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The Building of Old Codger


Chick Ludwig

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21 minutes ago, Chick Ludwig said:

Oops! I was just a draftsman back in those days. No design. But my first job in the boating industry was with Morgan Yacht. I worked on the Outisland 46,  and some others---don't remember what now. Oh, I did some of the drawings for the Disney World boats that Morgan built. Charley sold the company to Beatrice Foods while I was there. He and they came to a "parting of the ways" over quality issues. Beatrice brought in the "bean counters". One thing they did was to use particle board for the interior components. Guess what happened next....

 

One of my favorite demands when taking new work to draftsmen was "if I wanted it tomorrow, I give it to you tomorrow, I want it today"  We had good rapport though so all was well and I never got thrown out of their space.  Introduction of CAD slowed things down considerably until they and I got used to it.

 

Took a Morgan 46 Out Island from Savannah to Nassau in the 80's. Even with a stop at West End, the whole thing was on port tack with wind 15 to 25 over the port deck.  All sail controls were electric so the fact that my two crew mates were always seasick did not matter.  Great run with no upwind tacking.  I don't even allow particle board in my shop, much less on a boat or furniture.  Bloody awful stuff. 

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2 hours ago, Tom Lathrop said:

Bloody awful stuff. 

Yeah, lots of comebacks to replace the interior of those boats! Maybe one reason they went out of business. I worked at Heritage yachts when Charley started that one, too. After opening my short-lived drafting and design office, I did work for Charley when he was doing some designing from his home. Also got his son, Charley Jr., into outboard racing while I worked at Morgan Yacht. In my office, I was blessed to do a couple of designs for Irwin, but Ted wouldn't allow me to take credit. Only lasting "fame" is my design for Southern Yachts, the Skipper's Mate,  that became the Sanibel 18. Still in production by International Marine. http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?CLASS_ID=33

 

I never switched to computer design and drafting. By then I'd started building yacht dinghies, canoes, and small outboards.

 

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It’s the concentration and inhalation of epoxy vapors which causes it, Graham.

 

We all get it, to a certain extent. It’s an enhancer, so sort of intensifies the latent personality.

 

I, for example, am practically unintelligible after a session of pox huffing. I talk more in spirals than circles, and I speed WAY up. Sort of a chipmunk affair, but much less entertaining. :)

 

Peace,

Robert 

 

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Graham. You know me too well. But, maybe I've gotten 'hold of some good' ol Southern sweet tea that was sitting in the sun for too long. Hey, wait, WHAT Sun. Maybe Tiger's answer is closer to the truth. Also been breathing too much cyanoacrylate glue (Super glue to y'all.) that I use in building my models.

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Today was a good day. Not too cold. No rain. A nice breeze to blow the sanding dust away. i moved the boat outside so the mess could stay outa the "gar-op". Sanding's done. When I started, the paper on my 7"disc sander was clogging up. The poxy had been curing for a few days, so it couldn't be partially cured poxy. So, a quick wash down to remove possible amine blush seemed to help. Finished all of the sanding. Then, a coat of special "Action Tiger-Primer". It will get two more coats of this special primer. and then a final (I hope) sanding. I'll let y'all know how it works out.

 

Now for a good hot shower to get all that nasty poxy-dust off, a good Miss Debbie din-din, and an evening recovering in my recliner with some good 'ol Southern Sweet Tea.

 

Here's a picture of the "Great-White-Whale".

DSCN3295.thumb.JPG.6bf47babc1a540610df20003c195e22a.JPG

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I left you guys with a coat of Kilz primer. No, not on you, on the boat! Over the next couple of days, I added two more coats. Looked pretty good. It's been drying for at least a couple of days, so today is the day to sand it. First try with Mr. D/A just gummed up the works. i guess it's too soft for a fast  moving machine. It hand sands well, but they don't call me "lazy" for no reason. So, it's off to try Plan-B.

 

I just finished sanding the big, flat surfaces with "Big Blue", my 7" sander-grinder, turned way down to it's slowest speed. It has a soft pad that takes "sticky-back" paper sanding discs. All I have is 100 grit paper, but, it'll be ok with my usual coupla coats over it. I had to stop often to clear clogs and change paper, but it got=r=dun ok. Hand sanded the corners. Too windy to paint. All kinds of dust blowing around. Maybe tomorrow.

 

Go up to the last picture of the "Great White Whale". Imagine the same picture with two more coats of primer, and all sanded. Looks just like that.

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Kilz 2. I was gonna do all water base, but can't find water based porch and floor gloss, so I'm gonna do oil base gloss.

 

I know, y'all, I outa use  the good expensive stuff. But ease of use, nueropathy, tight budget, type of boat and use of boat, and easy touch up says 1 part paint. Many folks have used floor paint and are happy with it. We'll see. Kilz 2 as primer was an experiment. Other folks swear by it. Undecided myself.

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According to the internet, Kilz 2 is water based. I use Kilz oil base primer, the white can with the red letters only on it. Applied properly and allowed to cure, especially between coats, its never gummed my sanding disc. It sands down to an onion slick finish for plain old Rustoleum type oil base paints or even awlgrip two part paint, when allowed to cure for two weeks to be sure this time of year.

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So, here I am back again. Just finished spraying. Time for a "rant".

 

Little compressor. After Summer Breeze, I bought the biggest cfm volume compressor I could find that could be run on 120 volt house current. No 220 available in my garop. I had a Craftsman 2hp when I sprayed the hull on the the Breeze. It wouldn't keep up. Well, neither does the California Airtool 2hp that I now have. Here's the spray sequence. Start spraying. Good atomization and flow from my HVLP gun. Pressure bleeds down-spray mist becomes mini-droplets-volume drops-move slower-chance of runs. Stop. Let pressure build up. Dusty look where the lap is. Repeat. Go back and try to brush out a couple of little runs. Kinda works. Worry about it later. NEVER AGAIN!!! Gotta get a REAL compressor.

 

I have an electrician buddy. Maybe he can figure out where I can steal some 220 "juice", and how to get it to the garop. Don't ask me. Dang, I tie a knot in the lamp cord when I unplug it, so the 'lectricity won't leek out.

 

Anywho, here's a picture so ya can check-out the color. Tiger suggested "turkle blue", but I couldn't figure out what kinda blue that could be. Lowe's didn't show it on a color chart. Miss Debbie suggested an aqua or turquoise. "Turquoise" sounds a little like "turkle". I think Lowe's calls it Ocean Blue. Or something like that. I forget. I ain't gonna go tip-toe through the mess on the floor to see what the paint can says. So, here 'tis....

DSCN3297.thumb.JPG.820aa86f7031de79a2ad72046ce769d3.JPG

By-the-way. you'll notice the unpainted strip along the sheer. That's where I can glass the deck structure onto the hull. The rubrail will be poxied on there, to, and cover the paint edge. Trust me. It'll work. I may be  paint-challenged, but I got this other stuff figured out pretty good.

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