Fiberglassing the outside

So the outside of the entire canoe is nicely sanded and it is time to put on the fiberglass cloth and resin.  I chose West Systems resin.  Their standard resin with special "expensive" hardener that should help guarantee I get the results I want.  Below is a picture of the resin with the pumps ready to go.

The first step is to lay out the 6oz fiberglass cloth and smooth out all of the wrinkles.  

After that, I mixed up the resin and hardener in a plastic cup.  I spread it on with a foam brush and let it sit for approximately 20 minutes.  Then I came back and squeegeed out the excess resin.  This completed the first coat.  I let this coat cure for approximately 6 hours and then put on the second coat of resin.  If you put on the second coat before the first coat completely cures, you get a chemical bond between layers...if you wait too long, your bond is a mechanical bond which is not quite as strong.  I put on the second coat with just the squeegee....the fiberglass weave is starting to slowly disappear in the resin.  The third coat of resin was put on with a brush.  My first attempt at this, I put it on with a foam 4" roller....but I got a ton of ait bubbles in the resin.  I had to sand it all off and try again.  The brush seemed to work much better for me in eliminating the air bubbles.

This stage is always fun because you get to finally see what the "finished product" is going to look like.  I absolutely love the colors of the canoe.  My canoe has a nice blend of dark cedar and light cedar which gives a really unique look.  I also love the knots in the wood, and I am very pleased with the walnut strips I placed in the hull, as well as the walnut stems.  

This weekend was the first nice weekend we've had yet this year.  Temperatures hit the mid 60's!  I really wanted to drag the canoe outside and get some pictures of it in direct sunlight.  The colors really show themselves off now.  I've got the 3rd layer on and the outside is basically done.  Ill do some more sanding when it is all done, and some varnish, and that's about it!  

After I took these pictures, I removed the canoe from the form with some help, and placed it upright on a set of canoe cradles I made up.  Pictures of them to follow!