Filleting inside kayak keel


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10a. Filleting and glassing inside kayak keel

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Marking the keel line on the dry fiberglass is a little trick that helps to position the cloth back into the kayak quickly and without smearing around the fresh stem fillets.

The first step is to smooth the cloth in the kayak as much as possible. Next, the keel line is marked by magic marker dots as in the photo and the fabric is rolled back as far as the fillet has to reach.

With the fillet in place, spread the glass back into the stems 'dot by dot'. The fabric can be smoothed out quicker than if there were no reference 'dots'
The cloth may bunch up on one side which requires cutting through the fold, trimming and overlapping the resulting flaps (1" / 2,5cm). The fold is clearly visible in the top right of the stem.

A sheet of plastic is rolled up to serve as a disposable 'pastry bag' for the filleting slurry. The long sharp point helps to deliver the material deep into the stems without a mess. Brush some unthickened epoxy onto the seam before filleting so that it fills the smallest crevices.

	Smoothing and 'radiusing' the fillet.
	Close up of the fillet. I recommend an additional band of glass to reinforce this area.

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