Special thanks to neslon highley for his permission to publish his article on royalex canoe repair. The key is to make sure you clean that boat before you begin repairing. Note use of simple spring clamp to keep top edge of the royalex aligned. Diy polyethylene canoe hull and keel repair for zero dollars duration. Bwca royalex cracks boundary waters listening point general. The canoe landed on the corner of a pallet in subfreezing temps. I love this little canoe and would like to be able to. Mar 02, 2015 royalex is relatively difficult to repair everything about it resists adhesion, and our standard clunky epoxyfiberglass tape repairs would have added sixplus ounces per crack, or somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty pounds, to the canoe. I used the thickened along with sglass to repair interior cracks that showed up when i pulled off a large doggie pad that had been applied with contact cement. I though id run my plans past you fine folks here at paddling. Canoe repair kayak repair kit kits gelcoat gel coat. The hole that goes all the way through the hull isnt too big maybe quartersized, but there are also several cracks a couple of inches long.
Skidplates extend the life of your kevlar, royalex, fiberglass, composite hull or polyethylene canoe like the old town discovery series by protecting it from scraping on rocks. Even severely damaged fiberglass canoes can be brought back to like new condition. Royalex repair resin forms a paste that fills gaps, dents and gouges well and cures to an extremely hard, durable finish. Composite repairs fiberglasskevlar and gel coat cracks. It also has many applications on fiberglass, wood and metal. The best way to determine whether such an injury is fatal is to contact. The wooden gunwales of royalex canoes can rip a hull apart if left. Ive patched my royalex canoe s cracks several times with legos dissolved in acetone. Enjoy your canoe for years to come by protecting it with the kevlar skid plate kit for royalex canoes. Just found a 6 crack on the side of canoe, below the waterline. Cold cracks happen to royalex boats that have wood gunwales, those with vinyl or metal gunwales dont seem to have the problem.
Canoe repair kayak repair kit kits gelcoat gel coat fiberglass. This is an older canoe that has seen better days but with a few days. Fiberglass cloth can also be used but the inherent. Even though at least one of the canoe manufacturers still recommends it, anyone who has tried to repair a damaged royalex hull with fiberglass or kevlar has discovered that this approach doesnt work. Canoes built of other modern materials, such as aluminum and varieties of plastic composites such as royalex. There was a recent thread regarding repair of hull cracks. Use to cover cosmetic scratches and dings on your royalex canoe.
Boat repair service vermont umiak outdoor outfitters. Get your royalex while you can winnipeg free press. Kevlar fabric for structural repair of kevlar hulls or for use in repair of tears or cracks in royalex hulls. I enjoy fixing boats, even ones you might consider throwing away, getting them functional again and seeing them used on rivers and lakes.
The harmony repair resin is a twopart resin designed to adhere well to royalex and to restore strength to damaged areas. Jounjip plastic welding repair kit for fuel tank, bumper, canoe 2 tips, 20 black plastic rods, 2 mesh, 80w iron new 2019 version. Aug 10, 2016 this is a howto on fixing a fiber glass canoe with minor holes or cracks. Cold cracks are fractures of the material usually running perpendicular to the keel line of the canoe and terminating at a fastener along the gunwale line.
The royalex repair kit works great to repair structural damage to royalex hulls including cracks, cuts, creases and punctures. Sep 15, 2014 ok, i have a twenty year old mad river explorer sixteen foot canoe made out of royalex. Cold cracked hulls are actually quite rare well less than. Probably aluminum gunwales stretch and shrink with temperature at a rate similar to royalex. Twopart resin designed to adhere well to royalex and patch damaged areas, forms a strong permanent bond. I think the gunwales being really dry exacerbated the problem since the canoe was stored outside. Davidson calls these some of the most repairable canoes around. How to survive alone in the wilderness for 1 week eastern woodlands duration. It dries quickly, so you have to work fast when applying. Ive patched my royalex canoes cracks several times with legos dissolved in acetone. The royalex canoe i picked up this fall had a number of cold cracks where the owner hadnt loosened the screws. The royalex repair kit by wenonah canoe repairs royalex hulls. They are straight line cracks that go all the way through fro.
Ok, i have a twenty year old mad river explorer sixteen foot canoe made out of royalex. Seems to me this issue of damage to the inner layer of royalex under any attachments like pedestals, knee pads and drings is a lot more common that people realize since it is hidden. Old town canoe with a damaged keel is repaired using grocery plastic bags with surprisingly good results. Before you begin your gel coat repair you will need to purchase catalyst methyl ethyl ketone peroxide from an. This is a typical crack that you might find on the bottom of a kayak. If you have a damaged fiberglass canoe in need of hull repair, consider yourself lucky. Canoe kayak repair kit plastic boat west system 655k epoxy universal. I took it to a boat shop to repair and they dont want to do it because they feel it. I purchased a frost crack repair kit online for my 17 mad river royalex canoe. Somewhere south of freezing, the plastic body of the canoe shrinks while the dampish wooden gunwales expand. Inside, crack starts under the centre d ring, its only about 1 inch 3 cm plus whatever extends under the d ring patch, the debris in the crack is. Includes enough epoxy resin packets, hardener and filling compounds for several hull repairs. Often you can put new rivets back through the same holes after you do the repairs.
