kevlar canoe repair

[heavyduty]

i have an 18 foot kevlar canoe that has a "crease" across the bottom, width ways, that needs to be repaired. there really isn't any rips in this spot but it does need to be fixed for the strength. I think the repair should be easy enough but my question is....I was given a rather large repair kit for a fiberglass canoe,resin and the epoxy, but am wondering if this will work on my kevlar canoe.bonding and strength can post? pics if needed to understand the scope of the work.if not what are my best options in S.E. MN? would consider paying for repairs but would like to do it myself.

[swamptiger]

If I remember correctly, you can use polyester resin over epoxy, but not the other way around - so I think you can use the fiberglass repair kit. You can also purchase epoxy resin online if you want to use something more like the original resin. You can use the fiberglass cloth that came with the kit you have. Depending on the brand of canoe you have, some of the manufacturers also use what is called a "vinylester" resin, which is something a little different again. Marine epoxy resin is available through suppliers who sell wood boat kits online.

[magicstix]

Its the other way around you can put epoxy on any thing but only more epoxy on top in the future. Once epoxy is on no paint, polyester, vinylester will stick to it. The poly and vinylester are simalar. If your canoe is gel coated or colored its probaly poly/vinyl. If its natural it could go either way poly or epoxy. Its pretty easy to work with either way, you won't have any troubles. Good luck

[Duffman]

Here is a link to Joe's Red Rock Store HSOforum that explains patching kevlar;

http://www.redrockstore.com/canoepatch.html

I don't know if it helps you out or not, but there are some other links as well dealing with kevlar. I haven't had any problems with my kevlar yet, but I found Joe's stuff to be interesting reads.

Disclaimer: I have a Souris River

[swamptiger]

Quote:

Disclaimer: I have a Souris River

Yes - the Souris Rivers are epoxy resin, aren't they?

So I think it would be a good idea to find out for sure what kind of resin was used in the original layup before you repair it.