Ready for Prime Time?

Not quite, but getting closer (at least the cabin top and sides).  I did 2 sanding sessions over the weekend, 3 hours on Saturday, and another 3 on Sunday.  With the temps being as warm as they have been (high 80's) I only have so much working time in the boatshed before I feel like death is imminent.  So I've used the past few mornings while it is still cool to get the cabin top and sides sanded down.

The first thing I did was longboard the recored cabintop followed by the sanding down the bore holes I refilled the other day with the random orbital sander.  Finally I went around the whole cabin sides (except for the cockpit area), and sanded off any loose paint.  There was a lot and I'd say that 3/4 of the sides are down to bare glass and the rest is down to the primer.

I still have to clean the butyl goop around the small port openings before I can get those sanded to well (it just gums up the sandpaper).  Also, the area along where the deck meets the cabin sides has to be sanded a little more closely.  I'll be knocking those spots off over the next few days.  The primer should be here tomorrow, so I hope to get the first coat of primer on the cabin top and sides before we go to Maine for vacation next week.

Longboarding Fun

Spent another hour yesterday fairing the cored section of the cabintop while I wait for the epoxy to fully cure on the forward section with all the bore holes.  The 17" longboard I made a while back is probably a bit on the short side for this section because it's a large area, but at the same time, the curve of the cabin dictates that I really only move in one direction (or slightly diagonal).  I probably should have a flexible board for these sections, but I think it will be ok as long as I'm careful.

I really like not having the power tools on and the constant 'shhsha shhsha shhsha shhsha' of the longboard is soothing.  The only downside is that I get really sweaty because it's reasonably hard work and there is no dust collection other than periodically firing up the shop vac.  The result is that a lot of the dust ends up sticking to me and I end up looking like a big yeti.

Once I knocked down all the high spots on the section I mixed up 12 oz of thickened epoxy and spread a thin coat on some of the low spots.  I think it's looking pretty good now, I don't know if I can get it much more fair at this point because of the color inconsistencies in the core make for lots of illusions. It's not perfect, but getting close. The Primekote should be here on Monday, so I am going to prime that section before I try anymore fill/fair cycles.  I'm hoping that getting a solid color (white) down will make it easier to spot high/low spots.

I may start the second round of longboarding the side decks in the next few days, but given that the temps are expected to be close to 100 today and tomorrow, I think I will stay out of the shed or plan on some early morning work.

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.

Fairing Round Two

I just finished applying the second round of fairing compound on the foredeck.  Once it cures up I should be reasonably close to a nice looking deck that's ready for primer.  Of course I'll have to go along the edges to clean up any ragged spots, but overall I think I've taken care of any low spots.

In any event, the non-skid I'll be applying (Kiwigrip) should hide any major sins.  I'll be working round two on the side decks over the next few days.

Round One Complete

With the exception of the cabin top I just finished round one of longboarding the decks.  I'm pretty pleased with the result but will need to do a bunch of spot filling in areas that are a bit low.  On the next round I have to address the chainplates since they are a bit raw right now.  I really like the idea of doing little islands that will raise the chainplate/deck interface to prevent water intrusion, but I'm not sure the extra work is worth the trouble.

One area that I was pleasantly surprised was the aft deck.  That was where I started with the fairing compound and there are a lot of tight areas to 'spackle' around. But with a little elbow grease and a bunch of corner sanding it turned out ok.  Still need to spot fill but I think it's all good.

In the meantime I'll have to re-install the chainplates so they are ready for either just cleaning up the interface or raising it up to make little islands.  I hope to carve out some time this weekend to spot fill the low areas and keep moving forward.

Let the Torture Boarding Begin

I made myself fairly scarce at work this week and spent 2 afternoons finishing up adding the fairing compound to all the decks.  Now the first coat is on the entire boat.  I used just a tad less than a gallon of epoxy mixed to a 2:1 ratio of Q-cells to Aerosil.  Some spots are better than others but overall I'm pretty pleased with the results.

I certainly will need more in some spots (particularly the cabin top which seems low), but it will be a lot less than the first pass.  No surprise but the hard parts were around the chainplates and rear deck scuppers.  For a final pass I will re-install the chainplates with a layer of tape around them and fair with them in place. But that's a ways off.

I have to say that I'm not sure what people are complaining about.  Long (torture) boarding isn't that bad.  I find it somewhat soothing.  Sure it's slow going, but it sure as hell beats grinding bevels in the decks with the angle grinder.  I will not miss that one bit.  I may build another longboard that has a little more flex to it to conform to the curved areas on the deck, but the two that I made so far seem to be working well (17" & 11" for tighter areas).   I spent about 2 hours this morning long boarding the foredeck and as expected, there were a few low spots but nothing major and a small amount of additional compound should make it right.  Once I make it around the whole boat with the longboard (maybe another week or so), I'll pull all the ports and start sanding and prepping the cabin trunk sides.  Then a final (hopefully) coat of fairing compound to fill out the low spots and another round of longboarding.  At that point things ought to be ready for primer, but depending on weather (temp and humidity), that may have to wait until spring.

Woohoo, decks!  

Hard to see, but the foredeck up to the forward part of the cabin trunk has been longboarded.  The darker areas are low spots that will need to be filled again.

Fairly Difficult

So it looks like I need some practice with this whole fairing thing.  I took advantage of the still green epoxy on the aft deck and decided to get a head start on laying down the fairing compound.  I wish I could just spread it all nice and perfect, but it just doesn't seem that easy.  I kept dragging an edge or putting too much pressure on the spreader and as a result I couldn't get it perfect.  The main tool I was using was a 12" steel edge drywall knife for the open areas and 4" and 1" plastic spreaders for the tight spots.  The aft deck was actually not a great place to start because there are lots of complicated edges and corners, but all in all it came out ok for a first pass.

Ok for first pass

To build the long boards I used a few pieces of plastic wood cut into 2-3/4 inch strips; one 17 inches and one 11 inches.  I countersunk screws through the bottom and mounted 2 cheap kitchen drawer handles to the top for a good handhold.  I ordered a few 25 yard rolls of pressure sensitive adhesive (psa) long board sandpaper and it showed up on Saturday.

The next day I came back and attempted to try out my newly built long boards.  Unfortunately, the cold weather the night before had slowed up the cure and I found myself gumming up the board quickly.  I was a bit worried because I thought that I may have improperly mixed the last batch and wondered weather or not I would need to grind it all off.   Fortunately, when I stopped in this morning I could tell that things had hardened up much better overnight.   I decided I would let everything harden up for a few days because the cold is expected to continue throughout the weekend.  Not much time left; ideally I'd like to be able to get a coat of primer down before winter, but I don't know if I'll make it before it gets too cold.

Anyway, I spent a few hours today sanding and prepping the cabin top with the 5" deWalt (the big Rigid is STILL in the shop... grrrrr) and got a first coat of fairing compound down.  It was a lot easier on the cabin top because there aren't many quirky corners and edges.  For the fairing compound I mixed up 48 oz (in 3 batches) and added roughly a 2:1 mix of glass Q-cells to Aerosil.  I probably won't even try any long boarding for a few days because my schedule is pretty busy this week, but it's just as well because the cold will slow the cure down anyway.