Can anyone recommend a readily available varnish to go over and protect the epoxy on my pirogue? I still need to finish my inwales, but that's about it, and hoping to finish in a couple of days.
Z Spar , Captains or Flagship varnish is all I use , from Raka. http://www.raka.com/ or a good store who stocks it.
What ever you do , DO NOT use Minn Wax varnish or anything they make , that crap is just that. Use it and in no time you will be regretting that decision , by sanding all of it off , what does not flake off and replacing it with something good. :twisted: With the good work you did on your boat use something good to protect it.
Thanks Chuck. How long should I wait for the epoxy to cure before applying the varnish? I think I recall reading that you have to wait a period of time before varnishing.
Ok, thanks. I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to take it out and use it for 30 days. The season is too short here for that. We get our first hard frost at the end of August! I want to get some mileage out of this and enjoy it.
sorry for the thread drift, but what brand of epoxy is tellling you that you need 30 days for a full cure?
West Systems epoxy say you can varnish/paint after full cure, which, depending on hardner is something like 12 hours. Full strength is achieved in something like four days. Nowhere do they talk about thirty days?
Things might have changed but when I built the Coho from Pygmy Boats (back in the dark ages) they recommended that you wait for 30 days before varnishing the boat but could paddle it 72 hours after completion.
The epoxy is cured in that time limit (72 hours) and is safe to paddle but there is a small residual amount of the chemicals that take long to evaporate.
I have done the same with all the rest of the boats since I like to play it safe.
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