The Outside of the Hull is Glassed!

We reached another major milestone yesterday... we finished glassing the exterior of the hull. Now were on to the long task of fairing and sanding. Based on our current pace, I expect this to take about three months.

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Glassed Bottom

Glassed Bottom
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

The rest of the bottom has been glassed. As I write todays entry, were waiting for the epoxy to completely cure. This weekend, well touch up any areas that need it, do a little sanding, and lay glass on the sides and transoms as needed.

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A Brief Diversion

You may have noticed a lack of recent posts about our boat project, and if you think its because we havent done anything lately, youre right. You see, its almost time for our annual boyz trip pilgrimage. Every year over Memorial Day, Greg, two of our friends from high school and I go on an extended trip. The trips have varied tremendously over the years... sometimes we do long, self-contained downriver canoe trips, sometimes we do whitewater kayaking, occasionally more than the "core four" of us will go. Our trips have varied from three days to a week, and we have hit too many rivers to count. We started out taking these trips over Labor Day weekend, but changed to Memorial Day a few years back when we figured out that the water levels are generally higher this time of year.

This year, we will be travelling to North-Central Wisconsin and doing a self-contained island-hopping lake canoe trip, utilizing the canoes we built a couple of years ago. To add to the adventure, Greg and I are temporarily converting our individual canoes into a catamaran sailing vessle. Were going to a brand new area, doing a variation on our trip that we havent really done before, and trying a new feat of engineering. This should explain the lack of progress on the main project. Weve been planning the trip, and working on the rig that will convert our paddle-powered canoes into a wind-powered catamaran.

If you’re interested in some of the history and stories from our various trips, here are a few links for you to check out…

From earlier posts in this blog:
How it all Began; A Quick Sidenote:
A Well-Deserved Vacation
Pictures of the Canoes

From posts on my other blog:
Commemorating a Practical Joke

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Glassed Rear Transom

Yesterday we glassed the rear transom. After we glass the front transom (which we plan to do next weekend), well be done glassing the exterior. Then comes the fairing.

Weve gotten pretty good at laying glass, and have devised a method that lets us lay two layers at once. The first time we did it was a little tough, but through a little trial and error, weve got it down to a science. By doing two layers at once we are saving time and I think well have a stronger boat, because laying two layers at once will give us a single chemical bond in addition to the physical bond. It also seems to cut down on the amount of sanding we need to do.

Heres a picture of the glassed side (which we did last week). We glassed the side using the aforementioned both-layers-at-once method, and Im quite pleased with the results. Glassing the side took us about four hours using this method, and the rear transom took about two hours.

Our double layer method consists of measuring the glass cloth and laying them in place, and laying a coat of epoxy thick enough to saturate both layers of glass. The horizontal surfaces are very easy, but the vertical surfaces are a little more tricky. Weve found that its best to use a roller to work a thick layer of epoxy into the glass at the top, and then slowly squeegee the excess down the side. Make sure to do this very slowly, so the epoxy has a chance to saturate the cloth as you go down. If the epoxy is rolling down the surface as you use the squeegee, youre moving too quickly.

One note: I do NOT recommend doing this double-layer method unless youve got two people for the task.

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Time to Fair

Greg and I started the long task of filling in the low spots. This pic is a "before" shot that will show you how much area we have to fill.

You may also be interested in seeing me do another household project using epoxy.

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Heating Fresh Epoxy

Heating the Transom II
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

There were a couple of areas on the rear transom where the glass didnt lay down to our liking. Greg decided to see if heating the epoxy in this area would work. After a few minutes, we discovered that the epoxy got very thin and dripped a lot. This tended to starve the fiberglass, didnt help the fiberglass adhere to the plywood at all, and the epoxy that remained in the fiberglass had dried enough to touch after a mere five additional minutes.

In short, I dont recommend using a heat gun on uncured epoxy. Its a good way to give yourself a second chance on cured epoxy though. In fact, Id call it a sheer stroke of genius on Gregs part.

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