ARRRRRGH!! Broken butterfly joint on Spindrift!

[Mike H.]

With visions of having something resembling a boat in my shop before bedtime I started wiring up my 10N today. I got about halfway up the bow when I thought I could make it easier by pulling the sides closer to their finished position to relieve some stress up front. In retrospect I suppose that it was the pulling the sides down that did it. Anyway the starboard joint went *CRACK!!* and my face went * :shock: :x * in that order. Not a tremendously big deal I suppose, but how to fix it?

The previous joint was the most beautiful, void-free joint ever. Can I get a strong joint by sanding it down a bit, roughing it up and doing another over the thin remaining layer? Or do I have to sand, sand, sand, and sand some more to get back to bare wood again?

Mike H.

[Howard]

What gave way? The taped joint or the plywood? If plywood, what type?

[Mike H.]

The tape on the outside broke at the seam and it folded up. The inside cracked enough the I cut the few hangers on. The plywood (6MM Okume) came through unscathed.

Thanks for the quick response,

Mike H.

[Mike H.]

Thanks Ray!

You had me going there for a minute cuz your whole post wasn't on the screen when I read the "bad news"! I figured hey, this guy may know what he's doing but I'm gonna give rejoining the old joint a good ol' college try anyway!

Today I'm gonna redo the joint but unfortunately I don't own a belt sander. I imagine that they would be the way to go for fairing though. I've got a random orbital and a finishing sander. I was thinking of buying some sandpaper belts and using them on a long flexible sanding board to get a belt sander result, albeit it with more sweating and cursing.

Cheers!

Mike H.