Coming from the J24 fleet in Newport RI where we're all psycho about fair
blades and bottoms . . .
Has anyone tried misting the hull with an extremely fine coat of colored
sanding primer or soft paint to assist in fairing? A couple of the various
epoxy primer products out there are thick enough to not be pulled into the
pores of the wood, yet "thin" enough to be really easy to sand. We do a
similar thing with our J24s with a type of diluted ink while wet-sanding
finish bottom coats.
The idea is that the ink will quickly be removed via sanding from all high
spots, leaving the low spots colored. If you could apply this method to a
pre-glassed swift, I imagine the results would be even more dramatic (striped
hull for a while). One would have to be very disciplined not to simply attack
the low spots, but it might be possible and would produce a more uniform
thickness hull. It is also a technique that allows you to gauge how good you
are being about moving about the boat continuously as you fair, in order to
bring the entire core thickness down to the low spots.
Anyone experiment/attempt this?
SIDE BAR Skiff question; widely accepted amongst J24 owners is that the
fairness of the forward half of the hull, keel, and rudder are the most
important, followed by the aft half of the hull. With a skiff being so
focused on planing and utilizing to a greater degree the powerful aft section
of the hull, is this focus shifted to the fairness of the aft sections of the
hull and the exit?
>>> Felix Schliebitz 01/04/06 07:26PM >>>
What is fair? Life ain't fair. Well, guess what ... you can make a
difference, one step at a time :o).
Fairing ... fairly basic.
Just a few more tips on proper fairing techniques, before I'm going to shut
up until I've ordered new plans from Bram and start a swift of my own.
Generally speaking: On your first couple of passes you should be hitting the
seams first on all the convex (round) surfaces like the bottom aft end of
the hull. On all the concave (hollow) surfaces like the flairs you should be
hitting the middle of each cedar strip.
To give yourself an idea about how much you should be taking off . go
underneath the boat and look at the moulds and where the strips are
touching. Look at the shape and the size of the gaps between the strips and
the moulds. that's how much material you will have to take off on the
outside. At the spots where the strips are touching the moulds, you have the
shape you are looking for. That means that you have about 1/4" wide stripes
(which don't necessarily run parallel to your seams) running along your boat
that barely need any shaping at all.
Once you've done the first 60 grit session on your boat, I'd recommend that
you get all the dust off. Broom or vacuum. Do a visual check. See any
awkward spots? Mark them with a soft pencil or some tape. You might want to
check under the boat again and see what's going on with the strips on your
moulds in this area.
Now I would take a soft pencil in one hand and run the other hand over the
boat . yes you may close your eyes at this point. I'd check the door and see
whether any neighbours might be watching. It looks silly as hell. Walking up
and down your boat with your eyes closed, one hand petting the boat and
making funny faces whenever you find another spot . actually you might want
to lock the door.
Put your whole hand flat on the boat and run it over the hull in any
direction. Don't run your hand from side to side, so that the stroke is
perpendicular to your fingers. Have the fingertips touch a spot first and
let that spot run down your finger and underneath the palm of your hand. You
won't miss it. Once you located a spot mark it very lightly with your pencil
. but don't stop. Continue until you've done the whole boat. Take a couple
breaks and give your sensitive touch some time to relax. If you do it for
too long the whole boat feels crocked . it's not.
The bad news is that some spots won't be visible nor feel able until you've
done your last 120 grit. This means that you should do this at least three
times before you lay down your long-board. If you still find spots when you
are doing your 120 session, don't go back to 60 nor 100. Usually the spots
you discover become smaller as well and you'll be able to sand them out with
the grit you are working with at that moment.
You should definitely have a way of keeping the hull attached to the moulds
while fairing. Tom and I used those plastic staples Bill had mentioned. They
were great because the hull was attached to the moulds even after we glassed
the whole thing. It was a bit of a pain to get it off . but the bulkheads
fitted perfectly without any bracing or squeezing. I think we used a
Japanese saw and a chisel to cut the staples.
Greg mentioned another method of hot gluing block onto the inside and
putting a screw in. I think he attached a string to it and fixed it onto the
moulds. You could heat up a putty knife and cut through the hot glue
afterwards. You could sand off the rest, before glassing the inside.
Does this make any sense to you? I hope so.
I also hope you have a great start into the New Year. What do I wish for in
2006?
Fair winds, fair hulls, fair trade . world peace.
Felix :o)
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