my36 Posted July 24, 2011 Report Share Posted July 24, 2011 Hi, First time builder (of anything) with more questions about my Spindrift 10N... The plans say to use a length of 1x2 to make the keel. I used the hull shape tracing technique I saw in the CD photos to mark and cut my keel. The only thing that worries me is that it seems quite thin at the deepest part of the hull. Is that a problem? Is the keel simply glued and screwed, or should it be taped too? I have a bubbles under my tape in a couple of places - at the transom (as shown in the pic) and at the upper part of the nesting bulkheads where the tape is 6 layers thick. How big a problem is this? Any suggested remedies? I'm having a lot of fun building her and I really expect I'll know what I'm doing by the time I'm finished. Thanks, Lawrence Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hokeyhydro Posted July 24, 2011 Report Share Posted July 24, 2011 A bubble under one layer of tape on a six layer layup isn't a structural problem, just ugly. You can grind the fiberglass down fair and patch it with a small piece. I would grind and patch the bubbles on the transom. In the photo I'm thinking not enough round-off on the 90 deg corner to allow the tape to conform, the usual cause of lifting. Rather than use tape around sharp corners I cut strips of fiberglass scrap on a 45 deg bias and use that. With the weave at a 45 the glass wraps better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ecgossett Posted July 26, 2011 Report Share Posted July 26, 2011 If you are worried about how it looks where the bubble was, I use thicken epoxy with West System 407, 410 fairing filler, and sand it down.. Or when epoxying other stuff just remember to get that with a couple extra coats of clear to fill in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Burritt Posted July 26, 2011 Report Share Posted July 26, 2011 Lawrence - How thick is the keel at the thinnest point? Can't tell from the pic. I think it should be 3/4" there and continuing forward, bending to fit the shape of the hull. The aft end should be the full 1 1/2", tapering forward to 3/4". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Lathrop Posted July 26, 2011 Report Share Posted July 26, 2011 If you sand the tape down on the transom joint, you might as well not have put any tape on in the first place. The glass fibers that cross over the joint are the only reason for taping it. It looks like enough roundover to me and I suspect that the tape should have been pressed down better as the epoxy was setting up. Any way, it should be fixed. I'd grind off all the offending tape in the bubble area and put on new. Never, ever, sand directly on a glass tape joint since that can destroy it's effectiveness. Sand only on the tape edges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
my36 Posted July 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 Lawrence - How thick is the keel at the thinnest point? Can't tell from the pic. I think it should be 3/4" there and continuing forward, bending to fit the shape of the hull. The aft end should be the full 1 1/2", tapering forward to 3/4". The aft end is the full 1.5 inches, but the thinnest section is more like 1/2 inch thick. The forward part goes back to almost the full 1.5 inches but I planned it down some to give it a nice contour. I'm hoping that since I don't plan to sail much (if at all) the keel depth won't be a problem. I'm guessing it's not that important when rowing?? Thanks for all the feedback from everyone. Lawrence Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Burritt Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 The keel helps the boat track in a straighter direction when you're rowing. Without one, you'd tend to wander all over. If you find you're having trouble keeping on track with the rudder this size, adding a strip of wood to it wouldn't be too big a project. Plane the forward end down to about 3/4" and round the nose of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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