Final Shear Line

To determine the final shear line, we clamped a cedar strip along the line that had been previously marked. The cedar was bent upward to follow the arch of the canoe. The line was etched into the epoxy with a utility knife.

After the line was etched, excess wood was sanded off using a belt sander. I always get the fun jobs.

Fiberglassing the Inside

It was harder to lay the fiberglass inside the canoe. We cut it six inches from each end as there is not way to get the 'glass right into the bow and stern.

The first coat was applied in the same manner as on the outside.
It was tricky painting the epoxy into the narrow bow and stern.

For the second and third coats, we made sure the epoxy was warmed on the heater. This makes the epoxy much more liquid so that we could apply a thin coat with the roller. Before the epoxy began to set at all, the coat was dry brushed to remove any roller marks and make for a perfectly smooth finish.

This is inside the canoe after three coats. All that is left is a light sanding and many coats of varnish. This will happen once the gunnels are on.

Sanding the Inside

Due to the curverature of the inside of the canoe, all the sanding had to be done by hand.

I got the job of sanding inside the narrow bow and stern as my hands are much smaller than Randy's. By the time I was done, my knuckles looked like I had been in a bar fight.
The inside is ready for fiberglass and epoxy once it is vacuumed of dust and cleaned with lacquer thinner.

More Coats

You have to apply sufficient epoxy on the first coat to saturate the cloth through to the wood so that the cloth adheres to the wood. Once the epoxy sets up somewhat, the excess is squeegeed off and discarded.

This is what the canoe looks like as the first coat is drying to the touch. The next coat must be applied before the epoxy completely hardens so that the next coat chemically bonds to the first.

Here we have one a second coat one the left half only. What a difference as the weave is covered.

This is after three coats. There are some runs which will have to be removed with a cabinet scraper before the body is sanded and a final thin coat is applied. It is best to leave the epoxy cure for a week before sanding to reduce the toxicity of the sanding dust.

Laying the Fiberglass on the Outside

First Randy laid out the fiberglass over the body and smoothed it out.
Mixing the epoxy. The pumps make having the right proportion of epoxy to hardener easy. One epoxy, one hardener, one epoxy, one hardener...

It is amazing that wetting out the cloth with the exoxy makes the cloth disappear.

Even I got a chance to try my hand at applying the epoxy.

Creating the Shear Line

Next the shear line had to be determined and cut. A cedar strip was clamped to the bottommost cedar strip.

Randy transferred the shear line marks from the molds to the outside of the cedar planking and then bent the strip to follow the marks which go from the level of the last cedar strip to the level of the top of the stem. Using a cedar strip to form the line guaranteed a perfect curve.

The shear line was cut out using a utility knife with a sharp 1" blade. The cut was made about 1/4" from the drawn line and will be cut to the exact fit later in the build. The staples holding the planking on were removed and the extra lifted off.

Sanding and Filling the Body

Once the glue was dry and all the staples were carefully removed, I began to sand. I used 100 grit paper because that's what we had. The book calls for 80 grit, but I am more comfortable with the 100 grit as it is a bit more forgiving. I can always sand more, but I can't unsand.

We attached a shop vacuum to the sander to keep down the cedar dust, but also to collect it to be used in fillling any cracks. It is important to fill any cracks in the body so no airlock is created to stop the fiber glass from adhereing to the body.

Randy mixed Fairing Compound with the correctly measured amounts of epoxy and hardner. Then he added the cedar dust until he reached a good colour for filling. The cedar dust from the sander is as fine as flour.

Once the filler is dry, it will be sanded and any missed flaws will be filled.