Florin {VACATIONER}

Thanks guys for clearing this for me. I now don't feel like I screwed up doing my bondo filleting with the 1 1/2" dowel and the keel radiusing with the 1 1/4" router bit. Whew..... I feel better now! and my boat will hopefully go faster. I don't think the triangular scaper would work on the fillet between the keel and hull bottom because of the forever changing angle between the two.... me thinks. Cheers Florin

What is the general concensus on staining the woodwork before the fibrglass application? Would water based stain work? Just worried about delam. Thanks Florin

I would only assume on this, but I guess one would have to apply a few coats of fiberglass resin to cover the cloth texture and pinholes first. Then you'd have to sand or scrape it smooth before the varnish application. Florin

I know what you mean Chris, the mast will be pretty much the last piece which needs any woodwork (for now). After that its off to glassing, finishing, painting and rigging. I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel. I hope you can keep your boat. Florin

The fir staves are pretty dark and we want to stain it dark red mahogany like the rest of the brightwork so the plastic resin probably won't show almost at all. Thanks Frank, I guess we may even get it done tonight when I get back from work. Cheers Florin

Yep, Mike I reaaallly did round it. I was always under the impression that bit was 3/4".... not sure why, I could have read the print on the box like I did a couple of days ago. Turns out I don't own a 3/4" bit, or if I do I can't find it. The chines aren't quite as round though. I think the keel looks allright with those radiuses there . We mainly wanted to do a larger radius than per plans because we wanted to put that kevlar on the keel. We all know how that turned out now (don't even wanna hear about that for another 10 years ) We've also had a couple of layers of 6oz glass cloth there but it all got sanded off in the process of removing the kevlar. Florin

Frank, Great minds think alike! I've already made those jigs a couple of days ago except the cutouts on mine are not circular but triangular, basically the staves should sit in the "V" cradle. I've made 8 of them so that the mast is supported every about 2' or so. My plan was to mark the centres of the bases of the cradles and then snap a chalk line on the cement floor of the garage. Then, hot melt glue the cradles on the cement lining up the centres with the chalk line. This way the axis of the mast would end up straight. Now I just have to make sure the garage floor is reasonably level if not, I will have to shim the cradles up a smigeon until they are all level. Instead of the radiator hose clamps I was thinking of using plastic wrap-ties in order to avoid overclamping. Do you guys think this would work? The reason I'm hesitant to use the epoxy is due to the fact that it takes so long to cure. This epoxy was designed especially for making aircraft wooden fuselages, which need great penetration to be strong thus the long cure time. The other downside is that it is kind of runny, so it doesn't have any gap filling properties at all... well kind of. I still have 3qt leftover from my previous aircraft project. I guess I could mix a little sawdust into it to make it thicker to solve this problem. I do have plastic resin glue, so I was kinda hoping I could have this cured overnight so that I can still do work in there next day as opposed to a week later, for I am worried not to bump it while still not cured. Any thoughts on this? Thanks a lot guys Florin

Correction! The router bit used for radiusing the keel is 1 1/4". Sorry Florin

Does anyone have any words of advice regarding the gluing of the bird's mouth spar? We are pretty much ready to go now. We have epoxy and plastic resin. The epoxy takes a week to fully cure. Any do's and dont's? Thanks Florin

Yes, painting will be done for sure on the back side as well. Thanks Florin

Hey Paul, how've you been? Haven't heard from you in a long time. Florin

That's easy! I wonder if the fir ply will stand up to the weather if there's no cloth to protect it and hold it in. I've heard that it will start checking pretty badly. Thanks Florin

Good question! I'm at the same stage with the hatch. It's built but has to be finished. I've used 1/2" fir ply for the shell, and solid fir for the frame. Because it looks so good we would like to keep it bright as well. I've heard you could just fiberglass it and then varnish on top. We did varnish the forehatch with oil base varnish about two years ago. I'm not sure if the glass will adhere to the oiled wood even if it's been there for a couple of years. I think we need an expert opinion on this one. It'd sure be nice to have "some" brightwork on the boats though. Florin

The radius on our keel was made with a 3/4" router bit. We tried to duplicate it on the chine, but we've had to use the beltsander this time, for the router wouldn't work there due to the various angles involved. The 3/4 " radius worked quite well on the chine and the glassing went well. Florin

Since I hear fir checks quite badly in about a season or two unless it's covered in glass, and now we know that ply will eventually delam, now I am thinking maybe it's safer to make them out of oak or some other wood that will survive at least five years in the elements if varnished properly. What d'ya think? thanks Florin

Thanks Dave, I got it now. I have all the ports cut out in the cabinside already. I used 3/4" ply to make my rings out of.... Trouble is that I used the first one as template and made the others just like it with the router. Unfortunately the template had some voids in the center laminations of the ply and the router followed the contour and the voids. They don't look too badly, but they're not perfect and I'm thinking of making new ones. I should have made the template out of mdf or masonite board. I'm also considering cutting rabbets in the inside ones so that the window pane fits right in and you cannot see the edge at all. I was thinking of maybe installing the window pane between the outer ring and cabin so that the cabin wall edge is not exposed to the elements. Whad'ya think? Florin

Thanks for the tip. So you have the piece of plexy or lexan sandwiched between the rings and cabin wall and they are epoxied together? Or did you leave provisions to remove one of the rings at a later date so that you can change the window pane if or when it becomes damaged or scratched badly? Thanks Florin

What materials did you guys use for the window rings? Thanks Florin

Thanks guys, it's nice to be back. Good to see a lot of you guys made great progress in building your boat. I'm going to try and catch up with you now.... Cheers Florin

After an extended vacation we're back in the woodshed. Glad to see you're all still here! Still making dust. Cheers Florin

BTW, is there any significant difference between the pink and blue foam (other than color)? Thanks

Thanks Barry, that makes sense now, I think that's what we used to bond the pink foam insulation and the fiberglass lining for our coolers in the cockpit seats. I just didn't know it was called panel adhesive :-). All this terminology kills us hehehe. Thanks Florin

Thanks Barry, What is panel adhesive????? Never heared the term since I'm not in construction and not a handyman at home either. Thanks Florin

Sorry, should have mentioned it was the darned PL 500.

Does anyone know if the blue foam will deteriorate when exposed to elements for an extended period. We are planning to glue some up in the lazarette and under the deck behind the cockpit seats, but they will be exposed to water, etc. over there. Just wondering if they will last about 5 years, or will they start disintegrating... Thanks Florin