DaveH6
Deck and bow fiberglassing
So far, 6oz glass applied to bow and side decks aft to the shear break. I used a 1 1/2" overlap of the glass onto the topsides. Way too much pumping of the Raka epoxy pumps would have been required so I used 3 oz cat food cans to measure to the 2:1 ratio.
Working alone it was a three hour job. I made the mistake of trimming most of the fabric using scissors rather than the "pizza wheel" fabric cutter. Material trimmed by the scissors (yes they were free from harbor freight...you get what you pay for) was subject to unraveling when the epoxy was squeegeed on thus creating many loose treads that needed later clean up via a chisel.
Via a multi tool and a spacer block, I cut a rabbit in the mahogany windshield frame where it meets the foredeck plywood. The foredeck fiberglass fabric was tucked onto the rabbit thus preventing water from getting driven under the frame. Though the maghogany frame is epoxied to the plywood foredeck, I wasn't sure if different expansion rates between the two varieties of wood would have eventually worked the epoxy joint.
Keep in mind it is one thing to plan and prevent rain water intrusion in a boat underway at say 16 knots. It's a different issue to prevent water intrusion in a trailerable boat going down the Interstate in a rain storm.
Next step is to fill in the fabric weave.
Edit 04/28/2014: Subsequent to fiberglassing the foredeck, I stopped fussing with trimming the dry fiberglass to its desired final dimension. I now let epoxied on glass get partially cured and then trim. This is depicted in a later posting.
Deck and bow fiberglassing
So far, 6oz glass applied to bow and side decks aft to the shear break. I used a 1 1/2" overlap of the glass onto the topsides. Way too much pumping of the Raka epoxy pumps would have been required so I used 3 oz cat food cans to measure to the 2:1 ratio.
Working alone it was a three hour job. I made the mistake of trimming most of the fabric using scissors rather than the "pizza wheel" fabric cutter. Material trimmed by the scissors (yes they were free from harbor freight...you get what you pay for) was subject to unraveling when the epoxy was squeegeed on thus creating many loose treads that needed later clean up via a chisel.
Via a multi tool and a spacer block, I cut a rabbit in the mahogany windshield frame where it meets the foredeck plywood. The foredeck fiberglass fabric was tucked onto the rabbit thus preventing water from getting driven under the frame. Though the maghogany frame is epoxied to the plywood foredeck, I wasn't sure if different expansion rates between the two varieties of wood would have eventually worked the epoxy joint.
Keep in mind it is one thing to plan and prevent rain water intrusion in a boat underway at say 16 knots. It's a different issue to prevent water intrusion in a trailerable boat going down the Interstate in a rain storm.
Next step is to fill in the fabric weave.
Edit 04/28/2014: Subsequent to fiberglassing the foredeck, I stopped fussing with trimming the dry fiberglass to its desired final dimension. I now let epoxied on glass get partially cured and then trim. This is depicted in a later posting.