Tinting in Expoxy

[shikeswithcanoe]

Hi all.

Our canoes are showing some serious wear and tear on the bow and stern due to the occasional encounters with logs, rocks, sandbars, and gravel. So we bought a some "skid plates" which are basically elongated pear shaped pieces of kevlar. You epoxy these on the bow and stern of the canoe and they provide something for things to wear on other than the primary hull of the canoe.

We are having a friend who does much boat repair coming over in the next day or two to put these on. Now, here is the problem. He insists that for the expoxy to maintain its strength and bonding abilities that NO tint should be mixed in with it. Which I can certainly believe.

Now, I ain't no fashionista but I'd rather not have our hunter green canoes sporting big yellow bannana patches. So, I want them to have a color that at least somewhat matches the boats color. I've played with the tinting and fiberglass resin to get an idea of how to get a decent match to the boats color.

So, the question is, after he gets these patches expoxied on, would it be workable to put another top coat or two of expoxy that DOES have tint in it? For maximum sticking ability I would think putting the tinted epoxy as soon as the untinted epoxy/patch has firmed up but is still tacky is the way to go.

While this tinted epoxy isnt structurally perfect and is not the same as a proper gel coat I can't imagine it would bond so poorly as to peel off the first chance it gets either.

Any thoughts?

 

[Kayak Jack]

I colored the epoxy on the inside of my boats, up under the decks. I used some white epoxy resin and just added it to the mix, replacing some of the clear epoxy resin.
You could epoxy on a layer or two of glass tape for skid wear too. I often run a strip of duct tape along the aft end of the keel.

 

[JEM]

Contact your epoxy vendor and ask. They should have knowledge of that.

 

[oldsparkey]

Just some ideas ..........

I have used the tint on a couple of boats but it is not the same as the gel coat in appearance. The gel coat is finishing coat that is applied when the boat is being made. Or in other words the coat with the color in it for the finished boat when it comes out of the mold.

If you would cover the strips there is a good chance you still might see some of it's color when you are done and will really see it when you get a scratch in the outside coating of epoxy and tint.

It is nothing more then epoxy and coloring so if the strips were epoxied on the boat and a coat of epoxy was over it to seal it then the epoxy and the tint should stick to it. It would be like building a boat , there is a 72 hour time span to apply more epoxy before it needs to be sanded to make a bond between what is there and what you are adding.

Not sure if you thought of this but when the strip is on there then tape it off and use some epoxy and graphite to cover it , the black of the graphite would hide the yellow of the strip but you would have a black stripe on the bow and stern where the skid plates are. Or you could use some green tint and some graphite to make it a real dark green but do some experimenting before putting it on the canoe to get the color right. Especially since you are covering a lighter and brighter color.

Or you can kick some of these ideas around with your buddy to see what he thinks since he has done what you are doing in the past. A little Research and asking questions before doing it is always a good idea.