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snookiehunter wrote:
Overall, the glass work was fairly simple. Jena, my wife, jumped right in, and started wetting the tape. She did a very good job, I might add.
Yes she did Beautiful work
Not sure how to do the stringers yet. My concern here is getting the straight side , straight. I think I'll stand them up on egde, and clamp. Any advice here would be welcomed. Thanks.
I'm not sure how I'm going to do mine either, but I'm considering gluing the panels together before ripping them. That edge will need re-sawing anyhow due to "squeeze-out".
Thanks TRC. It's fun for us to do a project like this together. She seems to be willing to help, and as excited as I am, about finally getting started.
I got home from work at noon, wolfed down a sandwich, and went to work. I was able to get all but one screw out of the transom. (I should dig this out, right? Suggestions? ) I also glued the stringers. My concern here, was that the nesting diagram left very little room to cut the stringers oversized. So, I cut strips at the widest stringer dimension. I pre coated, buttered, and then stood them on edge. I drove four screws in, to keep everything lined up. Then, I layed them back down flat, and put all the weight I could find on them. I used two pieces of unistrut to spread the weight evenly. Unfortunately, all of this has to set for a week, before I can start stitching.
Now, I clean up the garage, so she can park the car inside. It was a disaster!
I can't believe that I got all of this done, in a day and a half!
I think so far, that the trickiest part of it all, was flipping the bottom panel. It was pretty rigid, (taped on one side) but I was invisioning a snapped seem. Jena gave a hand, and we outsmarted it.
I CAN NOT wait to get home this weekend, to stitch this stack of wood into a boat! This week is going to pass by SO slow!
Awesome work! You and your wife are really cruising on this build! It is great to hear that a man and wife can work together so well, and on a boat no less! Next weekend you guys are going to have a boat in your garage. My only tip at this point, when laying the tape don't be tempted to over saturate the tape with epoxy. You want just enough to penetrate the wood and make the glass go clear, any more than that is waste. Good luck and keep on buildin'!
Mike
"Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men."
Matthew 4:19
Thanks Mike. I'm 200 miles away from the boat (and the wife) and it sucks! All i think about is, whats next. I did get the stringers, and the transom cut, before heading south for the week. I cut the transom four inches higher than the plans show, for the tunnel upgrade. I drilled out the broken screw, and now have to fill all of the screw holes. I am very happy with the plywood laminations. The glue is very even all around, and has very few (small)voids.
I do have one concern, being unfamiliar with epoxy resin. The thin coats that I've peeled out of my mixing cups are flexable. Very similar to visqueen. It feels like a plastic like texture. I'm sure I mixed the epoxy properly, and all of the cured tape seems are very hard. Will someone say if this is normal, or if I mixed wrong. I'm using Marine Epoxy, with slow harder, two resin, to one hardner.
Last edited by snookiehunter on Tue Apr 09, 2013 8:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Also, Mike, do the pictures look like I'm using too much epoxy? I precoat the wood, lay glass, wet out, then pull all excess epoxy forward towards the dry glass.
To all, I welcome all suggestions, and critisism. I will not be cutting any corners, and if you see something that looks wrong, speak up. I need all the help I can get.
The excess you pull out of your mixing cups will harden off with time, but epoxy is flexible. That is a good thing. You aren't doing anything wrong. And your tape job looked good in the picture, hard to really tell though. The way you are doing it is a great way to do it, I didn't wet out the wood on my stuff, just rolled out the tape on the joints and wet the glass letting the resin soak through the tape to the wood. Not sure which way, if any, is better. I know what you mean about being away from the build. I have been away from mine for over a month and I am not 15' from it! Out of material and having to get caught up on some bills before I can make what I hope is the last building material order. It sucks seeing the boat sitting there just gathering dust. I should be working on itand making dust!
Hurry home and get back at it! Be safe in all your travels
Mike
"Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men."
Matthew 4:19
Hey, thanks for the responses guys. That's good to hear. I was a little worried.
Everyone feel free to check out boatbuilderswife.wordpress.com. The build is being documented there, too, but from her perspective. Plus, there is a little about us there, to get to know a little about us.
I'm still waiting for this week to be over, so I can work on the boat. I did pick up a ro sander from the box store. I found a Rigid 5" variable speed, with a loop and hook pad. That was the best value there, at $69. I bought a 50 pack of the Diablo 40 grit sanding discs for $20. Hopefully, I'll get to use my new toy soon.
Truthfully, I think this being away from the boat a week at a time, is a good thing. It forces me to step back, and plan my next steps carefully. Hopefully, this will reduce some mistakes, due to working too fast.
Nice looking work. I like GF's and will follow your build closely. Checked out your wife's blog and, I gotta tell you man, you got that BBV look on your face in the pic of you sitting in the chair on the phone. It gets worse.
Hey Prarie Dog, I was wondering when I'd hear from you. You thawing out yet?
It's been a long day. Some family came to visit. They just hung out in the garage, and asked a few questions, while my brother and I tacked side panels, and stitched the bottom. Jena was out of town today, so I was glad to have an extra pair of hands.
We have a boat, or at least it looks like one. I deviated from the building notes a little, and glued the inside seems first. I also glassed a few strips in, to help hold every thing in place for the flip. Should I tape what I can, of the inside chine seems, before I flip the hull?
We went from this,
to this.
and here is the tunnel
I'll tape the inside seems tomorrow. I've already pulled the supports, and filled the glue gaps. Then I get to cut a hole in my new boat!
Beautiful work 
