Levi

From where I am sitting the work shop there is not "wanting" for space or tools to work with? What a great opportunity for you Greg. Good luck with this.

I have built several times with their product and it almost seems like they are a local business because other than having to call them to order product, I seem to get delivery as if they are not 1000 miles away, but local. Calling & talking to someone gives me more confidence in getting exactly what I want. They answer questions on the spot & give you the right amounts for what you tell them you are building (including glass & epoxy with fast or slo hardeners.) I told them I was building the Maine Fisherman Skiff and bingo, the right amount of glass for the job. My friend built the Vacationer and had the same good service. Most epoxies have their merits but Raka is so easy to deal with and the product is amazingly forgiving to first-time users as well as old pros. I have never had a bad mix using their pumps (5 builds so far) and the product mixes easily with cups also. No, I dont work for Raka but they sure work for me....

I used to think "thickerer" was better......now I'll re-think that. Glad you found satisfaction and passed on the conclusion to us.

My heat gun (On low settings) has often made the difference for a nice bubble-free finish but there are obviously other answers. I will gratefully listen here for them. This is a problem we all face and maybe we can lick it together? LEVI

T. Nelson you are right on about safety & fun on the water.My radio will always be on during sailing the Great Lakes and usually on local reservoir (which is huge) cause people on the water tend to always be needing some kind of help....human nature....I cant imagine not having radio on when moving across water....I dont have it OFF when flying and if regs would allow me to I still wouldnt.

I have done basically the same project as you many times in my work and found that two woods, not of the same tree, always will react in some manner when mating them together in an inlay. Some one on the Forum mentioned that this project might suffer future movement due to this and he is SO right....but all is not lost...Have you ever done much laminating of woods and using different woods in the project? In the job of laminating you will always use a superior glue (epoxy?), clamp it up well and patiently wait for cure before unclamping. Inlay work needs similar gluing, clamping and patience I have found, because you are mating different woods of different content together into one beautiful piece. One major mistake is to wet the woods with stain before gluing up. Let everything be natural and dry; sand to fit; glue up and clean off glue; clamp and let cure; sand entire project and then do staining. Epoxy, if not starved out of the joints, will keep the pieces in place for the rest of our lives and if you skim coat the entire finished & stained project with gloss epoxy and finish with varnish of your choice it should be a piece for your grandchildren to fight over? Hard to describe these things but I hope you get the idea and I am sure the piece you made can be touched up and made to please with some work because you seem to know about wood working. And if you built a boat or two you have come across many problems and licked them? Bill, your piece looks great as is from your post and I think you will become an in-lay artist if you just keep at it. It can be frustrating but lots of fun.

I'll take one of my wrist watches off now... Levi

And it looks great Capt! You will have to come up with a new signature line soon....your sanding days are numbered? Fine looking and you should be proud.

Hey Mike, If you get temps in 40's, Ohio better get some of that! Red Green is popular around here too. Can you believe he could build a Weekender to end all Weekenders? Bloomin' thing would be duct-taped...no PL...no epoxy? A table cloth Jib...a quilted Main? "We are all men, but we can change, if we have to." (Red Green) :roll: Levi 8)

Guess what...I'm no longer a guest Frank...thanks a bunch. Levi :roll:

It's almost like getting a new computer....this is now the Caddilac of forums :?: I am really impressed :roll: and my eyes are popping! :roll: Levi