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Time to epoxy the seams


Tony Pollard

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Hello,

CS17 #55 finally looks like a boat! I have sewn all the seams and am trying to learn how best to proceed. I have read earlier threads that tacking between the stitches, removing the wires, then doing the final fillets is a good method. I have a few questions...

1. Is it best to install inwales prior to gluing seams, to get the hull shape correct? I am wondering how important it is to have the shape exact before gluing the seams...can it be tweaked after?

2. Did it work well to tack between stitches, or is it better to just do the fillets and remove the stitches after?

3. If I do the tack method, will I have to sand those tacks before doing the fillet...to get a mechanical bond?

It has been fun having family and friends come by and see how beautiful this boat design is...prior to going 3D, they would just look at my pile of flat pieces and politely nod their head. Now they can see why this is such a fun and exciting project.

Thanks All,

Tony

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Having done this exactly once before my recommendation is to put the inwales in before filleting the hull joints. The inwales add substantial shape to the hull. My thought is to also take your time fooling with the boat lines before filleting, as once the epoxy goes on you got what you got. My boat seemed to settle into its final shape over several days in the stichted mode.

I put the wire stitches on 6" centers and tack filleted between each stitch. This worked beautifully, but next time I will probably fillet every other stictch just to be quick about it. The 1/4" tack fillets were plenty strong to hold the boat pieces together.

If you come back in the next 24 hours with the final fillets there should be no need to sand the tack fillets. Take some care to get the fillet stick right before going to far. I had to experiment some to get a good 3/4 inch fillet, and probably wasted some time in this area. I am now a more competent filleter, and this process goes much faster.

I tapped and epoxied the seams while the fillets were still somewhat plastic (not fully hardened). This resulted in some very smooth fillets with ZERO sanding.

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Tony

What Brent says lines up with my experience. I installed my inwales after filleting the seams - that seemed to work well. I am sure there are some subtle differences in the final shape - but that doesn't seem to be a problem as everything else you do you fit to the 'actual' shape you end up with.

Good luck - the whole process is enjoyable and satisfying

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