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Looking for Spindrift 11 build logs


Salty Cracker

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3 hours ago, Salty Cracker said:

Losing count has crossed my mind


Yep… I’m good at losing count. So, I always do a pumpful of resin and, while the pump goes back up, I add a pumpful of hardener (actually a HALF pumpful of hardener… I’m not sure if you realize that the pumps will come with a little sleeve for the hardener pump that stops it half way down.)
 

Also, except for glassing large areas (the hull) I rarely mixed more than two to four “pumpfuls” at a time.  I lucked out in my big glassing-the-hull project on Norma T by mostly only mixing up batches of epoxy to support my son’s applying it to the glass.  It was pumpful after pumpful. (There’s another one of those fancy technical boatbuilding terms — pumpfuls.  ?)

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On those small cups, System 3 sells a small kit that includes a few of those cups for mixing.  You pour in, say, 30 ml of resin, then run it up to 45 ml with hardener.   It can't be as accurate as a scale, but it seemed to work just fine.  It can be used for far less than a "pump" worth, so good for very small jobs.

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Yeah, Don… well, a few times I broke my own rule (1a, 1b, etc.) for whatever reason… usually thinking about a big step I’m about to do with my epoxy mix.  I’d make the bigger batch by squirting out consecutive pumpfuls ? of resin and… suddenly think, “darn, did I do three… four… so far?”  
 

I think I always managed to figure it out correctly and resolved again TO ALWAYS ALTERNATE!!  I do try to learn. ?
 

Oh, and pumpfuls makes me think with a chuckle a discussion in my Greek 101 class… should the translation be 12 “baskets” of leftover bread, as though 12 baskets were around and were filled up with bread… or 12 “basketfuls”, as in a large amount … like 12 times what might fit in a basket.  It was all Greek to me at first… but learning occurs.  ?

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20 hours ago, PadrePoint said:

Yeah, Don… well, a few times I broke my own rule (1a, 1b, etc.) for whatever reason… usually thinking about a big step I’m about to do with my epoxy mix.

 

This is what I see myself doing. I have a bad habit of putting my body mechanics on auto-pilot if I give my mind an opportunity to wander thinking about the next several steps ahead.

I used to load my own ammo and one year I was given a nice progressive reloading machine for Christmas. I couldn't get comfortable just yanking on the lever like it was a slot machine. I would catch myself looking around the shed thinking about other projects. I felt much better focusing on each step by weighing grains and setting each individual bullet in it's shell by hand. I had to go back to my manual Rock Chucker press that only held one die at a time.

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One thing I would say about the build process is that there are a few places in which the exact order that you do things doesn't matter.

E.g. I left building the interior (seats, daggerboard casing) until after I had sawn the boat in half. That way, I could fine tune to ensure the two halves nested properly.

Also with the materials, I struggled to source quality timber for the larger pieces like the thwart. But in practise you have some leeway on these.

With epoxy, you can use silica most of the time but imho microfibres are superior, easier to mix and I think probably stronger. Microbaloons are great for fairing, easier to sand and often can be applied to give a lovely smooth finish with no sanding required at all.

I went for an almost entirely painted finish. This meant that I was not shy about using drywall screws to tack things together, because I could easily fill the resulting holes and paint over them. You can't do that with a bright finish.

Finally, clamps, clamps, and more clamps. I ended up making several from scrap wood, and even used shifters, mole grips, etc.

 

Enjoy- it's a very satisfying project, and I now use my 11N as my daily dinghy (I live on a yacht)- I get a lot of admiring comments from other yachties.

 

 

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I drove out to the B & B shop yesterday and picked up my crate!

I had the chance to look around at their operation and pick their brains for info. I got some good tips and even got to spy a sneak-peak at a prototype for a new kit.

Now the dinghy coffin is in the garage tucked behind folding tables and ladders just waiting for for me to send my boys out there Christmas morning to "discover" it.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 12/29/2021 at 4:45 AM, PadrePoint said:

SOOOO… 

Did the boys see the kit?

And, are you guys gonna start a new thread about your fun Spindrift project?

Happy new year. Yes they did. I stood the crate upright in the the garage and wrapped it with Christmas paper. It looked like the monolith from 2001: Space Odyssey except red, white and green instead of black.

I asked them to take garbage out so they could "discover" it.

 

We plan on beginning the build middle of April and will certainly start a build log and thread for it.

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