Cockpit Time

Another busy weekend kept me away from much boat work, but I did manage to get a few things done.  I got another coat of primer on the cabin top and sides and the cockpit one step closer to primer.  I also started building the mast for the dinghy here.

I cleaned up the soft spot I had found on the bridge deck at the end of last week by pulling all the bad core out and sanding down the inner skin.  Next I ground a 2" bevel around the edges to tie the new with the old and epoxied in a new balsa core and the first of 5 layers of biaxial cloth.  The next day I glued in the remaining 4 layers to bring the new surface close to the level of the old.

5 layers is probably overkill, but the deck was thicker here and I decided that it would be easier to add additional cloth to fill the section up to the level of the old deck rather than use a ton of fairing compound to get the same result.  I finished it off by adding a much smaller amount of fairing compound to the section as well as filling all the leftover fastener holes throughout the cockpit.

Cleaned up and ready for new core.  Note the old core on the right hand side.  This was still in good shape so I left it in place rather than trying to rip it up.

5 layers of biaxial in place.  This left very minor low spots for fairing compound.

Fairing compound in place.  I'll probably need another touch up layer once I sand this one down.

That Stripper is Awesome

The paint stripper that is....

It is however really messy and the cleanup takes almost as long as just sanding.  The good thing is that it doesn't score up the surface and gets into corners that I really couldn't have reached easily with a sander.  This stripper (Peel Away) had been sitting in my basement for years (~10) and I wasn't sure if it still worked or not.  It certainly did!

I'm not really up on the latest chemical stripper news but when I first bought this stuff long ago, it was one of the first 'environmentally friendly' strippers out there.  I think it's soy based but I don't know because the label has long since worn off.  In any event, another cool thing that it uses is a paper backing that you adhere to the gel once it is applied (maybe they all do this now).  This serves 2 purposes; the first is that it keeps the stripping gel from drying out so it works longer.  The second is that when you peel it off all the paint is supposed to stick to the paper.  It sort of works, but doesn't get all of the paint off and certainly a lot of the gel is left behind on the surface.  This is where I spent my time.  Most of the paint does indeed loosen up on the surface your stripping, but removing it along with the leftover gel is just a really messy proposition.

So, armed with a garbage bag, a carbide scraper, and a set of cabinet scrapers I set to work getting it all cleaned up.  At first it didn't seem all that bad, and it was kind of satisfying seeing big sheets of paint come off, but after I'd been on my knees in the cockpit covered in the stuff for an hour it gets old.  Couple that with the boatshed temperature approaching the high 90's it gets old.  Mmmmm, fun.  Anyway, it was a job that I was dreading and it's done now.  I finished up with a bucket of hot water and washed everything down to get the residue off.

As I was finishing up, I stepped on part of the bridge deck that I normally reserve for the shop vac and felt something bad.  Further inspection revealed that a 2 foot section of the port side bridge deck was at the very least delaminated, but I suspected worse (wet core).  I drilled out a few test holes and sure enough, the core was completely soaked in that area (&*#^!@$ CRAP).  I really don't know why it was wet there, because there aren't any through holes other than an icebox access hatch that the previous owner had installed.  The only other spot water could possibly have gotten in was a small spot where the boom crutch has supported the boom for years.  Over time it had worn away the paint and had gotten into the roving (visible).  I didn't think that it had gotten all the way through the skin though.

Finding this was a complete kick in the nuts and I wanted to cry.  I thought I was done with core repairs and actually had hopes of getting the cockpit primed this weekend.  I threw myself a full on pity party and went back to the house for dinner.  I need to apologize to Steph and the kids because she had made a really nice dinner and we ate out on the deck, but I was in a foul mood so I don't think there was much merriment.

During dinner I resigned myself to the fact that there was more core work to do and it wasn't going to get done unless I did it. So after eating, I went back over to the boatshed with the cordless circular saw and my dremel multimax (poor man's Fein) and cut out the offending area.  Today, I'll clean up the bottom skin, grind the bevels, and epoxy in a new core.  With any luck, I'll be able to get 3 new layers of biax on over the weekend.  It's a setback for sure, but in reality it isn't a big deal considering what I've already done to this boat. 

Island Time

Unfortunately island time will not include sounds of ice clinking in a fluffy rum drink with the palms gently swaying in the trade winds overhead.  This island time involves me, my boat, a stifling 90 degree boatshed and the installation of chain plate islands that I cast last year sometime.  Sounds romantic doesn't it?

For this job I chose to try West System Six10 epoxy adhesive as my sticky tool of choice. I'd heard good things about it and liked the way you could really target where you were putting the epoxy; exactly what I needed.  It uses a standard run of the mill caulking gun though West advises that if the temps are below 60 the epoxy might not flow easily and you might want to use a more robust caulking gun.  Given the boatshed temperature today, I knew there would be no problem with the epoxy flowing.

The design of this product is really well thought out.  There is a screw down cap and a plug that separates the base and the catalyst that easily pop out and are just as easy to put back in place if you don't use a full tube.  The mixing head is also really cool; it basically forces both sides of the tube (base and catalyst) up through the static mixing head which is simple but elegant.  I don't have a good picture of it but it reminds me of what a sea shell would look like if it were digitized.  Sort of like a pixelated nautilus... Whatever, it's pretty neat; the only downside is that once you use it you need to throw it away.

So, back to the islands...  When I originally cast these last October (see here), I made them as rectangles, but when I dry fitted them last week there were 2 issues.  The first was that the corners were too sharp and were clearly going to make peoples toes very angry when walking forward.  The second was that they just looked odd when set against the curve of the bulwark.  I ended up grinding the corners off too fix both issues.  I took slightly less off the corners of island for the backstay because it is more out of the way.

Before I started gluing up the islands, I spent a bit of time cleaning up the chainplate slots with a metal file and fitting each one in place with a single bolt down below to make sure they were seated properly.  With that complete, I wiped everything down with acetone and 'fired' up the Six10 cartridge.  I'll say it again, this thing is slick.  It laid down a perfect bead of epoxy on the islands and then I carefully fit them over the seated chainplate and smooshed them in place.  Once I had set all of them I went back around with a rag and cleaned up any epoxy that had oozed out.  It only took about 10 minutes to get all the islands glued in place and cleaned up; very nice. When they are cured up tomorrow, I'll pull the chainplates (to make sure I didn't glue them permanently), and add a small filet of fairing compound where they meet the deck.

Next, I moved onto the hull-deck joint that had been previously patched (see here).  I had previously drilled 6 holes into the top of the bulwark along a 4 foot section to see what was going on in there.  I found that the bulwark was hollow except where 5200 had been injected in during the repair.  I decided that the best approach was to leave it alone for the most part but to put in epoxy 'plugs' that would tie the joint together and potentially stop any water from flowing into other areas of the bulwark.  Since I still had plenty of time left before the epoxy in the static mixing head kicked (they say 42 minutes work time), I used the holes I had drilled as filler ports and injected epoxy in until it squeezed out the sides.  I used up the remainder of the tube doing this and think that it will serve its purpose well.  I didn't take any pictures because there wasn't much to see.  When I install the caprail, I'll make sure to use extra sealant in this area to make sure that there were no areas I missed (not sure what I'm using next).

At this point I was still armed with a bit of time before I needed to get back to the real world, so I decided to try out some stripper that had been sitting around in my basement for a few years.  I'm not sure if it will still work (or if it ever did), but it's labeled as an environmentally safer stripper (Peel Away).  I slathered it on the cockpit seats and laid the paper backing (came with kit) on it to keep it from evaporating.  I'll pull it off tomorrow and see how it worked.

Houston We Have A Problem

Not too bad but yet another thing that has to get put on the list of 'to-dos'.  After getting the first primer coat on the cabintop I moved onto getting the decks ready for primer.  I sanded the side decks back to the cockpit and then decided that it was time to remove the port caprail.  I had been putting it off because until now it wasn't in the way, but I'm actually getting close to painting this beast so I got to it.

Like the starboard side, I had to use a hacksaw to cut the 5 inch bolts holding on the genoa track.  Time consuming and mind numbing, but not difficult.  After that I needed to do the same to the for and aft chocks; again, not hard, just tedious.  Finally I moved onto the 50 or so screws holding the caprail onto the bulwark. For some reason, I actually enjoyed this task.  I have to use a chisel to split the wood bung covering the screw, and then use my big screwdriver to back it out.  Not one gave me a problem and even though it took over an hour, I felt like progress is progress.  Every screw I remove is one less I'll need to do later.

Finally it came time to get the caprail off.  Using my japenese pull saw, I cut it into 3 sections and started to pry it up.  On the starboard side, it took a little bit of force to loosen it up, but once it broke free it was a breeze.  Unfortunately, the forward 10 feet wouldn't budge on the port side.  I tried chisels, screwdrivers, hammers, etc... but the only thing I succeeded in doing was actually pulling the gelcoat off the bulwark where it did finally give way.

Upon closer inspection from the outboard side, I could see some mahogany colored 5200 (or something of that ilk) under the rail and extending down over the hull-deck joint.  Not good.  It looked as if there was some previous damage done to the boat that necessitated a goopy patch over the hull-deck joint and under the caprail.

