Boat Construction

davebrads · Post by **davebrads** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 10:25 am

Continuing the discussion started under the scrutineering thread, to avoid hijacking.

Mikey said:

I believe that most boat manafacturers heat cure their boats now.i.e put it under a heat blanket or in a low bake oven! So leaving in the sun shouldnt adversley affect them.

It's not the heat that does the damage, it's the UV. Most resins are affected by UV, and the resin manufacturer puts in some UV stabiliser to reduce the effect of UV exposure, but that does not eliminate the damage altogether, so keeping your boat out of the sun as much as possible is probably a good idea. In the past, some manufacturers have used cheap resins, which have not been as UV stable, and their boats have shown significant deterioration from being left in the sun.

mikey · Post by **mikey** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 1:26 pm

Thats why some boats go white (clear 1's). I also think that how well the resin is mixed and measured has some affect on the resin. I do know of batches that have been faulty in the past. I even had a boat that was porous once and water actualy came in through the weave!!!!

Yester Years Kayak · Post by **Yester Years Kayak** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 1:27 pm

I have left a set of carbon blades out in the spring/summer (by accident rather than intentionally), and i still have them but i have not yet plucked up the courage to try using them for fear of falling in.

I suspect that besides the resin showing severe signs of weathering, that the carbon has also turned brittle (besides now being a weathered green in colour).

You certainly would not want to leave a boat out for prolonged periods of time, unless you were finished using it and planned to skip it, or had money to burn as part of an experiment!

I suspect you would not want to leave you boat out in the sun, get it baking hot and then jump straight on to the water. I imagine that the extreme changes in temperature would not be good at all.

mikey · Post by **mikey** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 1:44 pm

As far as I am aware carbon as a material is very resliant to changes in teperature. Just look at carbon brakes on race cars they can get up to about 1000deg cent. I do think that dave is correct its more to do with the resin which is utilised.

Yester Years Kayak · Post by **Yester Years Kayak** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 2:52 pm

Mikey, good point about how carbon can be used and what it can be exposed to.

I guess then that the bottom line has to be that at the end of the day it is not about carbon being used as a construction material, but rather about how it is used (and what it is used with) coupled with the quality of all of the materials used in the construction of a boat (or paddle etc).

If any of the materials are of a poor or substandard quality then you can view it as the item you have purchased is only as good as the weakest element. Hence, known good manufacturers do not necessarily become poor manufactures but appear to do so when the quality of the materials used is poor.