Question
I have glued up strips of purple heart for new gunwales on a large (32 foot) canoe with resorcinol glue. I plan to coat the entire gunwale and fill any gaps with epoxy. Does anyone know if epoxy reacts negatively with resorcinol glue, such as weakening the glue joint, or any other problems? The canoe is a fiberglass canoe and is used in both fresh and salt water. I have called the DAP hotline but they have had no testing in this area and could not help me.
Forum Responses
(Adhesives Forum)
From contributor A:
I did similar things several times over the years I was repairing old wooden boats for a living. Never saw any adverse reactions. I did occasionally see epoxy fail as a coating on purple heart. There are actually several species sold as purple heart. A few have an oil that seems to resist holding a coating for more than a year or so. I'd do the usual freshly sanded surface and then a wipe down with acetone and clean rags and hope for the best. The good news is that it does make a great gunwale.
