Repairing a carbon kevlar boat

[Mikebelluk]

Good video here shoeing how to fix a carbon kevlar boat:

http://www.easycomposites.co.uk/learning/kayak-repair-tutorial.aspx

[soundoftheseagull]

Can you do those type of repairs? Must sort the keel strip with you this year.

[TechnoEngineer]

Great video. Two questions:

a) Where is the twill used? What would it be used for instead of the weave?
b) £17.95 for wet'n'dry? Really?

[Mikebelluk]

a) twill cloth drapes more easily around 3D surfaces, better than plain weave which is ok for flatter surfaces. However twill is more expensive, and sometimes you need to tape up cut edges as it likes to wriggle all over the place when you wet it out.

b) that's £17-95 for 50 sheets of Mirka wet+dry, which along with 3M stuff is about the best quality abrasive paper you can get. Believe me the cheap w+d paper you get from a pound shop is a false economy, it doesn't cut or last anywhere as long as the good stuff.

I like the look of that Twaron black carbon/aramid cloth, I'm going to try some of it in a Formby Finger MkII prototype soon.

[TechnoEngineer]

Thanks Mike - I'd certainly want a lifetime's supply for £18!

[sinkingpete]

If your after resin or cloth, try Marineware in Southampton (I have no relationship with them other than have bought a fair bit from them over the years) they are the uk distributor for SP systems resin and cloth, I think SP products are used in tiderace boats but I may be wrong.
Marinewares prices do tend to vary depending on who you get and whats being cleared out. If your not to fussy on cloth weights they can be pretty cheap. I bough 180gsm plain weave carbon for £10/sqm in Nov.
I can recommend their SP ampreg 22 resin for hand layup and respairs - nice to work with.

[Daker]

Good video here shoeing how to fix a carbon kevlar boat:
http://www.easycomposites.co.uk/learning/kayak-repair-tutorial.aspx

Thanks for posting this link, thats a really useful video.

There's loads of other helpfull tutorials on their website as well as their Carbon Mods site which will Im sure give some folk all manner of ideas how to pimp their boats.

[AHPP]

Good video.