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Because the level concrete floor
makes setting up the forms easier, I'll put together sub sections
in the shed and then move them to the tent to assemble. The keel
panel is laid in first to precise measure, checked for level.
The plans give exact measure of each form from the tip of the
keel panel. The last form had to be levelled out by hand as it
extended out of the shed. |
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The keel panel is measured in place then
a screw placed in the centre fastens it to the form. After measuring
to each side of a form from the centre of the previous form to
insure square, two more screws are placed on the outside edge.
The laser level was shot at marks on the forms that indicate
water line and level. |
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Preparing a panel for the bilge,
I found another faulty panel (resin already going off at time
of pressing at the factory) that had been missed before. Thankfully
it is a bilge panel so the aesthetic issue isn't a big concern.
Hope there isn't a mechanical issue with this kind of fault,
delamination?? |
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From aft you can see how the forms
line up the sections and torture them into shape. |
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For now the tent is a great staging
and prep area. Here stripping off excess peel ply and cleaning
dirt off the edges. |
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Keel and bilge panels are now lying
in place. |
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All the sections have to be fastened
down to insure alignment whilst gluing. On the hard corners I
found sections of bracing strap with 15 mm button head screws
were perfect. On panel that didn't have as much angle the method
following is faster, easier. see below. |
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Get the panel aligned by sight or
touch, be fussy! Then start a screw in straight.... |
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Then just as it starts to bite, twist
it upwards... |
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until the angle matches the plane
of the bottom panel and screw it in. As many as it takes to align
and secure the panel. If you keep all screws within 40mm of the
joint, the holes will all be covered incidental to future taping. |
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With a set of panels in place it's
time... I bought the little electronic scale at the left from
ALDI stores (brilliant place!) for $25. The resin is mixed by
weight at a ratio of 4 to 1 for this particular resin. Be accurate!
Roughly 125 grams resin per 1 metre of 750 gram tape. (I actually
got away with less) After a thorough mix with the paint stirrer
I rolled the surface to be taped with a 3" paint roller
(see 2 |
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photos below) and then started wetting
the tape that had been previously measured to the length of the
join and flaked out on the table. Move steady but don't waste
a second. A drizzle of about 25mm across the tape should be about
right and quickly roll it in. The bottom layers will get benefit
from rolling above layers so don't get excited if the tape doesn't
appear to saturate fully at the start. |
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Like I said above.. a quick roll
before wetting the tape. |
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Set aside the tape and mix a batch
of bog. Different resin with about 75% again of a 50/50 mix of
"Q-cell" and "Cab-0-sil". Work into place
with a steel tool with about a 25 to 30mm radius. |
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After spreading with the tool, clean
off the excess on the sides of the fillet with a flat scraper. |
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Now get your flaked bunch of wetted
tape and lay in place gently. |
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Smooth out any air voids and align
as you go. |
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The bow is a bitch but nevertheless
must be done properly. |
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Just a close up to see what it should
look like at that stage. |
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A fast check back all along to make
sure there is no air trapped anywhere. |
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Then the peel ply. |
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Roll the PP all the way to length. Then
come back with the consolidation roller to work it into the tape
and finish wetting the whole thing. |
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This is the best I could do with
the peel ply because I was out of time. It was tense getting
this far. After this first tape I experiemneted with a couple
methods and found I liked to bog with the tool below early and
let it get stiff, then mix the taping resin and really take my
time to get it right. |
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The bogging tool I'm using here is
a tilers grout spreader cut in half. Load it and.. |
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spread it! You can use pressure and
angle to set depth of the fillet and how clean you leave the
adjoining area. |
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With the bottom panels taped I got a hand
and moved the sheer panels in. Using a couple screws just to
hold it in place in this shot. |
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I have left the inner sheer panel
out of place in this shot. That allowed me more room to work
on the bow area of the outer sheer panel which I will do first.
I have already bogged the fillet here. |
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I'm using a better respirator here
and I'm working up quite a sweat as I put real effort into the
roller. I like it so the peel ply looks like clear paper over
the glue and no filament of the tape stands out. I'm mostly rolling
verticle from bottom to top. This brings some resin back up that
naturally wants to run downhill. |
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The routine I got into was to do
the filleting, let go firm, then lay in the tape and quickly
peel ply and roll. With remaining time, I then go back over the
tape rolling carefully until everything goes clear. If there
is any resin left, I keep it handy at this point to wet a spot
if needed to make a smooth edge. In this photo the tape at left
is the first go and at right is the finished part. |
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This is the finished product. The
white you see is the bog under the resin. |
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Inner and outer sheer panels in place
and next step is the chamfer panels and bulkheads.. but right
now I have a paper to produce and web site to update.... |
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A brief note on the method I used
for the gluing of the panels described in
a previous page.. in spite of the problems with it because
of the poor factory scarfing process, the method is great. I
cleaned off the glue lines so easily with an angle grinder to
leave beautiful flat surfaces... no way I would do it different!! |
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We had some frustating delays in
getting this far due to projects like Kay and I pouring about
50 sq metres of concrete and the big tent that we wanted for
assembly. The weather really slowed down this part of the process.
Wind and rain are not desirable for either project and thats
what we had all summer. A benefit of all that work is that we
won't be as weather dependent from now on and... all that left
over black plastic (Visqueen) that you use for concrete work
has been found to be very useful. I would recommend having some
of that around for a project like this. It's cheap as and available
at most any hardware store or builders supply. |
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