Kayak and canoe repair kit advancing polymer repair. Ive had good success with aquaseal or goop for repairing interal cracks in the royalex. I actually did a very similar repair on an old dagger encore whitewater canoe that had worn through the bottom abs into the core using g flex and e fiberglass 3 layers and it has held up well. The wooden gunwales of royalex canoes can rip a hull apart if left out in bitter cold temperatures. As royalex becomes increasingly scarce and tuffstufftuffstuff expedition canoes become increasingly popular, we are confident that the paddling community will easily adjust to the simple requirements of maintaining the gelcoat finish of their canoes.
I think the gunwales being really dry exacerbated the problem since the canoe was stored outside the last few years. Royalex boats with wood gunwales tend to develop cracks from the screw holes, as wood and royalex. Repair resin is a puttylike 2part resin that cures to a hard finish. The hole cracks are just below the water line towards the front of the canoe. In this video, we show you how to perform a hull repair on any composite canoe by applying an interior patch. Paint scratches get covered with krylon fusion for plastic spray paint. Stan running tape over freshly glued cracks to to prevent the glue from running and keep it relatively smooth when cured. Gelcoat repair kit fills in scratches and surface cracks on composite canoes or kayaks. The resin forms a paste that fills gaps well and cures to an. I enjoy fixing boats, even ones you might consider throwing away, getting them functional again and.
Repair of dents and deep scratches involves filling with royalex repair resin. View topic royalex repairs cracks canadian canoe routes. Your intent in repairing your hull will be to restore stiffness and. Wenonah canoe maintenance, fiberglass repair kits, gelcoat repair and decals. Old town canoe refurbishing patching the hull youtube. Gelcoat repair kits can be ordered from any authorized nova craft canoe dealer. Here in our little city we have a buy and sell facebook page for. Iff you have wood gs they recomend you pull out the screws for the gs for the first 23 feet at each end for storage each year if in a cold climate like mn. Royalex canoes can be susceptible to cold cracks due to hull contraction and expansion.
I keep a roll of flex seal tape handy for when i dont have g flex or need a quick repair. It took a good impact at the bow and has a crack in the royalex that runs lengthwise for a couple of feet on the bottom of the canoe. Indeed, some polyethylene boats are impossible to repair and some types of damage pose a major challenge whether it be a home based repair, a shop repair, or even factory based. Royalex split repair page 4 song of the paddle forum. Harmonys proprietary resin compounds provide an extremely secure bond between the kevlar skid plate and the vinyl skin of your royalex canoe. A friend, who has become the master of cold crack repair, is working on his 5th bought cheap used cold cracked canoe. The resulting paste should be the consistency of tooth paste. Royalex split repair page 3 song of the paddle forum. Now that my paddling season has a fork in it, i plan on peeling off the duct tape and fixing some old damage.
Both the bow and stern have significant wear, with the stern showing all the way through to the core in a small dime sized. Many small dents in the hull will work themselves out with the heat of the sun. Excellent condition except hurricane sandy dropped an oak branch on top of it. Patching cloth can be cut into strips for crack repairs or left in a wide sheet to patch holes. This crack can be repaired with a fiberglass repair kit sold directly by old town. I know very little about royalex and am looking for some guidance. I quit using the 3m, which has been a standartd in royalex repair, because its a little too brittle not as bad as most epoxies and tends to re crack in any area where there is flex. Repairing tears or cracks requires multiple layers of kevlar cloth laid in and covered by the repair resin. My mind jumps straight to jb weld, but i figure theres got to be a specific product. Royalex can be a bit of a pain that way especially with the ash gunwales mine has but the advantages of the material far outweigh the small repairs in my opinion. The resin forms a paste that fills gaps well and cures to an extremely hard, durable finish. Theres a nice sticker on the inside that says to loosen all the screws for the winter. I repair fiberglass and kevlar canoes, kayaks and sups, also royalex canoes. Royalex or abs repair kit everything you need to repair punctures or tears in the hull of your royalex canoe.
Bwca cold cracks in royalex hulls boundary waters gear forum. Your smallest patch should be big enough to cover and overlap a bit any areas of thinned out abs. Toosed it in the nashwaak for a test and although the new repair held up one other crack proved to be a real problem. At the end of may last year i was online looking for jobs and wondering what i was going to do with my summer. What follows is a basic overview of the recommended repair options available for old town products. This thread has lots of great advice, however i was wondering whether anyone had any or knew of another link photos to show the procedure. Royalex repair kit the royalex repair kit works great to repair structural damage to royalex hulls including cracks, cuts, creases and punctures. Repair is 2 part, stop the crack, drilling holes at the limits of the crack.
