If you use the “dry method” (putting glass in place then applying epoxy) the laminating process goes really fast. Two people can do a float half in about an hour. I mix the epoxy and have my son apply it with a foam roller, then I follow up with a squeegee. For squeegees, I’ve found that cheap 12″ plastic paint guards work very nicely, and they’re cheap! So now you’re all down and the hull looks beautiful. Time to strip off the chem suit and go enjoy a nice cold beer, right? NOT SO FAST! This is one of those points where spending a little extra time will save you a lot later. Just wait a couple more minutes. As you walk around the hull, you will notice some epoxy starting to pool at the low points in the hull. Look up the sides and you will see a few dry spots in the laminate. Take your squeegee and work the pooling epoxy back up the sides and into these areas. Continue this until all of the epoxy has started to gel, at which point it’s not going to flow anymore. Now it’s time to pop open a cold one, knowing that you will have very few areas left to touch-up.

Stephen Marcoe had suggested I use a heat gun instead of my rack of heat lamps to heat up foam planks. I had tried this earlier and it didn’t seem to work too well. To make a long story short, it worked, and was much faster. Jacob and I were able to cut and lay all of the planking for the second float half in 16 hours! This time around, the planks went in very nicely. We filled in the cracks with fairing compound, and did the lamination and the reinforcements in about 4 hours. Tonight I’m going to pick up some 16 gauge hypodermic needles and see if these will work to inject slightly thickened epoxy into the vew voids we ended up with. Other than that, all that remains is to fit the stringers and bulkheads and float half #2 will be done.

One more thing. I started out with a couple heat guns from Harbor Freight. Both of them burned out in very short order. I am now using one from DeWalt, and this one seems to be holding up much better. Sometimes, you do get what you pay for.

It’s been a long time since I’ve written anything, so I thought I’d better do an update. I messed up a bulkhead earlier this year by not using enough bleeder cloth, As I’ve mentioned earlier I am using regular fiberglass insulation and it works very well. So by skipping a 10″x10″ piece of insulation, I lost one bulkhead. The resin went part way up the vacuum tube and as soon as it started to harden, I lost vacuum in the bag.

I also learned a few things when I went to mount the bulkheads to the hull. I had purchased a large box of tongue depressors for making a perfect fillet. What I found works very well was just running my hand along and squeezing the bog mixture into the space between the bulkhead and the hull. Works very fast and turned out nicely. So I’ve got my first float half done! It’s sitting on 4 saw horses under a couple of silver tarps next to the building. Not that I have a better idea on what to do, I’m hoping the other three move along much faster. I already have the other three bulkheads done, as well as some of the reinforcement stringers. It’s all a matter of finding the time to work on it.

I also moved my vacuum table out of the building and shifted the stack of foam to the other side in order to make more room, This gave me enough space to move a bench back into the shop, and I still have more room to move around than I did before.

Almost done vacuum bagging the 6 bulkheads for the floats. I’m getting pretty good at sealing the tape, which is the trickiest part of the process. Before starting work, I lay the plastic on the vacuum table then apply one side of the tape, leaving the waxed paper in place on the other half. After everything else is ready, I peel back the paper while gently pressing the tape to the table. About every foot, I skip a few inches, leaving a loop, then pinch the tape against itself. This leaves the plastic loose so it can conform to the part that is being laminated. It works very well and the finished parts look very nice.

Finally getting back to work again. I decided to make all of the bulkheads (6) for both floats. That way I can stand up my vacuum table so I have more space in the shop. After that, it’s a matter of glassing in the stringers (already made) and the bulkheads and moving the first float half out of the way to start work on the next one.

We don’t really have Spring in Colorado. It goes straight from Winter to Summer. So now it’s summer. The grass needs mowing, the garden is full of weeds, the roof on the house has a couple spots that need repair, and the boatbuilding has come to a halt. I hope to make some more progress, finishing off the first float half before fall, but we’ll have to see how that goes. Most of the work will be done in the wintertime, as there are just too many other things going on during the summer months.

No I haven’t been goofing off (much). I’ve made one more of the larger float bulkheads, and I’ve been cutting foam stringers for the first hull. Should have the backordered DB600 4″ tape by the end of the week, so will be able to start glassing in bulkheads in soon.

Busy weekend. Finally finished patching the first float half. After hitting the area around the bad spots with 6o grit, I faired with putty made mostly of cabosil with a few microballoons, then patched over with 18oz biax. I installed the vacuum switch and check valve on my vacuum pump. The new release film arrived. I didn’t realize you could purchase non-perforated release film, but that’s what I got. It looks exactly like the vacuum bagging film (I think it’s the same stuff). Made a perforating tool, consisting of two 1’ square blocks of plywood. One has 91 nails driven through it, the other consists of 91 holes, a bit larger than the nails. I marked a 1 ¼” grid on the top block, clamped both pieces together ,drilled 1/16” holes through both pieces, then nailed 1½” finishing nails through one piece, and drilled out the others a bit larger than the nails. This works well. I simply lay the plastic on one piece, put the nail board on top, give it a tap, separate the two pieces and pull the plastic off the nails. Formed the second bulkhead overnight. Applied the butyl tape to the plastic (like you’re supposed to) and achieved a perfect seal on the first try! This really made me happy. The release film made removing the bleeder fabric much easier. Four more bulkheads to go. By then, the 4” 18oz tape should be in and I can finish up the first float half.

Another skill I must master. I applied the requisite 5 layers of wax, peel ply, two layers of glass, bulkhead foam, another two layers of glass, peel ply and bleeder (fiberglass insulation). Everything I have read indicates that you should put the butyl tape on the plastic film, then apply the film (and tape) to the vacuum table. This didn’t work for me. I ended up putting the tape on the table, then applying the plastic. I still had a couple of leaks, but after finding and fixing these, I could pull almost 25″ Hg vacuum. I underestimated the value of the release film (I didn’t use any on top of the peel ply). Part needs a little minor trimming but I was impressed enough by the results that I will continue to work on technique. The fiberglass insulation worked really well as bleeder (I had some left over from a home improvement project). I also had a very small vacuum leak (drops about 0.5″ per minute. I couldn’t find it. Ordered an adjustable vacuum switch on eBay which should take care of that issue, so I can bag a bulkhead in the evening, turn it on and forget about it overnight. The finished product was so light and clean, I think perfecting this technique will be well worth the effort.

Some of the links on this website are adds. I apparently don’t have any control over this. If I mention a website specifically, then the link is mine, but if a word is underlined and highlighted, this is a link to an advertisement automatically added by the software. I guess you can’t get something for nothing (which is what I’m paying for this blog).