On Wednesday I got in a bit of time to tidy up and sand back the filling done on Monday. Some of the deeper filled areas had sunk where the super-absorbent end grain had sucked all of the epoxy out of the filler mix, lowering the fill level.
On Thursday I got in a good session and taped all the outer seams. I got the tapes good and tight with no wrinkles or kinks. I went easier on the wetting out on top of the tape and was confident of a cleaner end result.
On Friday I finished shovelling the earth and chopping down the old pergola posts.
On Saturday Bridgit helped me to clear the overgrown shrubs by the fence and we moved the trampoline into its new position.
On Sunday I cleaned up the outer side of the hull to get rid of the drips. Despite the care I took not to put excessive amounts of epoxy on the tapes on Thursday, there were lots of run lines on the side panels where the gradient is steepest. I cleaned these up with a bit of planing and lots of careful scraping with the tip of a very sharp chisel. I can see now why a cabinet scraper is such a useful tool to boat builders. I also used some 60 grit aluminium oxide paper to rough up the tapes ready to receive more epoxy.
Finally, I managed to shape the false keel that will act as a running strip to prevent wear on the thin panels of the hull. The plans suggest a simple taper cut on each end, but I went to town a bit with a fairly blunt fore end and a finely tapered aft end. I screwed this in place temporarily from the inside to use it as a centre marker. The next step will be to add another couple of rubbing strips on the bilges and the centre false keel will act as a datum to ensure everything is perfectly symmetrical.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment