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seaslug wrote: ↑Sat Apr 29, 2017 8:14 am
Thanks Fuzz. It's hard enough to get adults to put down their cell phones for more than a minute a day, but all these young kids are so addicted to the technology, they can hardly think of doing anything else.
You would have liked my position at work. We had the potential for a hazardous atmosphere and cell phones are not intrinsically safe so the rule was get caught with a phone in your pocket and you need a new job. No excuse of any type was excepted. Did not take many terminations for the rest to get the message.
Those hatches and gutter systems are really nice. I may try to copy them when I get to that point in the build. Would you be able to post some pictures showing how you fasten the gutter system to the underside of the deck and also how you fashion the lid for the hatch? Thanks. I'm learning a lot watching the veterans with their builds. Pictures really help.
As always Mike, really nice work!!! Any special techniques for applying the graphite to the bottom of the hull? You seem to have that down to a science.
Reid
Someone asked me, if I were stranded on a desert island what book would I bring... "How to Build a Boat."
- Steven Wright
Thanks Reid, I'm getting close, with only the finish painting to do, but I might launch it tomorrow before the final paint to check it out and to decide how far forward I want the grab rail....I found the graphite was no problem. I mixed the epoxy thoroughly, than slowly added and mixed in the graphite, not really measuring how much, just until it was thick, but not too thick to roll on. I used a 4" foam roller on all 3 builds with no issues. It laid down plat enough, but does have a lot of bubbles that I passed a heat gun over quickly until the bubble mostly go away. You can use a hair dryer, and it will work just as well. Everyone has talked about how hard it is to sand, but I didn't think it was any harder to sand than primer. I use 6" sticky back 120 grit discs stuck to a 6" round piece of that foam interlocking flooring. I really like using the foam flooring because it's very flexible and can be cut to any shape needed, but that light blue rigid foam board you packed my quart of Alwgrip in makes the best sanding block I've found. A little stiffer than the foam, and can also be cut to any size needed. I tend to do the vast majority of sanding without power sanders. Less chance of removing too much, plus you use your fingers to feel the surface as you work. Even if you can't see spots that need more sanding, especially working in poor lighting, you can feel them.
Thanks Richard, He may or may not ever have a passion for fishing and spending time on the water, but it will be a step in that direction. Either way, it looks like it could be a fun boat for me anyway, not that I need another boat.
Browndog, I will be happy to help you out when you're ready for hatches, but If you want to build them like mine you have to plan for them early on. After all the inside glass work is finished, stringers, frames, cleats, I cut the bow and stern deck plywood to fit as well as the gunwales. With the bow and stern ply laying in place I lay out the hatch openings I want, then cut those out very carefully, because the cut out becomes the hatch lid after being trimmed down on all sides by 3/16"-1/4" for clearance. You end up cutting another piece of ply smaller than the lid to double the hatch thickness for strength. How ever you lay out the openings, you then measure back 3/8" from the opening and draw lines with a long straight edge fore and aft, and port to starboard so that you have marks in 4 places along the sheer. When you lift the plywood off you can than use your straight edge to mark where the line passes through the frames, that will then be notched out for the deck framing. That's where you need to start, the rest of the process we can go over later, but the best way to get a better idea is by looking carefully through all my pictures in the gallery under Mike's FS18 build, Mike's FS14 low sheer, and Mike's SK14 build. There are a lot of pictures of the hatches being built, and that should help explain some of the details. It's time consuming and a little tricky, but they do come out nice.
Phenomenal builds Mike! We are about to start a SK14 build ourselves and I have but one question (for right now). In all of your build photos both here and on MS I do not see where you used buoyancy foam. Did you use it and if so, did you also fill the very front bow cavity on the SK14?
