Finally getting started on my GF-16

timoub007 · Post by **timoub007** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 8:44 pm

After having the plans for over a year now, I finally went and bought my plywood today. I have weekend duty this weekend so I'll have to stick around the house and figured it would be a good opportunity to get started. I have not ordered the glass & epoxy kit yet but will be able to get the panels marked and cut.

Anyway, I just wanted to start my thread. I'm going to try to chronicle my build like some others have. I started by snapping a few pics of my "boat" in a pile today.

Tim

alball · Post by **alball** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 9:36 pm

Hi Tim,

Good luck with your build. Where will you be building your boat? Garage? Shop?

al

timoub007 · Post by **timoub007** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 10:27 pm

Al,

Thanks for the well wishes and reply about the bulkheads in your thread.

I am going to be building in my garage. It is 20' deep by 24' wide and we only park my wife's Explorer in there. It should provide enough room, but I will probably get yelled at for all the dust I've read about. I'll probably have to figure out a way to wheel the boat outside to do any major sanding.

This will be my new duck boat and I am adding a few things to the typical layout for my personal needs. It will get a 25 hp tiller Johnson that I already own and be used in very skinny, mud bottomed marshes.

Thanks again,
Tim

Doug N · Post by **Doug N** » Thu Jun 23, 2005 1:22 am

For dust handling, I use a sander that I have connected to a shop vac. It is an old sander that had a dust bag at one time. Duct tape is an important part of the connection... The shop vac has a bag in it to catch the fine dust. Works quite well. 5 minutes hand sanding will create more dust than several hours with the sander/shop vac combo. The shop vac hooked up to the sander seems to keep the sand paper from clogging quite as fast which is a nice bonus.
Good luck with your boat.
Doug

timoub007 · Post by **timoub007** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 10:14 am

Well, I got the long panels spliced on July 4th.

I started out using the epoxy that came in my trial kit, but that didn't last long. Not because I did not have enough left, but because it came with medium hardener. It was 95+ degrees outside and while wetting out my first splice, the cup of mixed epoxy melted on a couple of my other panels. I had to scrap and sand the panels as I did not know how much of the coating was epoxy and how much was plastic. Here is what is left of my trial kit.

I got the hull dry fit last night, securing each frame with 2 screws each side per the plans. This thing is bigger than I thought it was going to be. I'll post a few pictures of that later this week as I forgot to glue my clamping boards to the transom. Got those curing right now.

Tim

tech_support · Post by **tech_support** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 10:33 am

The trial kits come with medium. We would not give you all medium in a GF16 in the summer

I think we mention that in the directions.

Even with SLOW, I would not mix batches that large unless you apply very quickly. Try keeping the resin in the house (to keep it cool) or put it in the fridge for 20 minutes before you take it out into your oven, or...uh, I mean garage

This will give you more time.

Joel

timoub007 · Post by **timoub007** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 10:50 am

Joel, thanks for the tips. And yes, you did say that we need slow in the directions (which are great by the way). I have the bottles out in the "oven" right next to the "boat", so I will move them in to the house.

I was wondering, with the slow hardener if I mix more than I can use in one session can I put the extra in the freezer? Would it be usable or is that just a waste of time?

Did you get my email on Monday about the blended filler bag being torn in my kit? Let me know if you need me to resend it.

Thanks to all for the encouragement,
Tim

Rich_L · Post by **Rich_L** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 12:03 pm

Tim:

http://gallery.bateau2.com/displayimage.php?pos=-4553
Are there butt blocks under those fiberglass splices?

Good luck and enjoy your build.

Rich

tech_support · Post by **tech_support** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 12:46 pm

timoub007 wrote:Joel, thanks for the tips. And yes, you did say that we need slow in the directions (which are great by the way). I have the bottles out in the "oven" right next to the "boat", so I will move them in to the house.

I was wondering, with the slow hardener if I mix more than I can use in one session can I put the extra in the freezer? Would it be usable or is that just a waste of time?

Did you get my email on Monday about the blended filler bag being torn in my kit? Let me know if you need me to resend it.

Thanks to all for the encouragement,
Tim

Once its mixed, you have to use it.

Yep, we sent out another full bag of blended filler already.

Joel

timoub007 · Post by **timoub007** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 2:05 pm

Rich_L,

No, there are no butt blocks in the GF-16. As I understand it, that is the main difference between the GF-14 and GF-16 construction. Without the butt blocks, there is enough wood to extend the boat another 2 feet. The fiberglass splices provide enough strength to hold the panels together.

Thanks Joel. I'll keep that in mind when starting to glue things together. I'm only worried about not being able to use the smallest amount mixable (3 oz.) before it kicks in the measuring cup. When setting the transoms and frames in between the side panels I'm not sure how fast I'll be able to work and how far 3 oz. will go.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the blended filler will be used for mixing my own fairing compound.

Tim

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