I couldn't tell the extent of damage until I got the caprail off but I couldn't get it off... what to do?  I finally resorted to using my power planer and decided to just turn the whole section into wood chips.   It only took about 10 minutes to buzz the whole section off and I made the whole boat shed smell like fresh cut wood. Mmmmm!

Messy, Messy!

What I found underneath was a bit perplexing.  It's hard to tell if there was previous damage to the area.  The top of the bulwark is a bit banged up but that could have been caused by me trying to pull the caprail off  and the tenacity of the 5200 pulled up the glass in that area.  However, the laminate thickness of the bulwark in that section is really thin (~3/16" instead of 1/2" on rest of bulwark).  It may be that the original layup was not good in that section and the builders 'fixed' it by putting a few stainless sheet metal screws into the bulwark and injecting a crap load of 5200 into the area to keep the joint intact.  Or maybe it's a combination of the 2; the thinner laminate was weaker and if the boat was in some sort of collision it popped the hull-deck joint and somebody repaired it.

In any event, it's not anything I can't fix, but it will take time.  My plan is to clean up the joint as well as I can and inject epoxy into the bulwark void to tie the joint together.  Another thing to do; Oh well.

Once I got past that let down, I sanded the top of the entire bulwark around the boat and filled all the screw holes with thickened epoxy. Once it cures, I'll sand it down and it should be ready for a coat of primer (after I do the epoxy injection of course).

Bulwark sanded and holes filled

Just about ready for primer

Last Post

Last post for the year at least. The last month and a half has been pretty crazy and I haven't done much of anything on the boat. The holidays are always kind of a mess when it comes to working on the boat and this year was no exception.  Given that we've had some pretty good weather, I'm kicking myself a bit for not getting out there and forging ahead.  Oh well, I was getting burned out from the constant juggling of boat, family, and job so I took the time off with no regrets.

For the winter, I have 2 main projects; laminate the new toerail and sand the decks fair so once warm weather arrives I can get started with primer and paint.  Today I had some time and decided that I wasn't up for sanding so I jumped into the toerail project (building projects are always better than sanding projects).

I've agonized over how to do the toerail for some time now.  Initially I was going to scarve a bunch of 3/4x3" mahogany and bend it on to the rail, but after talking with a few folks who have done it, I was worried that I would break the rail when bending it on.  It can be done, but I'm not willing to risk several hundred dollars in exotic wood on a chance.  It has to be right the first time.

The method I came up with should look good, will run no risk of breaking, and could possibly be a cheaper solution.  I'm going to laminate 3 - 1" pieces on a form that has the same curve as the bulwark (See bad drawing below).

Anyway, to get started I had to remove the existing toerail.  I left it in place over the course of the recore to serve as a splash guard for the hull, but now that that is about done I'm comfortable removing it.  I had taken out a bunch of the screws previously, but there was still about half left and I had to use a hacksaw to remove the genoa track.  The track was fastened through the entire bulwark and into the cabin where the nuts turned into a rusty ball of nastyness over the years so there was no hope recovering the 5" drift bolts.

Once I had gotten the toerail off I laid 1'x8' pieces of plywood that I had previously cut down on the exposed bulwark and traced the curve of the hull onto them.  I brought them back to my basement shop and screwed a bunch of blocks 3" behind the curve.  Next I test fitted a piece of 1" mahogany to the curve to see how difficult it would be to bend.  To my relief, it bent on without any problem at all.

In the next few weeks or so, I'll take a trip over to Goosebay lumber in Chicester and buy up a bunch of mahogany.  To do the lamination, I'll butt 2 of the plywood forms together (of the 4 total) so I'll only have one scarf in the middle.  I haven't figured out exactly how I'll do the bow and stern because they widen out somewhat. See you next year!

Slathering Sidedecks

I didn't have much time over the past week to get much done but I did manage to get the second coat of fairing compound down on the port and starboard side decks from the foredeck to the aft scuppers (mid cockpit area). It's not perfect by any means, but I am starting to get a feel for the technique. For these sections I exclusively used an 11" metal drywall taping knife. It's great for pulling the compound out and spreading it evenly over the deck. Even in some of the tighter areas around the chainplates.

I'm finding that it still works better than the 6 or 4 inch putty knives because it covers a larger area and lays down a smooth swath. It seems that the edges of a putty knife are my enemy, leaving little ridges in the previously spread compound, so the wider knife has fewer edges that I have to try and feather out for a given area. The smaller plastic knives that I have also seem to have a tendency to bow up in the middle slightly as I pull the compound across the deck. This leaves humps that will have to be sanded out later. So I still have to contend with a few ridges with the big knife, but it doesn't bow and lays down a nice flat spread. Unfortunately, the remaining aft section has some really tight spots that I will probably have to use a smaller knife on, but we'll see when I get there.

