t want to take off too much and compromise the hull.

With this quarantine going on, I’ve got a little experiment going on in the basement. I have just enough leftover 9 oz Kevlar to make a 15’4” solo canoe. I want something fast and light I can trip with, but also with a little rocker to play around in my local lake. Northwest Canoe’s Merlin plan...

That crack doesnt look terrible and is not in a critical spot, like say the floor. $150 is as cheap as those go around here. Just check the middle to make sure it hasnt perma- oil canned. Thats a great entry level canoe you could paddle solo or tandem. Sure, a used royalex canoe like an old town...

Nice! Looking forward to following your next build, Jim. Pretty cool we live in a time where you can call Kevlar Old School haha. I am amazed how hard the real foam core cured. Im a true believer now. No issues with bonding so far, but I made sure to spray the 77 very quickly and lightly.

All the great builds going on now inspired me to get back to the needed upgrades on the CF Innegra canoe I built last summer. I posted this on some other threads but the biggest issue was the oil canning when not loaded (I used pink foam ribs, like the Moran method). Alas, Im installing a real...

Could you lay the divinycell scrimed/scored side down to curve easier and have a flat top to lay cloth on? Also asking for a friend...

My best guess is that it protects you from accidentally scraping a thigh on metal thread and possibly prevents the bolt from bending to an extreme angle and weakening. My only evidence for this is from my reckless cousin who thought to ratchet strap one of my canoes to his car roof with the...

Looking good! What to do with the mold? Hang it up - you will want to build another one next spring.

Nice work - that looks awesome! I noticed that your fabric is dual twill, having the basalt and Innegra going in both directions to maximize both properties. Once you get the thwarts and yoke in, I think you will find that the gunwales will appear less wavy. I freaked out about that last year...

If I recall, it was tricky. Very similar to just carbon fiber, but it was black Innegra. I think we had a lamp in the darker corner of the garage to help with the visibility. I wonder if white Innegra would show better?

That carbon sandwich in Innegra bread looks tasty - and pretty much indestructible! Haha - you would want all the hands you could get to wet out all 4 layers in place before your resin cures. Innegra by itself has pretty weak tensile and compression strength so S-glass would probably be a good...

Yes, I did seal one end and was very happy with the clean result and saved effort later. Also I did just an S-glass football on top of the full layer of E-glass for abrasion resistance (and less cost). Have fun in Hawaii! Plenty of time to ponder all this another day!

Cool idea on the gunwales! If I understand correctly, youre going for attaching the pre-cured composite outwales before removing the shell from the mold? That would save a lot of trouble dealing with a floppy hull later. You may not even need to stress about doing it immediately after the full...

From the google research I did, Innegras appeal is its lower cost, UV resistence, extreme elongation to breaking strength...and because its a new material! I read in a few places that it works best as a hybrid fabric to take advantage of complimentary properties with stiff materials, and for...

Oh man, this is going to be a fun build to watch! I made a carbon fiber Innegra last summer based on an 18 foot Jensen. The tumblehome looks very similar to your plug (not as extreme as Jims) and I think you could get it in one go. It was my first time using peel ply and what a game changer. I...

We did it in about 2 hrs 20 min and were in the middle of the pack. The winners finished in a blazing hour and a half. We paddled an old 18 foot kevlar Jensen that we use for tripping (the one I added a layer of glass to along with several patches). It would be interesting to see how those...

For sure much easier without a pack, but I was really surprised with the put-in and take-outs on Basset Creek. Lots of people ate it on slippery rocks and mucky banks. For liability reasons, Id expect a different route in future years. Even with the portaging, those professional canoe racers...

Anyone else get a chance to participate in this yesterday? My cousin and I signed up last minute. 6-7 miles of paddling, 3-4 miles of portaging through the lakes and creeks of Minneapolis. I really hope they do it again next year - fun event! https://www.redbull.com/us-en/events/urban-portage/

Wow Steve, that turned out awesome! Great idea on the yoke - that avoids the PITA of trying to wrap fabric around the whole thing and still gives you a strong sandwich. How many layers of fabric did you use on the angled seat supports? And is that a strip of cedar imbedded in it? Curious how you...