OD18 - NH

[Fair WX Pilot]

So, having one of those trying days in the workshop today where everything you touch goes wrong. Now I've managed to ruin the second thing today, I thought I would call it a day and update my log.

After the bad edge experience of Frog tape I switched to 3M 233+ tape. This tape went down very easy and really sticks. I used a squeegee as usual to smooth the tape down and am happy to say that the edges on the second coat of graphite are clean and strong. The Frog tape is now relegated to part marking duty.





While I have been waiting for the graphite to cure I have been working in the skeg protector. I wanted to make this out of 316 stainless but my brake at home isn't man enough to handle a piece that size so I went for 6061-T6 as I had a piece in the shop and could bend it. I guess it is sacrificial anyway and I can always make the replacement from steel when it wares out. I recessed the screws 0.020" in the hope that as the aluminum wares away the heads of the screws should remain intact to let me remove it and countersunk at 82 deg.




Because the shoe is only 6061 I cleaned the surface carefully and primed it with Alodine 1201. It all came out quite well with a nice uniform straw color. I did the countersinks separately to ensure they received a good coat.





My spray booth was never designed to handle anything as big as a skeg but luckily it just fitted. I primed the shoe with Zink Chromate.



The primed shoe sitting on the skeg as a last test fit before painting.




I found a neat way to speed up the graphite preparations between coats. I now place the sieve with a pot taped to the bottom on top of my 1/4 sheet sander base (with no paper on it) and the vibration sieves the graphite in a fraction of the time. I did this whole pot through a #80 mesh sieve in about 20 minuets.


Masking up now has become a matter of routine and the new tape has sorted out the edges a treat.



I have reduced the graphite content to three and a half ounces in eight and increase the temperature to 75 deg. which has really helped the orange-peel. Unfortunately I now have a few air bubbles that I'm not able to get rid of. This hasn't happened before and they almost all came out with the hot air gun. I am thinking that the pot life is shorter at the higher temperatures so maybe I wasn't fast enough. The pictures below look worse than it really does as I took them to highlight the bubbles.





Its a shame about the bubbles as the edges are crisp and theses a good finish on the rest of it. I am not sure how perfect I can get this finish as its very hard to get paint like results with epoxy resin.



There is now a good three coats on the hull so I plan to keep going until I get that near perfect coat and then walk away before I ruin it .

[peter-curacao]

Looks awesome

[Larry B]

Very Nice Work

Looks PERFECT from here,
much nicer than mine and no one has ever complained

[Jeff]

Fair WX Pilot, looks great to me!! Really nice work!! Jeff

[Dougster]

I think it looks great. That graphite/epoxy mix sure won't make a paint finish, but yours is pretty close. I struggled for days with my LB22, sanded, etc., Never got that good. Now I never see the bottom, never give it a thought.

Dougster

[Tungsten]

Enjoying the build,since your obviously a perfectionist i can maybe throw some tips your way.The epoxy your using will never lay flat like paint.Its not designed for that.One way is to lay.030 mylar over to keep it flat while it cures.This works very well but has its own set of problems as removing bubbles from the goo can be trying,its like laying down a 4'x8' sticker on a piece of glass.The other option is buy counter top epoxy from sys3 its viscosity is similar to infusion resin so its very thin.the bubbles pop easily and gravity will let it lay flat.Its pricey stuff and probably not as tough.

Keep in mind that adding too much graphite will make the epoxy brittle,graphite makes the epoxy slippery (a little) and really doesn't add strength to the mix.Its really only as tough as the epoxy,
I would add something like Wests 404 a very dense filler to the mix and a little graphite to make it black, this will resist scratches better then just graphite.
Another option is wet sand and buff,a little over the top since its the bottom.

Again, enjoying your build.

[Eric1]

She looks rally nice Alan, Good job!

[pee wee]

I agree, it looks good. For what it is intended to be, you're done. Bottom finish is for protection, not looks. I've got anti-fouling on the bottom of my boat, and never given a thought to how perfectly it was applied, but it's doing the intended job of protecting the hull from marine growth.

Do what makes you comfortable, but try to balance that with how many hours you want to mess with it. If it were my build I'd be satisfied with it like it is. Great job on the skeg protector, too. Thanks for keeping us entertained and informed, and sharing your experience with the tape.

[fallguy1000]

What is funny about the frog tape story is I am pretty sure the frog tape inventor left 3m since they wouldn’t pursue his tape dreams of no edge issues.

Perhaps the epoxy overwhelmed it.

[Fuzz]

Like every one else says the bottom looks great!
The shoe for the skeg is a work of art. And should do the job in fine style. Thanks for going into detail on how you built it.