Greg's GT23 Blog

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OzzyC
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Post by OzzyC »

Greg and I got a LOT accomplished this weekend. Take a look at the blog for some pics and a quick video synopsis of our progress...

http://houseboatbuilder.blogspot.com

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OzzyC
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Post by OzzyC »

Another week of work. See the blog...

For an added bonus, it's "back to basics" week on my blog. I touched up my Nice Canoe. See the blog for details.

http://houseboatbuilder.blogspot.com

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OzzyC
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Post by OzzyC »

This weekend we laid tape on the seams. Check it out at http://houseboatbuilder.blogspot.com

Mike Adams
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Post by Mike Adams »

(From your blog) "We haven't done much the last couple of weeks, because my wife and I went on our honeymoon....."
Well, gee, I suppose that's a reasonably good excuse! :lol: Congratulations on your wedding and also on your building progress - it's looking good! Keep posting pics - I'm following your progress with interest.

Mike
FL14 "Lake Dreamer" built.

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OzzyC
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Post by OzzyC »

Thanks for your understanding. :wink:

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Post by OzzyC »

Greg and I pulled a marathon day yesterday (about seven hours straight) and started glassing the hull. You can see some pics at the usual spot http://houseboatbuilder.blogspot.com

:help:
Here's where we could use some advice... we ran out of epoxy part way through the process and I want to get clarification on how this may impact us...

We precoated the entire hull...

We laid out three strips of glass cloth over the hull from bow to stern. (Two bottom layers, slightly overlapping at the keel. One top layer, straddling the keel.) We were able to epoxy everything from the bow to about the halfway point, and then we ran out of epoxy. From the midway point to the stern, the bottom layer of fiberglass is "tacked" in place because of the base coat of epoxy we applied to the bare wood. The top layer of fiberglass is just there.

Here's my question...

Can we just buy more epoxy and pick up where we left off? Will there be any major compromise on the strength of the hull at the point where we ran out of epoxy??

:!: :!:
For those of you who build in the future. Make sure that you have PLENTY of epoxy before you start laying glass.

Our plans estimate that we'd need 18 gallons of epoxy for the whole project. The plans also recommend a second layer of glass cloth on the exterior (as well as a layer on the interior) if you plan to use a motor >50h.p. We didn't consider the fact that extra cloth means extra epoxy. We had roughly three gallons of epoxy for yesterday's work. We needed about six.

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Post by jacquesmm »

Very few builders can fiberglass the whole boat in shot. There is no problem to stop and restart a few days later.
Before applying the next coats, wash off the amine and pass over the cured resin with a sander or grinder, that's all.
Jacques Mertens - Designer
http://boatbuildercentral.com

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Post by ks8 »

Curious...

what about the half that is tacked to the hull but not wetout? I'm trying to understand this right without overcomplicating something simple. Is there a problem wetting that out now with it *tack* cured but not really wetout to the hull? Is there a problem if those non wetout fibers get wet while washing the amine of the other half that is wetout and cured already? If the non wetout half gets wet during the wash, how long usually before being assured it is thoroughly dried and free of contaminating moisture? I know its not my boat thread, but I nearly ran into this myself in a big way and still wonder these details if it might happen in the future. I had to grind off a very small section of tape because it would not wetout after the *tack* lower epoxy on the wood had cured the previous application. It was as if enough epoxy got in the weave to block penetration of any more the next day, but it wasn't anywhere close to making it *transparent*.

That would be fantastic if all works out fine! But I couldn't get that section on my boat to wetout after the lower tack coat had previously cured. And how is one to wash amine from that cured tack batch when you've got essentially dry cloth on top yet? I don't mean to stir the issue up, but I've wondered what to do about this since the first time I had to order more epoxy after a close call on a taped seam, which did require grinding off the stuff that would no longer wetout at all.

I'm not even sure that what I'm describing is exactly the same situation with ozzyc, but on a larger scale.

ks

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Post by tech_support »

I am afraid it will be very difficult to wet out the glass that it "tacked" down. What weight glass are we taking about?

ks8
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Post by ks8 »

Hello Ozzy,

If you can post or link Joel and Jacques a couple of pictures to this thread from your blogspot, that may help evaluate the next step for you. :)

flickr.com may not allow linking to single picture files for remote display on another website, but here is a link to the picture *page* at the *opps, we ran out of epoxy* boundary...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28758217@N00/62803513/

and the other side...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28758217@N ... et-118742/

Showing the half you *finished*, and the half that only tacked to the precoat.

Maybe a close up of the unfinished half so the fibers can be seen so the support folks can see if and how much epoxy got into them?

The proverbial *just a thought*...

ks

Can't wait to see pictures of a completed GT23! :)

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