2006 building logs

March 2006 Glassing Port Hull

Finally back home and getting ready to finish the port hull. The hull needs to have the screw holes filled and sanded and any pinholes caused by air bubbles in the join filler. Then the fibreglass will be applied and then final fairing, before the hull is ready for turning.

7th March 2006 Filling screw holes and pin holes

Jo and I spent 3 lovely weeks travelling to the UK and Hong Kong on business, well we had a 4 day trade fair in Birmingham and 2 days visiting with a supplier in Guangzhou China, the rest of the time was sight seeing. We got back on Sunday but is has taken a day or 2 to catch up on the backlog of work that piled up while we were away and to get our body clocks back to normal time. We have been waking at 2 am feeling hungry then falling asleep at 6pm as if it were midnight!

I did the final touch ups of filling screw holes and bubble holes that form in the filled gaps as a result of filling during the extreme heat we had over January and early February. Also contributing to the air bubbles was the size of some of the gaps that needed to be filled. The filler gets very hot and when it becomes exothermic the heat it generates creates bubbles in the mixture. The bubbles and settling or sagging of too runny mix needed filling back up so that it can be sanded back to smooth.

I have now finished filling, and any small irregularities I am hoping will be filled by the resin of the fibreglassing. It is already fair, and all I need to do is spot sanding of the filled screw and pin holes. I also built up a section at the bow that looked a little too flat, in that the natural curve of the bow had a flat spot. It would be underwater but I felt was easy enough to fix so I did. I will see how it sands back.

I have to travel to Melbourne again tomorrow but should be back on the boat on the weekend. I think I am close to ready to glass.

12th March 2006 More sanding

I spent a few hours yesterday and again only a few hours today sanding the touch ups and hole fills back down and generally cleaning up the hull ready for glassing. I have found that my idea to remove the peel ply at the last possible moment so that any spills of resin, glue, filler etc don't have to be sanded/ground away was not such a good idea. I have barely spilt anything on the panels although I may spill some resin when glassing but by then all the peel ply needs to be removed anyway. The downside to the idea is that if you remove just a strip to fill the gaps as I have, if you haven't trimmed back the ply enough you will invariably need to sand over the ply. Then when it comes to removing the ply, the sanded sections don't come away cleanly enough and ironically the only way to remove the residue is to sand it off. This is far more work than I would have had to clean up any spills had I completely removed the ply at the start of the job.

So on the second hull I will certainly be removing the peel ply just after the hull panels are glued to the bulkheads maybe even before that, as the insides need to be removed before they are attached to the bulkheads. I still have the ply in place on the inside with just enough removed to attach each panel to the bulkheads. I will report later if this was of any benefit. I guess getting into hard to get to places to remove spills may be harder on the inside and I did manage to drip a lot more resin on the inside mostly through the gaps as I glued and filled the panels to each other.

Sorry but I didn't have the camera so had to use the phone so there are no enlargements of these pics, but take my word for it, the sanded edges of the peel ply are a bugger to completely remove, it is extra work you can do without and sanding is not a pleasant job to start with.

I am pretty sure now I have the hull as smooth and fair and filled as well as I can. In fact I think (as usual) I am being too pedantic because any imperfections, as tiny as are left, will be filled with resin when glassed or with filler when bogged. At some point enough is enough, and as there are a number of layers to come there is no point being ultra ultra picky at this stage.

Some time this week, I will get some peel ply to put over the glass when wet to minimise the keying required for the bog, although I believe I may be able to get the first layer of bog on whilst the glass resin is still "green" (hasn't yet fully set) and achieve a chemical bond so the peel ply may not be needed. It may depend on how much help I can get from friends. I am also waiting for a cool change. The lower temperature (if we get some) gives more working time to the resin. It is forecast to be 30 again tomorrow.

Before glassing it will take me a day or so to cut all the glass and do a dry fit to be sure I have the glass for the job correctly in place and, marked so that it is easy to figure where it should be on the day rather than being under pressure with setting resin and scratching my head trying to put another jigsaw puzzle together. I probably harp on it, but a little pre preparation saves a lot of stress. It may take a little longer but if you make a mistake because of lack of preparation it will take heaps longer and cost more to fix.

15th March 2006 Even more sanding

I spent nearly a whole day on the boat today and I also had some help from Lauren and we did the coving (some people call it filleting) on the outside hull at the chamfer panel (and a small amount of the inside hull coving) and removed all of the peel ply which also required some sanding as described in my last post. Lauren is looking to be a boat builder and hopes to get an apprenticeship but in the meantime helps me out from time to time and also attends TAFE on Mondays doing a course on composite materials. So if anyone reading is looking for an apprentice please email me.

The idea with coving is to create a gently curved fill on the chamfer join to lessen the abrupt angle that the fibreglass has to make in going from one panel to the other. A similar curve is required on the inside of all of the panel joins inside the hull and another similar cove will be needed on both sides of each bulkhead where they meet the hull panels, again so that the fibreglass doesn't have to make right angle turns as the glass cannot stick to the inside corner of the join and if not coved also creates a stress point at the corner that weakens the glass and the strength of the join. My understanding is that the load is spread over the cove and out into the panels when a higher radius curve is employed. It makes sense.

I created a round ended filling spatula by tracing the shape of a plastic container onto a plastic scraper and cutting out the shape with a jigsaw, then using a sanding disc as a grinder in a drill, I rounded and shaped it further and made a chisel like edge on one side. I then used it to apply the filler to the join and then used its shape to remove the excess leaving the shape that I required in place and almost smoothly to each flat panel top and bottom so that only minimal sanding will be required to finish it.

I will still have some sanding to do when it is set just to feather it out to the flat panels to create a smooth surface with no ridges or scars for the fibreglass to bed down onto. I cleared away a lot of the dust on the hull with a wet towel to minimise dust in the air. So I am just about ready to glass the hull. It is a big job and I will almost certainly need help, and it will also help if the weather is a bit cooler. It is starting to cool a bit now, we may have seen the end of summer but it is still warm at around 28 each day and the heat hasn't left the shed yet. Perhaps by next week when I think I will be ready to glass it may have cooled further. I hope so.

19th March 2006 Final preparation before glassing

I have been at a seminar all weekend but I managed to finish the port hull preparation for glassing on Friday. There is still a long way to go with the hull after glassing such as bogging and fairing but that is next. The last task in the preparation of the port hull was the coving then feathering out of the chamfer panel. Once the filler in the cove had set I feathered it out (sanded the ridges) to create a really smooth transition from one panel to the other.

 

The only task left is to mark the waterline onto the hull and to cut out the fibreglass, place it into position (dry) and mark it ready to resin, and then remove it again to lay out in order on the day of glassing.

I think its official now though, any other work I do from now until I glass the hull is my way of  stalling for time before actually glassing the hull. I am ready, there is nothing more that needs to be done to the hull, but I don't feel ready to tackle what is a big job yet. Confidence in what you are doing is an amazing thing. When you have confidence you finish tasks without giving them a second thought. You may recall that when I was ready to start gluing the hull panels together I had Brett Schionning come down and guide me so that I could get a feel for the job and then after that gluing the rest of the panels was a breeze, as was standing the bulkheads, then I had Brett down again to help with the chamfer panel and although I had already attached some of the panels I had Brett's help for the critical panels.

The reason I write all of this is to let some readers know that it is alright to feel like you might need some help or advise from time to time and that there is a network of help available if you need it. There are a number of other builders at various stages that are more than happy to offer advise, and of course there is the Schionning team (or your designer if you choose a lesser *just kidding* different design) ranging from just a re assuring phone call all the way to having someone come and help. I think a few minutes chatting with the guys will be all I need but I am also waiting for some helpers to become available (seriously not an excuse) as it is more than a 1 man job.

Of course there is still plenty of work I can be doing while I am waiting to glass the hull, such as coving the inside of the hull. It has to be done sooner or later anyway.

24th March 2006 Glassing done!!

I decided that the best way to ensure the glassing was done and done well was to have Brett come down and help and advise me again. So today we got the hull glassing done. I spent some time yesterday preparing the things I would need for the job, like making the temporary glass cutting table. I don't have the space for a permanent work bench especially a 13mt one so the next best thing was to make one from some packaging mdf as the top and the 44gallon drums as legs. It worked well and and as soon as the glass was cut we simply took the mdf off and used the drums as a scaffold base with 3mt 150mmx70mm planks to walk along whilst wetting out.

Some of the new tools I needed included a good pair of scissors. Ideally you want heavy duty dress making scissors, the good quality all metal ones which usually cost around $50. The reason for the all metal ones is that you can soak them in acetone to clean them if you have to cut wet cloth or get resin on them and not dissolve plastic handles. Unfortunately everywhere I tried to buy them didn't have the ones I needed so I just bought a decent set of kitchen scissors. They worked well enough and were very cheap at $6 but I may eventually get a decent pair. We also bought a paint mixing bit for the drill, which worked very well and 2 roller extensions we didn't use! We also bought a variety of different rollers and found the cheap black foam ones worked very well. I also bought 2 rubber squeegees and a roll of peel ply but didn't end up using any of it today as I will bog it tomorrow whilst the resin is still green. I will definitely need it later, especially on the taping inside the hull.

The first step was to cut some 12.5 meter lengths off the very heavy roll of 1300mm 457g double bias glass. We then rolled them up again so that we could easily move them onto the hull, it is far easier than trying to manhandle a 12 meter length directly onto the hull even though the table was directly along side the hull.

I had plenty of help today, four of us, Brett and I and Jo and Lauren. Jo mixed up batches of slow cure resin (ADR 4:1 by weight kinetic epoxy), and after Brett and I layed out each layer of glass and trimmed it to shape, Brett, Lauren and I wet it out and then, while Lauren and I continued on with the wet out, Brett and Jo squeegeed the excess out and made sure there were no dry patches or kinks or bubbles in the wet cloth. We repeated this all day until we had all the layers of glass down. We layed them wet on wet, so we got a good chemical bond of all layers. 

