FS17 build in Maryland

[tech_support]

I can tell by the pictures that the epoxy was cold when you used it to wet out the glass. You should really try to warm it up so that it thins out. This will help A LOT in wetting out the glass, it also will result in you using less of the epoxy, and you go faster

The laminations look very good though, despite the cod epoxy. I dont see any air bubbles -

[wegcagle]

Nice Work

by the way if you warm the epoxy do it by placing it in a luke-warm water bath; NOT the microwave (although I think shine warmed some of his in the microwave recently and it did okay)

Or better yet. I used to put my epoxy in my mud room that was the same temp as inside the house in the winter, and I would put the hardener in the fridge in the summer (to lengthen the hardening time)

Will

[tech_support]

no microwave, please

[aquaboogie]

Thanks for the help everyone. When i flip her and get ready to glass the inside i will definitly warm the epoxy first. I work on the boat at night and right now it's cold in Maryland.

Tonight's plan ist to buy, cut and maybe install rub rail. Can anyone help with how thich and wide the wood should be?

[tech_support]

use multiple layers of 1/4" or 3/8", I like 1.5" tall for this size baot. Any taller and it will not bend.

[Steven]

A small ceramic heater about 1 foot from the epoxy bottles will keep them nice and warm.

[whosmatt]

Thanks for the help everyone. When i flip her and get ready to glass the inside i will definitly warm the epoxy first. I work on the boat at night and right now it's cold in Maryland.

Tonight's plan ist to buy, cut and maybe install rub rail. Can anyone help with how thich and wide the wood should be?

I was able to get 6mm (1/4") Meranti to bend without kerfs, though it took a lot of clamps and some screws. Any thicker would be really difficult, I think. At the bow it has to bend AND twist significantly. Mine is 1 3/4" wide.

-Matt

[remedy32]

Like Matt I did my rubrail with 6mm Meranti; 2 layers in my case. I was not happy with how much effort it took to twist and bend it to shape so I ripped lengths @1-3/4" wide and made many(!!) vertical kerfs on the lower side to get it to follow the bow profile. Think I did this from about frame B to the bow. Was a PITA to fill but came out great.

Here's a picture.


Bill

[tech_support]

I use only screws when doing the rubrail keeps the wood from slipping. With epoxy you need to glue in the joint, do not squeeze it out. To keep the wood in place with clamps requires A LOT of pressure, which forces out a lot of glue

I normally work alone, like everyone else here, so I can do a length of rubrail by myself with screws .....

dry fit the piece to the boat, screwing it to the hull without glue. Next back out the screws for 2/3 (or so) of the length of the piece, apply glue to both the piece and the hull, then tighen the crews back down. teh scews should go back in to their original holes resulting in a perfect match to the dry run. Then you back off the other 1/3 and repeat. Its super fast, super accurate, and very clean - you could almost do it with gloves.



You can do one on each side, in fact you really should do a layer each side or alternate so you avoid pulling one side of the boat out of whack (technical term)

[Daddy]

I used 18 guage brads in my finish nailer to hold the rails in place where the twist and bend was the worst and installed all three layers at the same time that way, then added some pvc clamps where necessary. Next morning pulled the nails through to the inside with vice grips (nails have almost no heads so they pull through really easy) and puttied up the small holes on the outside and inside. Worked like a dream and only takes two hands to do.
Daddy