Newbie question about painters

[jerryg]

Hi everyone,

Well my fuselage is almost complete (I'll be posting pics soon) and before I oil it I want to install some painters at the bow and stern. I understand the general idea about how to do it, but what I don't understand is how water is prevented from entering the boat once you have cut/burned a hole in the skin. Is it because the hole is above the water line? Should the hole be sealed with epoxy or something after I have sewed on the skin? What am I missing?

I know this is a dumb question, but I hope someone has a little pity on a newb.

Thanks.

[SBknox]

I split a 1" wooden bead on the band saw and epoxy'd it to the skin. I then applied epoxy to the rope to seal the thru hole. Kinda looks "bug eyed" but it is water tight!

[Kudzu]

A little bit of Lexel around the hole will seal it. It's not that great looking but it is surprisingly not that noticeable. If you are a sloppy person use masking tape around the hole before caulking.

[Hirilonde]

I used Lifecaulk. It cleans up with mineral spirits so the mess I made forcing it into the hole was easy to clean up. And unlike polyurethanes it is not so tenacious that it can't be removed if need be later. I used it for all the things screwed through the skin as well, like the chafe guard on the keel and the tabs for the life lines and cargo straps. The toothpaste tube container can be capped off and used for years. You might have to dig out a cured plug after a time, but behind it is good material.

[Kudzu]

That is what I used on my Chris Craft and plan to use it on it again when I finally start rebuilding it. It's good stuff, just can't find it local anymore.

[Hirilonde]

.............. just can't find it local anymore.

You will never guess how far I have to go to get it

[jerryg]

Thanks everyone. Much appreciated.

[jerryg]

I have been thinking about this more, perhaps being a bit dense, and I still can't figure something out.

Obviously the painters have to be threaded through their holes and tied off before the skin is fully stitched on. I thought I read in Jeff's book that this should be done as you start sewing the skin. This means that you will be making the hole in the fabric before it is stretched tight, which can't be done until the sewing is complete.

Won't shrinking the skin cause the hole to dislocate, and with the rope being there won't this end up causing a kinda oval shape? Or is the shrinkage too small to matter?

Thanks.

[Kudzu]

I do them last thing. You can find the holes in the frame under the skin and then make a hole in the skin. You need a fine wire of some type to push though then pull the painter back through. Doable, but not always easy. Sometimes it is maddening, other is works perfectly.

If you know someone with a wire welder. They have a few feet at the end of the wire roll that will not feed though. Those are perfect for fishing with.

[Hirilonde]

Obviously the painters have to be threaded through their holes and tied off before the skin is fully stitched on.

It is?

Drilling the hole through the bow piece first, before skinning is definitely preferable. It is quite possible to pull a thread or distort the fabric drilling through it later. I forgot, or maybe I just didn't think of it at all, and simply drilled through the skin and bow piece with the boat completely done. It worked fine. As I was using synthetic line I started with a piece much longer than needed, lit the end on fire, then rolled it out with a scrap of wood into a nice tapered point. This made pushing it through the hole sort of easy. Once through the hole I cut it to length to fit my toggle and finished the process.

[jerryg]

Thanks again guys. This made perfect sense. All questions answered, all concerns addressed. Painters, here I come!