The method we used to wet out was simply to pour the resin straight onto the glass then using rollers we spread the resin out over the glass until it was well soaked all over whilst also repositioning the glass so as to minimize the wrinkles, then using a rubber squeegee we finished the wet out by spreading the resin into any dry area and removing any remaining bubbles, kinks or rough patches whilst also removing any excess resin. We started at the ends first just to wet out enough that it held the glass in place, then went to the middle and worked our way back to the ends.

After getting the first layer on we immediately put the second layer onto the wet first layer so that we got a full chemical bond wetting it out with more resin. Then after that was done we layed down the 150mm and 100mm tapes over the joins. We didn't use the Wombat as we were already using rollers and the set up time would have greater than the time saved. Normally the plans call for glass to 100mm over the waterline but we decided to glass up (down on the upside-down hull) to the mid hull join. The reason was 2-fold, firstly it provides an extra layer of glass on the hull sides that might be prone to hitting piers or smaller boats if fenders drop or floating debris etc. close to the waterline, but also because it means that there is less of a step to bog that would otherwise be the case with just the join tape layers. By making the layer all the way from just above the waterline chine to the top chine removes one of those steps and makes it an easier fair. It uses a little more glass and resin but is easier to fair so that means less bog. Overall the weight change will be negligible and the extra glass layer is re-assuring.

I couldn't get through the day without spilling some resin on myself. I actually tipped the same tub on myself twice, the first time only getting a few drops on myself but most on the ground, so I got down off the ladder to try to mop up some of the spill leaving the tub on top of the ladder, then I moved the ladder and the tub fell down with the bulk of the resin going onto my shorts giving me a good wet out! The shorts went into the bin as by tomorrow they will stand up on their own! It is a good idea to wear disposable overalls that are fairly waterproof or as I did take a spare set of cloths to change into. I am finding it is still too hot and muggy for overalls.

Finally for today we cleaned the roller frames (we threw the rollers away), mixing tool and squeegees in a bath of white vinegar. Jo and I went home feeling a little sore but very satisfied at having got the glassing done in one day and knowing the job was overseen by someone who had done this many times before so we will have piece of mind in future that it was done correctly. Thanks Brett for your help again today, and thank you also to Lauren who also had a great day, got to learn glassing from an experienced boat builder and hopefully that it helps her as she tries to get an apprenticeship as a boat builder.

Tomorrow we will put the cloth away again, and start on the bogging. I will need to go and buy a plastering trowel that I forgot to buy yesterday. The idea tomorrow will be to get a thin layer all over the hull with slightly more at the chines and to feather the layers of tape down so as to remove the steps in the glass. It would then be possible to start sanding on Sunday, although I may hold off on that until the following weekend as next week I expect to have a proper dust extractor delivered. I bought it on Ebay for $530. Its a serious heavy duty model.

25th March 2006 Bogging the hull done.

We left the peel ply off when we had finished glassing yesterday as we knew that today we would be bogging the hull whilst the resin was still green. I decided to go with a spatula like trowel instead of the usual plasterers trowel as I thought the oversize spatula would be better at picking up the resin from the tubs. By the way I should have mentioned this yesterday but a tip on resin tubs is ice cream shops. Each day (if they are busy ones) they go through dozens of them and most just throw them out.

The mixture of the bog is as per the glue and filler using West resin and hardener but this time you use the sawdust looking 410 powder. As with the other West mixes it goes off fast and we managed to cook a whole tub and wouldn't you know it we were just that one tub short of bogging the whole hull with 1 bag of 410. We had to try to keep the bog thin so that it spread fast and easy as with just one person mixing and one filling we didn't have time to waste. We also forgot the camera again so we had to use the phone cameras so the quality is not the best.

We got some runs here and there and I think I may have put a little too much on in some places and not enough in others but overall I am happy with the job and I think I will be able to sand it quite smooth and fair. I may have to run a little more bog along some of the tapes as they still seem to show through but that may change when I sand back. I will check on it tomorrow to see how it has set and maybe touch up a little. I will need to key it as it will not be green as the ADR was today. I am not sure if it will be fully cured to sand tomorrow but I think I should be able to key it. I don't intend to start sanding back until the dust extractor arrives late next week. I will be away on business for a few days again this week anyway.

Once we have sanded the hull and are happy with it (so there may be more bog and more sanding before we get there) we will coat the hull with 2 coats (the second whilst the first is still green) of resin then whilst the second coat is still green we will put the first coat of high build on. I may even antifoul the hull before we turn it over. I am not sure yet, but I am looking into using epoxy resin with copper powder mixed in as an anti foul base. More on that later. Before we get to that stage we will tape all of the joins inside the hull. I learnt from Brett that you don't have to cove the joins, let them set and then sand them smooth, you can tape straight onto the wet cove and smoothing it out that way rather than sanding! That sounds good to me.

Time Spent: 62.00 Hours

Total build time so far: 303.00 Hours   Total Elapsed Time: 6 Months 4 weeks

April 2006 logs