I haven't posted in several days but work has been progressing. I just completed taping and filleting the inside seams and bulkheads.
I entitled this post "Crappy work AND crappy pictures" because, of all the work I've done so far, this was the least enjoyable as well as the hardest to get pictures of.
After joining the deck and hull, there is a need to fillet the deck/hull seam and then tape it. No big deal - IF THE BOAT DOESN'T HAVE A FULL DECK!! This means getting epoxy/filler right to the bow and stern. Access to these points is only through the aft/fwd hatches. The aft hatch is bigger and affords a little more room to work from. The fwd, on the other hand, is mere 10" round - which means my head would fit through but not at the same time as my hands. This meant applying the fillet and tape totally blind or simply by sense of touch. Pretty tricky. I'd do a bit of work and then place a flashlight inside, pop my head in and survey the work. Repeat as necessary. This took several hours to complete.
For filleting the bow and stern, I'd scoop up the thickened epoxy on a long stick, put the stick inside the hull and drop it on the seam. Then I''d push/pull the epoxy into the seam until I had a reasonable fillet. For taping, I pre-wetted the tape, draped it over a 2' stick, pushed it out to the ends and deposited it into the seam. Using the stick, I work the tape into the seam.
The taping and filleting were VERY messy. I went through a lot nitrile gloves and got a lot epoxy on my building table. Now that this stage is done, I need to do a good cleaning of the work area.
Because I was often up to my elbows (literally) in epoxy I took very few photos. Those I did take are pretty crappy because I simply popped the camera inside the hull and snapped them off. The dark inside made it hard to take a good photo.
In my last post I wrote about bulkheads and their reinforcement. All my bulkheads are now filletted on both sides. Each bulkhead has one side taped with 3" tape for extra strength. That should be plenty strong.
Having finished this not-so-enjoyable step, I am now ready to glass the deck top. I'd much rather working above deck, than below!!
I entitled this post "Crappy work AND crappy pictures" because, of all the work I've done so far, this was the least enjoyable as well as the hardest to get pictures of.
After joining the deck and hull, there is a need to fillet the deck/hull seam and then tape it. No big deal - IF THE BOAT DOESN'T HAVE A FULL DECK!! This means getting epoxy/filler right to the bow and stern. Access to these points is only through the aft/fwd hatches. The aft hatch is bigger and affords a little more room to work from. The fwd, on the other hand, is mere 10" round - which means my head would fit through but not at the same time as my hands. This meant applying the fillet and tape totally blind or simply by sense of touch. Pretty tricky. I'd do a bit of work and then place a flashlight inside, pop my head in and survey the work. Repeat as necessary. This took several hours to complete.
For filleting the bow and stern, I'd scoop up the thickened epoxy on a long stick, put the stick inside the hull and drop it on the seam. Then I''d push/pull the epoxy into the seam until I had a reasonable fillet. For taping, I pre-wetted the tape, draped it over a 2' stick, pushed it out to the ends and deposited it into the seam. Using the stick, I work the tape into the seam.
The taping and filleting were VERY messy. I went through a lot nitrile gloves and got a lot epoxy on my building table. Now that this stage is done, I need to do a good cleaning of the work area.
Because I was often up to my elbows (literally) in epoxy I took very few photos. Those I did take are pretty crappy because I simply popped the camera inside the hull and snapped them off. The dark inside made it hard to take a good photo.
In my last post I wrote about bulkheads and their reinforcement. All my bulkheads are now filletted on both sides. Each bulkhead has one side taped with 3" tape for extra strength. That should be plenty strong.
Having finished this not-so-enjoyable step, I am now ready to glass the deck top. I'd much rather working above deck, than below!!
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| Looking fwd - compass recess in the foreground. Yes, there a few globs of epoxy but they are right out in the stern and this is the only time they'll ever be seen!. |
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| Looking fwd in cockpit. Bulkhead will serve as foot brace. This is very blurry image - so don't be concerned that you're going blind!! |
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| Looking aft - white lines are saw dust that has fallen in through stitch holes! They'll just brush away. |
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| Fwd hatch. My arm could just reach to far side of compass recess - after that required a long stick. |
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