Fairing

[davidpm]

I'm concerned about the but joint with fg tape on both sides to make the long panels.

it seems like this would create a lump on the side of the boat. Is it just sanded or do you have to fair with microballoons or some such thing?

[Peter HK]

You have 2 options-

Just paint over the glass and any other imperfection and go sailing- it'll still float.

Or

Learn about fairing compounds/sanding/ longboarding/ hi build undercoat and how to spray topcoat and end up with a floating work of art.

Most of us end up somewhere in between.

By the way - you don't sand the glass tape itself as that's what is holding the whole thing together

Peter HK

[Garry]

I use a carbide bladed paint scraper to remove the hard edge of the tape, tapering it to the wood surface; then a little fairing compound. I figure the edge of the tape provides little of the bonding strength. Its best to start scraping before the epoxy reaches full strength, typically about 12 -24 hours after applying the epoxy. This also is a big help with wrinkles in the glass and epoxy runs.

The thick tape edge:

Tape edge closeup:

Scraping it down:

Scraping closeup:

[davidpm]

Thanks all it makes sense now.

[Scott Dunsworth]

Or you could just scarf them It's really not that hard and you need to learn how to do it anyway.

Scott

[Joe Anderson]

John Gardner in his book Building Classic Small Craft suggests cutting a shallow depression in the plywood for the tape to lay in. He specifies 1\32 by the width of the tape. Has anyone tried this method? I am sure the tape will be thicker than 1\32, but does this method have merit or would it be more trouble for little gain?

[Charlie Jones]

It would ( will) give you a fairer surface, yes. How picky you are will depend on whether it's worth it or not. On the outside of the boat, perhaps so. The glass over the entire outside will then be much smoother. On the interior, I don't think it's would be worth it. You can't get away and look down the surface on the inside so you can't see any small lump from the tape.

BY the way- Dynamite Payson printed that  idea also,  WAY back in the one of the "instant boat" books or articles.

[Hirilonde]

Or you could just scarf them It's really not that hard and you need to learn how to do it anyway.

Scott

I don't know that you "need" to learn how to do it anyway, but it is a lot easier than it might seem.  I highly recommend everyone try a scarf, you will be surprised how easy it is, and it is really fair.  Practice on some scraps first if you feel the need.  You will find threads in the forum on the subject with a search.

[Hirilonde]

Now that I have a few more planes in my collection, I plan on profiling one of the blades by raiusing the ends so I can plane a shallow relief without hard corners to do the same without resorting to the dustmaker.

I have done just that to the blade of a small jack plane.  I use it to do scarf joints, dress resawn boards and to make slight concave reliefs for pieces fitting to a deck camber and such.  It works really well.  Tools have evolved a lot over the years.  Technology has made for some really ingenious improvements.  But a really sharp hand plane of the design for the application will probably never be replaced by any technology.  I don't know if it is Zen, or therapy, or what.  But there is something very satisfying about planing wood by hand, and the quality of the results have yet to be exceeded by any power tool I know of.  The lack of dust that Ray disdains so much is but another reason to use them.

[Charlie Jones]

In the older days every cabinet maker had a plane or two ground like that, for roughing the backs of cabinet sides, etc. Takes a lot of wood off fast. In fact that's one way you can determine if a piece was actually hand made- reach inside and feel for some long shallow grooves running with the grain. The old timers usually didn't have a planer to surface boards, so they did it by hand.

Used to be called a "scrub plane" by the way and there are now new planes built like that- Lie-Nielson and Veritas both make one. A new version of the old Stanley # 40 1/2 scrub plane.

For surfacing rough boards, I'll keep my power planer thank you very much- scrubbing down more than a single board to thickness is a LOT of work.