I had a nice catch up weekend working on the hulls. I got the inner stem all glassed in and the center line reglassed. It was a lot more work without Heather to help out mixing epoxy and getting me stuff while I had myself wedged up in the hull, but I managed. I got a good start on the bulkheads (still need to scarf them to make them wider), and I’ll install them when we’re up next. Once again it’s time to shift focus to working on the cuddy. It’s been a challenge for me to work on all of these things simultaneously; it’s hard to keep momentum going on one project (not to mention the hours it takes me to pack up all my tools). Unfortunately, I have to take advantage of my vacation hours to work on the hulls since the shop is so far away.
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July 26, 2008 at 4:38 pm |
Glad to see you are doing BH’s in ply,I didn’t and I’ve had weeks like your previous one as a result of 1/2 inch foam that won’t sit down and smaller sheets of it so this adds to the work ,but saves money…then there is the 600g glass with matt that won’t lie down like non matt glass will……if only we could re-do some of these mistakes …….
I really do enjoy boat building though………..;0)
July 26, 2008 at 6:27 pm |
I used 600g w/ matt on my centerline, and I agree that it was more of a challenge to use… and I was only using 12″ wide strips. Since I was applying it to a vertical surface, I would wet it out on a table, flip it over and wet out the back side, then roll it up and move it to the hull. If I moved fast I could do it without it heating up. I’d go in about 8ft lengths.
July 26, 2008 at 6:29 pm |
I’ll probably run into the same issues you’re having if I choose to build my decks from foam instead of ply. though I suppose decks wont be as wide as BHDs.
July 27, 2008 at 3:22 pm |
When using 12 inch strips ,I have to contradict myself and say that the matt backed glass was easier to keep from streching….just wet the back matt and it seems to soak through to the front of the glass OK ,then finish off with a little wet rolling ,not much,if your epoxy is kicking ,maybe a slower one is better ,premium blend worked very well in heat for us,I’m not a salesman really ,a good assitant /my talented wife really helped here in getting the glass on and to stay down,kudos to her!!!
July 27, 2008 at 3:32 pm |
Decks are another thing again,we can most likely use screws on the top edges and not glass them in until we attach to the sides with multiple layers (3)…..,besides 3/4 inch is more insulation and $,either way I like foam as I have removed wet balsa from a 20 year old Northern 25 desk and floor of cockpit, 20-25 yr though ,who can complain really and with todays epoxies and techniques maybe it will last even longer in ply?
Vertical surfaces really are a killer as you say,try a sticky approach,wet the vertical surface to be glasssed with a coat of neat epoxy ,wait til sticky and apply a wet but not thougholy soaked piece of cloth ,it will most likely hold better,let me re-think this ,maybe a dry piece of cloth ,NO MATT,stick it to vertical -pre wet out sticky surface carefully……It will stick fine ,but have creases that form if you are like me,pull them back up trying not to distort the cloth,and get the cloth down fairly smooth ,then wet it out and rub it in ,this works well with small fairly thin pieces of glass on difficult vertical areas I recall……
July 27, 2008 at 3:38 pm |
PS …….I must add that we have tried the sticky approach with dry 600m (matt) cloth and it was next to impossible to wet out the matt from above ,it can be done ,just very difficult ,don’t go there if you can use the no matt,or wet matt a bit only before applying to sticky area……
July 27, 2008 at 3:48 pm |
I’ve had good luck with completely wetting out the glass first and then moving it to the surface. I’ve even done overhead sections like this. Again they were fairly narrow strips, but it worked. Then again, when I did the very forward corner of the bow/inner stem, it worked better to put dry glass over tacky resin (or tacky previous layer) and wet it out with a brush. I could only get one hand in there, and the wet out glass was too slippery. Yeah, a slower resin would be nice at times, but in others, the fast really really nice. I have limited time at the shop where my hulls are, and the raka 5-1 cures quickly, so I can move on to the next step. It also has very high heat deflection and strength. It’s formulated for uses like this where all the strength is in the skins. You don’t want that stuff getting soft in the sun. :-) I’m using their other mix system for all the wood bonding. It’s nice because there is a slow and fast hardener and as long as you maintain 2:1 resin to hardener, you can adjust the amount of slow to fast and customize the speed. We have a wide range of temps in minnesota, so it’s been handy.
July 27, 2008 at 3:50 pm |
and I agree about the tacky/dry application of 600 w/ matt. I actually wet it out on a table and then flip it over and wet from the other side. I’ve only used that method with 400g no matt and it worked very well.