Shellback Dinghy
Kitchen PR
sold by Wooden Boat). Has anyone out there built one who could give me a
few tips? It's a first project for me. I'd love to know what to expect
and where the sticking points will be. Also any general advice on glued
plywood lapstrake construction.
Thanks.
Donald Kitchen
Kitchen P...@aol.com
Dave Syer
Last year I completed an epoxy chine type boat similar to
Joel White's Nutshell Pram. The design is called
"Half-Shell" and is a nesting version and is thus quite
complex to buid for its size. I can offer a few
suggestions... Purchase rubber gloves by the ton from a
surgical suplus house. The best I found were
"post-mortem/pathology grade" (yick) They are cheaper (not
sterile) and much heavier than other disposible types. Each
pair can be used for several sessions with the "Schmutz".
I would purchase tongue depressors and waxed paper or
plastic cups their as well. Windshield washer fluid
bottles can be cut down to make excellent re-useable mixing
tubs for bigger batches.
Get a low angle block plane and learn how to sharpen it to
the point of being able to shave the back of your hand with
it. (I'm not kidding...)
Use a razor sharp paint scraper to fair the edges of the
glass tape rather than sanding. Watch yourself! The glass
can be razor sharp!
Read the System 3 resins company's "Epoxy Book" even if you
don't buy their resin.
Hmmm... what else off the top...
Coveralls wear em!, Foam rollers can be cut to narrow
widths on the bandsaw without damage, Use a wide drywall
knife (10" or so) with very small nicks cut into the blade
to trowel fairing compound onto the hull. Then sand off
the resulting ridges and she's fair! Don't make the nicks
too deep.
Take the information about epoxy sensitization very
seriously. It happened to my father. Have fun!
Dave Syer
Dave Syer
Dave Syer
George R. Burns
I was wondering. Would thinned epoxy resin, or something like System
3's Clear Coat work just as well (or better), for a lower price, and
not be as offensive to work with?
I just finished coating my sailboat's bottom with some Epoxy primer by
Pettit, and it was absolutely the nastiest stuff I had ever worked
with. Had to wear an organic vapor respirator from the time I openned
the cans, until they were shut, and all application tools disposed of!
The epoxy adhesives that I have occassionally used had little or no
odor.
Thank You,
George Burns
grb...@ix.netcom.com
James S. Waldron
>
> With dedicated, epoxy barrier coatings costing around $100 per gallon,
> I was wondering. Would thinned epoxy resin, or something like System
> 3's Clear Coat work just as well (or better), for a lower price, and
> not be as offensive to work with?
barrier coating, tough, abrasion resistant, good "primer" surface after
its sanded a bit (tough to sand with the silica, tho), and goes on very
easily in a smooth, even layer.
The lower viscosity System 3 might be just as good or better, but I
haven't tried it. The low viscosity could make it even easier to get a
nice uniform coating thickness.
In abrasion prone area (inside centerboard trunk, bottom of keel, etc.) I
like to add some copper powder filler as a partial replacement for the
silica to add some (theoretical) antifouling if the AF paint gets scraped
off. Since the coating needs to be sanded before painting, the copper
gets exposed at the surface, and while it ain't great AF, it beats
nothing at all.
--
James S. Waldron
jwal...@annap.infi.net
Douglas B. Wilde
What was the name of the Pettit product you used? I've used their
quick-drying sanding sealer and yes, it throws off a lot of fumes. But
it always produces a surface that any of their paint will stick to. Not
so with Interlux. And I know from sad, personal experience, that such a
primer coat is needed. I recently lost two weeks time refinishing the
bottom of a canoe because the paint was reacting to the epoxy and
remained tacky _until_ I put a layer of that Pettit down. And yes, I
diligently washed that amine blush off and did all the other usual prep work.
Just open the windows and doors and keep the place ventilated. It dries
quickly enough.
Doug Wilde
d...@engr.uark.edu
BorisP1080
our 32 foot ketch.we highly recommend the milwaukee polisher(an angle
grinder spins WAY TOO FAST) running at about1750- 2400 rpm and a 7.5 inch
flexible sanding wheel. The sandpaper is held to the disk with a screw to
the axle of the polisher. Use 30, or 50 grit paper. 80 grit is a joke
it'll take all summer. the job took about 50 hours of flat on your back
with a respirator and goggles. If you're just doing below the water line
then i found no difference in bottom final finnish comparing areas that
were smoothed with 80 grit to those smoothed with 50 grit. We applied 7
coats of west system epoxy, ( with an aluminum ablative from west system
mixed in). Your wrinkles should prove easier to recontour. After sanding
wash down with water and let dry overnight. We put interlux 1000 primer,
followed with 1coat of 3000interlux epoxy paint. the bottom paint was
interlux CSC black antifouling paint(1coat), followed with 2 coats of the
blue CSC. The different colors were to monitor when to apply bottom paint
in the future.we folloed the gougeon bros.book in reepoxing the boat
please see the article in cruising world april1995.look at page 110please
note-NOT an angle grinder,use a polisher.angle grinders have TOO much
speed,they will burn a hole thru your hull by the time you blink.BTW ,the
polisher has a second duty every year,it can be used to buff out the
topssides with 3M rubbing compound(the 50$Kmart/trakauto buffers are
garbage;ask the pros)feel free to write back,boris
good luck you face the WORST project next to wisdom tooth extraction.
BorisP1080
my brother and i built the hull for the nutshell pram(cousin to the
shellback)WB magazine and its editor were wonderful/patient and helpful.
things you nedd-
1)agree with last messgae
2)warm room to build-for comfort and to help cure the epoxy.make sure the
winow in the rec romm is bigger than the boat you are building(we
mismeasured by a 1/2 inch;the ife is still laughing)
3)WAX paper! so what you epoxy does not stick to your clamps and clamping
blocks.
4)cordless drill.we love our cordless dewalt but any well balanced one
will do.
5)lots of C clamps.they get to be expensine. investigate your
neighbors/brothers/coworkers to get a borrowed cache of them amd label
them(and return them when done.)
6)a GOOD table saw.to cut the mahagony strips to laminate the frame,you
have to cut hundreds of mahogeny laminating strips.the cheap saw is
FRUSTRATING!!!!!!!.if necessary,buy your neighbor a new blade for his saw
and cut it on a DElTA or equivalent quality saw.
7)pplastic drinking cups-with measuring marks,for mixing the epoxy and
colloid silica to strenghthen it
8)a mask and eyeprotection-epoxy and silica is BAD on the eyes and the
lungs
9)little 1 x 2 x 3 inch blocks of wood with wax paper around them(lots of
them(maybe 20).they are uses between the Cclamps and the plywood as the
hull is being clamped.
10)the housing for the centerboard is supposed to be the 1/4 or 1/2 inch
bigger than the dog that fits in there.we called WB nad they said this
was correct.
11)spoke shave/2 -handled- plane:a good tool store like chicagos Berlands
house of tools would have it.
12)LOTS and even more of the brass screws.the project uses them like
crazy.
lastly,remember epoxy -it should stick to the boat not your hands;fair
winds,boris