catzooks.com

Taping things off

This week was getting tape down and getting ready to do the black trim. That, of course, meant I had to do more sanding. Once the sanding was complete, I applied the yellow-green 3M masking tape (the good stuff). Along the wings, I measured out from the rail 3/4” and make a small mark, then placed the tape edge down on them. Getting the gradual curve to be fair takes some doing - the trick is to ensure that it doesn't buckle and ridge - if it doesn't form a ridge, then the curve is gradual enough and it will be fair (enough).

I tried a couple patterns in the front part of the deck. At first, I wanted to leave some of the nice 1/4” yellow cedar strip showing on the gunwales - but this looked kinda goofy in matter of fact, and so I just covered the gunwales up (sigh). The transom took a bunch of work (lots of curves and angles). To get the curves nice and smooth, I used both a "Vary Form" and a set of French Curves - both were pretty useful. Once all the green tape was on, I made sure everything was pressed down tight (a putty knife helps here), and then applied the blue tape to catch any escaping epoxy. The blue tape also helps afterwards - when sanding down the epoxy, you first see blue, then see green, so you can tell how far down you've gone.

I also filled up a couple spots - between the deck and transom as well as the transom bolt heads. Most importantly, I filled under the bolt heads on the bowpiece - the force needs to be applied downward on the entire bolt head, not just the edges.

(24 images)

Catching up

Took seven weeks off. Went on vacation. Busy at work. Busy at home. Or maybe it was the mail from Bill Scheumann describing what he had done in the *year* since he was at the deck bonding point:

Warren,

Since that bonding picture, I have cut the CB trunk holes, made the CB cassette, finished the hull and topsides, built the rudder and CB from Greg's foam blanks, made the rudder cassette and tiller from Greg's blank and started the black trim. I painted the top sides because I was not happy with the way the s-glass came out. Below is a picture showing the 2-part Epifanes bold blue poly with a white boot stripe. The paint has been wet sanded to 2000 grit. All of this took me time because I'm fussy (too anal in other words) and the demands of my job kept me out of the shop.

I cut the CB trunk holes just before bonding the deck, but I like Roger's method of cutting them before installing the trunk in the hull, after careful measurements. The holes are easier to cut without the trunk in the way. He then used 2" wide wooden blocks, wrapped in plastic wrap, placed in the two openings to position the trunk in it's precise location between the hull and deck while bonding the trunk to the hull. This method holds the trunk in the precise vertical position while it cures. The holes later make it easier to clamp the centre of the hull when bonding and fitting the deck. If your trunk is already bonded in place, cut the rough lower hole while the boat is flipped, after drilling some pilot holes for the saw blade. The angle of the hull tips the saw blade away from the trunk sides, but be careful not to hit the top of the inside trunk wall where the block will rest. I used a rasp to finish the edge. The deck hole is more difficult to cut if the two deck control blocks are in the way, so cut the hole before mounting them on the deck.

Anyway, I did a little bit. I sanded down the trailing edge of the deck so it was flush with the transom. To do this, I took the belt sander and carefully aligned it up so it was parallel with the transom, and took off most of the edge. Once it got pretty close to flush, I put a piece of metal flashing against the transom and used that to protect it from going too far. Once really close, I used the flashing with a regular sanding block to get to flush.

I sanded down the inner edge of the step and toe rail on starboard side (finally - port was done back in April). I sanded down the deck, just to take of the high stuff. I sanded down the bow (which was really wavy) using the belt sander.

I rasped out more of the hole for the centreboard trunk. I also bonded the bolts into the transom bar and through blocks (finally - this was supposed to be part of bonding). Plenty of epoxy/403 to fill up the entire hole, rolled the bolt in it as well, and screwed it into a stainless square nut in the hull. Then added a bit more epoxy around the nut in the hull and the bolt on the top.

And finally, I removed the chainplates, cleaned the wings with acetone, put another layer of epoxy down. I've been meaning to do this ever since I first glassed the wings and left a stippled surface...

(17 images)