Question about graphite bottom | SouthernPaddler.com

Question about graphite bottom

J

jdupre'

Well-Known Member
Sep 9, 2007
2,327
40
South Louisiana
Somethin' has been puzzling me. I understand the slippery thing about a graphite and epoxy coated bottom. What puzzles me is that it's thought of as harder than a standard epoxy coated bottom. As far as I can tell, graphite is none too strong in it's solid state( pencil lead and maybe electric motor brushes) and probably less so in powdered form. Does mixing it with epoxy change the properties of the graphite or does the extra toughness come from the added coats of epoxy? :?: :?


Just thinking.

Joey
 
J

Jimmy W

Well-Known Member
May 1, 2006
611
1
north georgia, USA
I agree Joey. Graphite is very soft, in pencil lead it is mixed with clay. Motor brushes use a binder of some type. On the West System website, they say that graphite powder can be mixed with epoxy to produce "a low-friction exterior coating with increased scuff resistance and durability". They also sell aluminum powder which they say adds "hardness and abrasion resistance". I suspect that the low friction aspect is mainly what causes the increased durability. Something impacting it is more likely to slide off rather than dig in. It might be better to put on a layer of epoxy with the aluminum powder first for hardness and add the graphite epoxy over it.
 
O

oldsparkey

Well-Known Member
Aug 25, 2003
10,479
123
Central , Florida
www.southernpaddler.com
The xtra epoxy with the graphite increases the pleasures of both of them , more epoxy protection and the slipperiness of the graphite.
Hard to puncture or give an item a deep scratch when it wants to slid off or away from the damaging object.

Lets see.... graphite is a carbon , carbon under extreme pressure creates diamonds the hardest substance we have , there may be a correlation in there , somewhere. :D

For out and out protection do like the air boaters around here do , coat the bottom with a 1/4 inch of steel flex , they can run there boats down a road and it does not bother it.

Chuck.
 
J

jdupre'

Well-Known Member
Sep 9, 2007
2,327
40
South Louisiana
oldsparkey said:
The xtra epoxy with the graphite increases the pleasures of both of them , more epoxy protection and the slipperiness of the graphite. Chuck.
Click to expand...

Sounds good to me , Chuck -- I'm sold!

Joey
 
O

oldsparkey

Well-Known Member
Aug 25, 2003
10,479
123
Central , Florida
www.southernpaddler.com
It's not a shield that will bounce bullets off the boat but it sure does offer a lot more protection with it then without it.

A friend was trying out one of my priogues with the graphite on the bottom and I told him to paddle threw the weeds along the lakes edge.

He paddles in weeds and hates them because they hold back his progress.... OK..Back to my story .. he gave me a stupid look like I had lost all common sense asking him to do that. He hit the weeds and just keep going , he got a big smile and told me it is like having 4 wheel drive in the boat.

Not sure about the water you paddle in but over here it is weeds , branches , logs and all sorts of stuff that tries to grab the bottom and either stop or slow you down. The Okefenokee Swamp is notorious for there weeds and other boat grabbers.

B1010064c.jpg


That's me in the pirogue taking the lead , Mac and his big red barge behind me and Bill Logan http://www.canoe-suwannee.com/ taking the picture. (Before he made his stripper)

Chuck.
 
T

tx river rat

Well-Known Member
Feb 23, 2007
3,043
2
Waco Tx
Joey
Here is my two cents Graphite makes the bottom slicker, its pretty and dolls a boat up, It is a coating that is sacrificed to wear and being black
is easy to see the wear and where it need replacing.
I paddle with a lot of guys that run wooden boats graphite bottoms, I have never put one on my boats and mine seem to wear just as long and just as well with just the extra coats of risen on ,they don't hang up on rocks any worse than graphite coated ones (ask Jack)
Waiting fore the explosion
Now to the air boats we use a sheet of poymar (like your cutting board
,it is the same slick and takes the wear of off the bottom ,we use to (before epa days) put a spray bar across the nose of the boat and spray
liquid soap and water up under the boat to make it slicker, worked well in dry grass. An air boat can be run and melt the bottom out just from friction but I ain't never been able to paddle that fast.
So in my feeble redneck way of thinking do what ever turns you on

as long as u have material there to wear you should be fine.
Ron
 
J

jdupre'

Well-Known Member
Sep 9, 2007
2,327
40
South Louisiana
Chuck, I'm kinda familiar with a touch of weeds myself.
viewofridge.jpg


There's about 4 feet of water under that mess in the foreground. It's an intrusive plant called salvinia and it has taken over the swamps and most small sloughs and bayous in this area. Might have to look into epoxy and graphite.

Guys, if you see any of this salvinia in your area, call your local wildlife and fisheries dept. and let them know. It has the potential to double in mass in 3 to 5 days! Makes water hyacinths look like a minor pest by comparison. Please wash off any on your boats and don't transfer any to another water system.

Jack, you bring up an interesting point about the effect of carbon on iron. Also, carbon fiber is some pretty strong stuff.

Joey
 
O

oldsparkey

Well-Known Member
Aug 25, 2003
10,479
123
Central , Florida
www.southernpaddler.com
I hate water hyacinths with a passion a real strong passion if you want to call it that. :twisted:

A few years ago the St.Johns was choked with them. At the SR 46 Bridge a wind came up and blew a raft of them against the pilings of the bridge , they keep stacking up and a fisherman , trying to get to the other side of the bridge got stuck in them.

They were packed tight enough that he got out of his boat and walked across them to the bank of the river. A picture of him doing that was in the paper , I was there the same time the photographer took the picture. My partner and I were trying to get to him in the departments air boat. ( All our fussing did not accomplish anything but one picture in the paper sure got results ). :lol:

That was when the state decided it was time to spray them and make sure we got rid of all of them. That created another problem , as they died , rotted and sunk they covered the bottom of the river and the fish did not have a place (sandy bottom) to spawn , in that section of the river. The fishing the following year was shot in the rear. The upshot of all of it is that today the St.Johns is basically hyacinth free.

Chuck.
 
K

Kayak Jack

Well-Known Member
Aug 26, 2003
13,976
171
86
Okemos / East Lansing Michigan
Powdered graphite does, somehow, make the epoxy harder. I have scratches in my boats that start as a mere scrape on the graphite part, and go deep as the scratch travels up onto regular epoxy.

Ronnie got his arse stuck as many times as I did on the Brazos. He is a weak understudy, however, when it comes to properly cussing out the rocks.
 
O

oldsparkey

Well-Known Member
Aug 25, 2003
10,479
123
Central , Florida
www.southernpaddler.com
Seeing how this is the SERIOUS section...... and I was seriously getting you in the cross hairs of my scope when there was a misfire , dud , no good , dry fire.
I realised you are correct and will be spared the axe this time. But ya are on my list.....Which means if we ever paddle and camp together , it is no holds bared , anything goes , even my snoring and I WILL Camp right next to you , real close. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Keep this up and I will arrainge for Bearridge to cook your meals on that trip. :oops: OK.. So Capital punshiment is not called for , Jack can cook the meals. :roll:

Chuck.
PS. Those my friends is some serious threats , trust me on that.
 
K

Kayak Jack

Well-Known Member
Aug 26, 2003
13,976
171
86
Okemos / East Lansing Michigan
that lynx has good lungs. Mainly, I think, from following me all over the country. Ron said he was certain the kitty cat was on the Brazos with us.

Toby says he heard him on the Au Sable too. Course, that's almost home territory for that cat.

I didn't hear him in either location?
 
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