I think that I will have just enough time to get the second coat on the aft deck and maybe a few spot fills before the cold weather keeps me from doing anymore epoxy work for the season.

Something Sticky

It's a good thing to start building the boat up again (however small) instead of just tearing things down.  Last night I was able to finish cutting out all the biaxial cloth and fine tune each piece so I was ready to go.  Not exactly a CNC job but I tried to waste as little cloth as possible.

Once all the cloth was cut out, I still had plenty of light and warmth (55 or so) so I decided to crack open the epoxy for the first time (other than a test layup) and get started on the first of many layups.  Last weekend I had cut out and setup 3 layers of cloth to fill in the hole where the wood stove chimney used to be here.

I mixed up 2 oz of System Three resin with 1 oz hardener (un-thickened).  I have never used System Three in the past, I have always used West System, but I just couldn't justify the huge price difference, and I have heard good things about System Three.  An added benefit is the 2:1 ratio which makes for easier math than West's standard 5:1 (not that it's rocket science).  Using a 2" chip brush, I put down a coat on the balsa substrate (not core, it is just to hold the laminate in place) and then put the first of 3 layers of glass down.  Saturated that with the chip brush and then repeated with the remaining 2 layers of cloth.  I left it to cure overnight.

I didn't really have a plan for today when I got up, but it was hard to focus at work and I found myself spending way too much time surfing the web on the Plastic Classic Forum and decided that since the weather was so nice that I should cut out of work early and get a head start on the cabintop layup by getting the balsa glued down in the small sections.  Even though these small areas have been a pain because they require a lot more linear area to grind and lots of pieces to cut, they are proving to be a good testing ground for the rest of the project when things get bigger.  If I screw up a section, its not the end of the world in terms of cost and work.  Plus, whatever I can get done and learn this week will certainly help me go faster and more efficiently when I take next week off. 

Anyway, I had everything fairly squared away when I got home from work so I just went to it.  First, I filled up a bunch of bags with dirt to use as weights once everything was setup.  Next, I mixed up an un-thickened 12 oz batch and wet out the inner skin of each area and the scrim side of each balsa core (scrim side down).  At this point I had only used half the batch and had plenty of pot life so I mixed in a cup or so of Aerosil (thixotropic powder) to make it a little thicker than honey and spread it out on the skin of 2 or 3 of the cutout areas and into the corners, then pressed several of the balsa cores in place.  Its cool that when the balsa is pressed in place, the thickened epoxy squishes out the sides and fills the gaps between the core and the rest of the deck area. 

Mixed up a second 12 oz batch and thickened it up to same consistency and filled in all the gaps of the balsa and any areas I missed along the edges and corners.  I also had enough to fill in the areas where hardware will be mounted and all the test holes I had drilled to find the initial bad spots.  Not sure if filling the holes was a good idea at this point (especially with Aerosil because it is a structural filler), but what the hell.

At this point it was probably time to stop so I went and had some dinner but while eating I thought about some advice that I had gotten from one of the crew at Plastic Classic Forum.  He had said that you can do the whole layup in one shot and avoid the blush removal and sanding to make way for the cloth.  He also suggested that you can even mix up the top fairing layer as well, but I figured that was a bit much on the first try and I want to make sure I get the cloth layup correct and want to be able to inspect it once it cures.  Basically, with this method you can save a significant amount of time and labor, and I figured that because these small areas are my testing ground, it would be a good place to see if it works.

So after a turkey burger and fries, I went back out and found that the thickened epoxy was hard but tacky

So I pressed in all the inner cloth pieces into place and smoothed them out with my shiny new 3" laminate roller like this.  I mixed up a 6 oz batch un-thickened and wet out the first layer of cloth and the tapered edges of the existing glass.  Another 6oz batch took care of the outer cloth layer and then used the laminate roller to get any trapped air bubbles out of the layup.  I hope at least; the laminate roller seems to work really well, and the cloth makes a satisfying popping sound as the air is forced out of the laminate.  Finally, I put some plastic over each of the layups and weighted them down with the bags of sand I filled earlier (too dark for photos at that point).  Hopefully all's gone well and I'll find a nice layup all in good shape tomorrow. 

Unless I missed a batch (which is possible), I think I used a total of around 40 oz of epoxy today.

Update:  I checked the layup on the way to work this morning having had everything sit overnight for 12 hours and I am really pleased with the outcome.  There doesn't appear to be any voids in the layups, and my plastic bag-o-sand weighting technique worked like a dream (sheet of plastic over layup, followed by big loose bag of sand spread evenly over the entire layup).