Since my last post, I've done a bunch of stuff related to construction, including:
- Stitching the hull panels together, gluing, and then removing the wires (!!!) Where fillets were put in over top of the wires near the bow and stern, it was really tough to get the wires out. On 2 occasions, the wires snapped as i was trying to remove them so they're there forever. Using a small butane torch helped remove some of the stubborn wires, but heating the wire enough to break the bond with the epoxy holding it fast resulted in delaminating the plywood a couple of times and blackening the wood, even with a heat shield to protect the hull.
- Stitching the deck panels. Of all the steps to date where i would have liked a partner, this would have been it. The curves of the four panels make for a beautiful undulating shape when they're joined, but they sure took some persuading to get together, and hands three and four would have made that a ton easier.
- Fitting the deck to the unglassed hull, That was how i discovered a small misalignment that impacts the fit at the bow and stern which took a bit of fitting to remedy. I hope!
- Doing the same for the deck, plus putting in the fillets and glass tape that give the deck a bit of strength prior to glassing the exterior.
Tonight (12/14) is the beginning of the Big Sand on the hull, leading up to a big day some time next week i hope of fiberglassing the hull.
Scratch that, and fast forward to Happy Trumpian Inauguration Day plus a couple, or NFL Conference Championship Day if that works better for you. It took a fair bit of time to get to the "glass the hull" moment, most of which was taken up with refilling the joints between the hull panels (a couple of times in some cases) and fairing the hull while trying to get rid of epoxy smears and a few scars from wires that really didn't want to come out. But it got done, more or less the way the manual suggested it would. Just took longer.
I was lucky to have someone with way more knowledge of fiberglass than I will ever possess glass the exterior of the hull. I did the interior and I can say unequivocally that I'm really glad most of my work is hidden from view. I didn't realize exactly how much glass cloth I had left after doing the hull exterior since i never unrolled the whole bolt, so I used a bunch of smaller scrap pieces, some of which were not cut on the bias and therefore shed fiber like it was going out of style. It got done, but pretty? Nope.
Once I tried to rewire the deck to the hull in preparation for gluing the two bits together, it became apparent that the glass had caused the hull to change shape significantly, to the point where I had to remove a bunch of wires and shave over half an inch off the bottom of the forward permanent bulkhead, which defines the front of the cockpit and the curvature of the front of the deck, to have any chance of being able to get the deck to meet the shear. Even then, I used a ratchet strap (OH SO GENTLY!!) to bring the deck into position so i could glue it. Again, I would have loved to have a helper in persuading the deck to come into the right position as I wired it into place, since the hull wasn't the same shape as before.
As of 1/22, the bulkheads have been glassed into the hull/deck, some extra wood that helped strengthen the deck during construction has been cut away, all the deck seams and all the drill holes have been filled in, and the deck is waiting on 220 grit paper (and a little bit of rougher paper in areas that are pretty obvious above) to complete fairing before the deck gets glassed to the hull and this is almost over.
Scratch that, and fast forward to Happy Trumpian Inauguration Day plus a couple, or NFL Conference Championship Day if that works better for you. It took a fair bit of time to get to the "glass the hull" moment, most of which was taken up with refilling the joints between the hull panels (a couple of times in some cases) and fairing the hull while trying to get rid of epoxy smears and a few scars from wires that really didn't want to come out. But it got done, more or less the way the manual suggested it would. Just took longer.
Two coats of epoxy, plus the keel strip. The reinforcements for the bow and stern went on another day. You can see a couple of scars that I couldn't get out without removing way too much wood - which would be BAD. Scars beat hull weakness hands down.
Three coats, with the reinforcing tapes applied. Looking nice. But man is the scrap edge of the glass (hanging beneath the hull) lethal. It didn't get trimmed until I was ready to rewire the deck.
The deck wired (mostly) to the hull. I hadn't figured out that a ratchet strap could rock my world at that point, as described below.
The triangular bit at the back is the foam insert through which the bow handle rope will be threaded. The fillets and tapes which form the lion's share of the bond between the deck and hull are sorta visible too.
Gluing the deck onto the hull was no big deal. Filleting and glassing the hull-deck seams on the inside of the boat was actually easier than I expected. I split the job into two days, turning the boat first onto one side and then the other. This allowed me to keep the tapes horizontal and avoid having to fight gravity, and other than having fun smearing epoxy (PB style) in my hair it went well.
The blotchy bits are thickened epoxy (smears) where I filled the holes. Tonight will be final sanding of the deck, installation of the bottom strips for the rear hatch, and installation of two plywood strips that are laminated to the underside of the deck fore and aft of the rear hatch and serve to provide the support that was provided during earlier phases of construction by two temporary bulkheads. I also had to use a good-sized blob of very thick epoxy to fill in a couple of air pockets on the bow and stern where the hull and deck come together, and that will get some attention tonight to make a smooth joint that's nice and strong, since this boat needs to be able to hit a wall or rock at speed with no ill effects. I'm contemplating doing an end pour in the bow - standing the boat on the bow and pouring a couple of large-ish mixes of epoxy through the forward hatch opening to provide more strength and impact resistance to the bow. That will depend on how much epoxy i have left after construction is complete, since I'm running very low, and what i can come up with to control the heat that a large batch of epoxy puts out when it cures.
As is always the case, I wish I'd had twice as many of these little and very useful pipe clamps. I could have done both hatches in one night. [Pouty face].
Beginning to look really nice. Some of these messy bits aren't being sanded because they're going to be cut away to accommodate a larger cockpit. Not all, though.
As of 1/22, the bulkheads have been glassed into the hull/deck, some extra wood that helped strengthen the deck during construction has been cut away, all the deck seams and all the drill holes have been filled in, and the deck is waiting on 220 grit paper (and a little bit of rougher paper in areas that are pretty obvious above) to complete fairing before the deck gets glassed to the hull and this is almost over.
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