Large or deep dents may require heating with a hair dryer or light bulb. The harmony kevlar patch cloth is made of woven 5 oz. Kit to repair scratches, gouges and surface cracks, for use on royalex and tformex canoes. That happened to be on a composite boat, but questions sometimes arise on this and other forums regarding repair of royalex hulls. The kit contained everything i needed, and the instructions were simple and clear. If a lighter color, fabric or foam have been exposed on the bottom of your canoe, its time for skid plates. Jan 08, 2017 though our canoes and kayaks are built to withstand years of use and abuse, mishaps can occur and your boat may at some point become damaged and need repair. I then smoothed it off and added a large glass cloth patch over the whole. The harmony deck screws for royalex canoes is a pack of 6 screws made to be used on royalex canoes with wood decks. Repairing a royalex canoe with gflex epoxy epoxyworks. One about eleven inches long and another about two or three inches long. Repairing royalex canoe hulls canoe and kayak paddlers. Either the patches come off quickly or, worse, they crack and cause the royalex under them to crack too and the hull ends up in worse shape. Cold cracks in a royalex canoe with aluminum gunwales is an unusual situation.
After finding a post here about gflex and canoe repair i just had to come back and post about the success in hopes it can help others. Home anderson canoe, kayak and sup repair, missoula. Wooden railed canoes are more prone to this than those with synthetic gunwales. Mar 04, 2020 greetings, i have a 15 old town camper with a few gouges on the hull. I have years of experience repairing boats for a local outdoor store and have started my own repair shop.
My mad river has cold cracks at nearly every screw along the edge. With extensive damage you may have to remove or replace the gunwales of a canoe to relieve any distortion to the hull. Royalex is relatively difficult to repair everything about it resists adhesion, and our standard clunky epoxyfiberglass tape repairs would have added sixplus ounces per crack, or somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty pounds, to the canoe. This material property is the cause of what are termed cold cracks.
Simply put, royalex will contract when exposed to cold temperatures. A canoe can experience a single cold crack or show a series of roughly parallel cracks over a portion of the hull. The following pdf article accurately reflects the best methods ive found and that i still use for most abs canoe repairs. They dont go through the boat, but i can see the next layer, which looks to be white. Using gflex epoxy, i added strips of biaxial cloth along the line of the cracks. This is a howto on fixing a fiber glass canoe with minor holes or cracks. Either the patches come off quickly or, worse, they crack and cause the royalex under them to crack too and the hull ends up in worse shape than when you started. Royalex repair kit, canoe care boundary waters catalog. Rated 5 out of 5 by pickle paddler from frost crack repair i purchased a frost crack repair kit online for my 17 mad river royalex canoe. Just before preparing to head to bed i decided to log into facebook. In that case i would level out the area with a few layers of sglass that would fit the gap and thickened gflex for the epoxy and then apply the skid plate.
There are literally thousands of royalex canoes that successfully winter over year. The freedom is a pricey, sweet movingwater canoe, and we thought it would be worth. These colors are matched to our composite canoe colors only. View topic royalex tearsplit repair canadian canoe routes. If the boat has been wrapped and has multiple tears or cracks, the process can be much more involved and complicated. Lots of info on preventing and repair just search royalex cracks, both in this forum or online. The seats also had a propensity to tear and present a jagged edge to any paddler who failed to notice they were plunking. It has caused part of the outer layer of the royalex to chip off at the point of impact as well. How to repair gashes how to clean a royalex canoe from old town. Fiberglass repair kit this convenient kit includes materials needed to repair damage to composite canoes or kayaks that has caused structural failure to the laminate but has not resulted in complete penetration. The skid plates are ugly and heavy and began to crack after several years. Dont despair if you crack or tear your kevlar or fiberglass canoe.
Patching cloth can be cut into strips for crack repairs or. It is very difficult to perform a structural repair on polyethylene and if the crack is extensive or in a critical location, it may pose a hazard to continue to use the canoe and it may be time to take it to the recyclers. Royalex is much more resistant to heat deformation than canoes made of polyethylene. Im looking to repair a deep crack in the hull of my royalex canoe. When the hull of your royalex canoe is abraded or cut deep enough to reveal its inner layers usually white or greencolored plastic, its time to touch it up. Cracks, hull splits extending away from the gunwale screws or dry rot in the end decks and gunwales. Cold cracks in a royalex canoe with aluminum gunwales is. Royalex and gflex repair nb paddlers message board. Hoping to hit the water this weekend for the first time in years.
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