LM18 Houston Tx

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ericwensel
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Re: LM18 Houston Tx

Post by ericwensel »

Reid - Thanks for the advise. i did a little more work on the stitching and think a got enough gap to fill.

In retrospect, i should have put in a few more stitches. I was having some trouble getting a smooth transition but i was able to smooth it out with some extra thickened epoxy.

I taped the seams this weekend but did not have the time to glass the hull. Everything seems to look good. No bubbles in the glass on the edges. Even the bow and transom corners seem ok. I did get some stray glass fibers at the edge end of the tape. I assume i can sand that down as it was not providing any strength anyway.

As a result of not being able to go wet on wet, i will need to sand a bit before glassing. Nor did i fill the glass with more epoxy so it is a fairly rough surface with the weave. I sanded over all of the epoxied areas including the taped seams with 80 grit using an orbital stander but did not want to sand too much as i did not want to cut into the glass.

Below are some pictures.
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Browndog
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Re: LM18 Houston Tx

Post by Browndog »

Looks good!

Your emphasis in working neatly and ensuring there are no wrinkles in the cloth or bubbles underneath the cloth will be rewarded down the line as you get to sanding and fairing.

Working wet on wet has some advantages, but requires a long period of uninterrupted time to accomplish. It also magnifies the need for extreme care as a bad mixing ratio along the way can contaminate a much larger area and be more difficult to fix.

Sanding between taping and laying the wide fabric will help to make a smoother transition on the chines and keel and will reduce fairing later while also providing better adhesion for successive layers of cloth.

Looking forward to seeing more pictures of your project as you go along.

Keep it up and best wishes for continued success.

ericwensel
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Re: LM18 Houston Tx

Post by ericwensel »

I have a question - when i built the strongback and added the frames, i used a water level to get all of the frames level. However, I put the strongback on wheels and my garage floor is not is level as it looks. Hence, when i move around (and i have had to move it around some) i find that the levelness can change. Although the strongback is relatively stiff, it does flex some over the 16'. Hence, when i glassed the seams, i made sure i was level at the transom (at keel) and frame B (at sheer). I am thinking as long as i am level at these two points i should be OK. Also, I still have the transom screwed to the strongback but now that i have glassed the seams, i think i can release. I think it is good and it looks good to the eye but any feedback would be appreciated before i add more glass.

Also, i only put one one layer of tape but as i read the plans again this morning, it appears that i need to add another layer of table on the keel, transom and bow before glassing the entire hull. I assume i am reading the plans correctly.

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Re: LM18 Houston Tx

Post by jacquesmm »

About the glass layers: I don't understand the question.
Separate the tabbing (tape) from the wide fabric.
Apply the tape first then cover the hull with wide fabric. There is only one layer of wide fabric and it must overlap all edges.
That's all, very simple.

Looking at the pictures, you do it right. All what you need after the last picture is one layer of wide biaxial fabric.
Jacques Mertens - Designer
http://boatbuildercentral.com

ericwensel
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Re: LM18 Houston Tx

Post by ericwensel »

On sheet 7 of the plans
"Keel, bow and transom = 2 layers biaxial tape each side"

As i read it, one layer tape on seams for chines and two layers on keel, bow and transom. Then one layer wide fabric. I think that I will use two sheets of wide fabric running the length of the hull overlapping at the keel.

If only need one layer of tape on the outside (with the wide fabric on top) that would be great. Recommendations?

ericwensel
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Re: LM18 Houston Tx

Post by ericwensel »

Fully glassed the outside of the hull this weekend. Took longer than expected so i was not able to add fairing epoxy coat wet on wet so i will be sanding a bit over the week. I had most of the fabric go down nicely but have a small spot on the bow where the last layer did not lay down nicely. It was due to the way i cut it. I ended up putting three layers of tape on the keel and bow so i ended up with 5 layers (including the fabric) on the bow so it think i can sand off the small area that did not sit nicely.

Image

In case your wondering why 3 layers of tape? I probably only needed one but the plans seems to suggest two layers of tape and then fiberglass fabric overlapping at the keel. When i initially put down the tape, i assumed only one layer of tape but then read the plans again and realized in needed two. But since i put the tape square down the middle of the keel i wanted to offset the next layer of tape by one inch and then added another layer so it would be symmetrical. Hopefully having the extra layer of tape or two does not hurt but is suspect it will require more fairing.

Browndog
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Re: LM18 Houston Tx

Post by Browndog »

The extra tape and the overlaps will not hurt anything. It will make the boat, the Bow and Keel in particular, stronger and protect against abrasion from a bottom strike or from beaching the boat.. It will add a small amount of additional weight and perhaps as you indicated a bit more sanding and fairing.

On most of the boats that I’ve built additional fiberglass was placed on the keel, chines and bow as sacrificial wear layers because that is where most of the wear on the hull occurs.

Your boat is looking good. Keep it up.

ericwensel
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Re: LM18 Houston Tx

Post by ericwensel »

Now that the hull outside is fully glassed, I started the fairing process. I am using the MarinEpoxy and the fairing mix initially. I will at least cover the bottom with the MarineEpoxy fairing compound but then will use QuickFair to finish it out.

Jeff
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Re: LM18 Houston Tx

Post by Jeff »

You will love QuickFair!!! Jeff

ericwensel
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Re: LM18 Houston Tx

Post by ericwensel »

Started fairing process. I sanded the fiberglass again thinking i sand a bit more to ensure a good bond. I am still not sure how far to go. I want to make sure i am not cutting into the glass.

I started applying the fairing compound starting at the transom and and working my way up to the bow working on the bottom. then i will do the sides. I thought i would alternate adding fairing compound and sanding and go in sections just to break things up. I figure this is an initial application and then i will use QuickFair to hit low spots and then try to make it fair. This will take a bit longer than anticipated.

Looks like i will go through the microballoon fairing mix that came with the kit fairly quickly. This make me wonder if i am doing something wrong.

The picture below shows the initial application of fairing compound with about 6 feet of progress starting at the transom. I have sanded but there is a lot of work to do to make it fair. The light color is due to the fact i have not yet vacuumed the dust away.

Image

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