Look What We Did to Our Nice Canoes

Boys Trip 2006 035
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

Per our tradition, we took our boys trip over Memorial Day weekend. For several years we have been travelling staying in Nicolette Forest in northease Wisconsin, for a few days of whitewater kayaking. This year, we decided to get back to our roots and do some canoeing. Greg and I took things a step further, and rigged up the Nice Canoes we built a couple of years ago as a makeshift catamaran. Greg, being engineer-boy, calculated the dimensions, measured the sail, and determined where to put the various parts. It worked surprisingly well -- for one day. The boat was structurally sound, but anything that directly related to the sailing aspect was woefully under-engineered. Stay tuned for the complete story... its quite a ride.

Read More..

The Good and the Bad and the Good

The fairing and sanding continues. Greg read about a really neat idea that will likely save us countless hours of eyeballing, and in the end, provide us with a significantly more accurate finished product...

In my last entry, you saw the level that showed approximately how much filling we need to do. Well, Greg decided to wrap that level in plastic, run a strip of filler under where the level was, and then essentially mash the level into the filler and let things dry. After the filler dried, he removed the level, shaved down the excess epoxy and voila, he had a "rail" that gave us a guide for how much filler we need to use. By running a second "rail" down the center, and a third one down the other side, we had a rail system built, which will allow us to roll out a single, thick, accurate layer of filler and dramatically reduce the amount of sanding and fairing we will need to do. A stroke of genius!


On the downside, when sanding yesterday, we came across a big spot that was starved for epoxy, as shown (and outlined) in the picture to the right. This is an area thats come back to haunt us from way-back-when. The area is approximately 4"X3." Its nothing that cant be overcome, but is a little frustrating.

We have yet to decide how to address the issue, but Greg has two ideas... one is to use fiberglass filler and epoxy, the other is to use glass micro-filler and epoxy. Ive found one or two other spots like this, but theyre small, in non-structural areas, and easy to fix.



Heres another small stroke of genius Greg ran across...

-Are you tired of constantly stirring epoxy and/or thickener?

-Are you working by yourself and would like to save a little time?

-Are you working with fast hardener, and tired of worrying if its going to kick too quickly?

If any of these problems apply to you, then you should try what Gregs doing in this picture to the right. Use a drill (or drill press) and a paint-stirring bit to do the work for you. Its quicker and easier. Just remember to take measures to protect your drill. It would really suck if you ended ruining your drill because it got all gummed up with epoxy.

Read More..

Take your time when you lay the tape

Reinforced Stringers 1
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

Its best to take your time when you set the fiberglass tape on the joints. If you fail to adequately saturate the tape with epoxy, or if you fail to adequately set the tape onto the wood, the tape wont bond well to the wood, as shown in this picture.

Its really not a big deal to correct this problem; all we had to do was cut away the tape that didnt bond to the wood, feather the edges and lay down another piece of saturated tape... but it would have been nice to have gotten it right the first time.

Read More..

Other Uses for Epoxy and Plywood Part II

Shower Repair 4
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

In this picture, you see that I have installed the scrap plywood. the plyowood has been sealed with epoxy, so it should stay waterproof for until I truly remodel this bathroom. Ive screwed it all into place with waterproof screws, and you may see that Ive test-fitted a block of tiles.

Read More..

Back to our Regularly Scheduled Program

We laid some more glass yesterday, but Im going to digress a bit.

You may remember in an earlier post that we had a couple of spots where the fiberglass didnt adhere to the plywood. Our initial plan was to drill small holes in these areas and fill them with epoxy. Greg changed his mind. Instead, he cut out these areas with a knife, and filled it with a mixture of epoxy and fiberglass filler. My camera batteries were dead, so I dont have any pics of this, but I will attempt to get some pics posted soon.

After the fiberglass filling, we did a little last-minute sanding, and laid fiberglass on one side. Weve now got about two-thirds of the exterior completely fiberglassed. We still have one side, and both transoms to do, but that should go relatively quick. Of course Ill post pictures.

Read More..

Other Uses for Epoxy and Plywood

By now, were all familiar with using epoxy and plywood for building boats. But have you considered using plywood and epoxy for other jobs around the house? The previous owner of my house installed a tile shower, and used plain plain 2x4s and plywood for this water-catching lip. Over the years, water has gotten in here, and eventually it rotted away the plywood and the wood.

Im not going to the trouble of completely ripping this out and starting from scratch, but I am going to repair it so it stays put until Im ready to completely overhaul this bathroom. Enter the epoxy and plywood...

During the course of the next couple of weeks, I am going to epoxy the remaining wood, in an attempt to prevent any further deterioration. I will cut some scrap plywood to size and lay a protective layer of epoxy over that as well, which will waterproof the entire base. Finally, I will use thickened epoxy to stick the tiles back into place. Why epoxy instead of cement? Because I have the epoxy and plywood available. Id have to go out and buy the cement. The only reason NOT to use wood is because of the rotting factor. By coating it all with epoxy, I have removed the potential for rotting.

Read More..

Other Uses for Epoxy and Plywood Part IV

Shower Repair 7
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

In this photo, you see that Ive done part of the bottom, or side, section. I was fortunate that this section came off in one large sheet, so I didnt have to re-lay individual tiles. The hardest part of re-laying the tiles comes next. Wish me luck.

By the way, if youre interested, you can also see my other home improvement project on my other blog. I figured that it was more appropriate to post this project here, since it so heavily utilizes plywood and epoxy.

Read More..

An Invitation to look at my Other Blog

This blog about the houseboat isnt my only blog. If youre interested in seeing my other blog, which discusses about everything except this project, go to my other blog.

Read More..