On one of my bulkheads, I clearly used too much epoxy in one area and I didn’t notice it and clean it up after I clamped it down.
What is the smartest, safest way to clean that up? Seems like sanding will risk removing a lot of wood or the edges? Is there a trick here, or is patient and careful sanding the remedy?
I’d use a scraper if that was my boat. A cabinet scraper would let you concentrate on the ooze and avoid the wood.
Laszlo
Hi Ernest,
is it possible to pull the camera back to see the total of what this piece is. i can’t sort out from the picture what i am looking at other than some glue spilling out of a joint…and that you mention it is a bulkhead.
can you identify the design you are building as well?
sometimes stuff like this needs to be cleaned up…sometimes its not so important. that’s why i am asking you to pull the camera back so we can see the whole thing and contextualize the question. if this ‘overflow’ is going to be out-of-sight or covered, it may not be worth the trouble. if it will be visible or prevent the part from properly mating to another part, you probably have to address it. but answers to these questions and some more pictures will help us give you great advice.
that said, there are a lot of ways to make excess epoxy disappear. for something like this, without knowning more, my first guess would be to hit it with a heat gun to warm up the epoxy to make it soft…and then take a chisel blade and run it across the line and it will come off like butter. no sanding, no scraping. easy peasy…just don’t burn the wood while you heat the epoxy. but removing epoxy that is exposed like this on a flat surface with heat is a very common, easy way to remove it cleanly, without scratching the underlying wood and not having to work too hard.
for anybody who is building epoxy boats, i would put a heat gun in my tool box…we all make mistakes and a heatgun is one of the best tools to make mistakes disappear 
h
" if this ‘overflow’ is going to be out-of-sight or covered"
That occurred to me yesterday as I was thinking things through.
It’s the #2 bulkhead for a Northeaster Dory, and there are a couple pictures from the gallery that will provide context. Bulkhead #1 is at the bow, so it’s the second bulkhead in this picture.
I looked through the gallery and I think it will be covered, but as a first time builder I am not sure.
This fellow made removable seats in his build and it looks like he left a gap between the foam and the hull, so it would be visible if I built it like this:
But it probably would not be visible in this boat.
And now the good news. I wrote all of the above, then went to the “shop” aka, my garage, and the heat gun worked like magic. 
In my manual a heat gun is not listed under essential stitch and glue tools but it should be!
Quick additional question . . . what’s the deal with the removable seats? What are the pros and cons there? I suppose it would make it easier to work on the finish in the future.
A heat gun and a scraper works wonders. I prefer a paint scraper.
Scraper alone, use a cabinet scraper. Scraper + heat gun, use a paint scraper.
Laszlo
Reasons for removable seat: Easier to refinish at a later date, as you indicated - but the real reason is that you can remove the seat aft of the station you are using to row, providing more room to stretch out your legs and have a really strong athwartships piece at ball-of-foot height to push against. All that said, unless you are really into rowing for miles/exercise only, you might not find it necessary to make your seat removable - but why not do it? There is no real gain to an installation more permanent than the per-plan removable design. I’m 6 ft tall and row my dory quite a bit, but have never wanted to remove the seat, as I rarely go out without the option of sailing in mind (sails and spars onboard). Every time I leave them ashore the wind comes up, or shifts so I would have otherwise had a nice downwind run that I wasn’t expecting. I did my flotation with closed-cell foam (glue attatchment to underside of seat, only), so it is plenty strong enough to push against, and I don’t mind having my legs bent or crossed when I row - I’m not racing off to anywhere. The per plan glass-over-styrofoam flotation might not be as happy with foot pressure, I don’t know. I am glad seats are removable, as I had to remove a couple of my seats to re-build the hull after a tree fell on the boat. You do want to keep the flotation up off the bottom, allowing water to flow under/debris to be washed out. I’d install the floatation, even if I didn’t have a sail rig. Better safe than sorry, and without flotation there is zero percent chance of self-rescue in this boat; it would float with only an inch or so of freeboard, even if perfectly balanced/level and no one sitting on the bottom inside it to bail. Finally, maybe this whole discussion is moot, as I think the area you are talking about is due to get filet/fiberglass over it, so will get covered over.
Thanks, all. I have built two boats and done a fair bit of epoxy repair work and this is the first I have heard of heat being so handy for removing large areas of epoxy overflow/push-out. I agree with Earnest, it really should be listed as an optional tool in CLC’s manuals. I have yet to come across such a technique in any manual or guide including Ian Oughtred’s Clinker Plywood Boatbuilding…. I wonder if the risk of burning is so great that the pros just avoid the suggestion.
Nah, pros just don’t make epoxy mistakes
Fwiw. Nick Schade in his videos on refinishing a petrel (he removes all the outside glass) demonstrates the techniques and its mentioned or well known amongst strip builders. In addition to softening epoxy, it also softens wood glue and is used to undo errant strips…
I really like laszlos response…i never really considered it a significant burning risk when the epoxy is exposed. When you need to loosen a part that the epoxy is buried in the wood..undoing a joint…is when you really have to take care.
To follow up my original post . . . the heat gun & scaper combo is fantastic. It made quick work of that mess. I also used a triangular scraper to get into the 90 degree joint but an old school paint scraper works beautifully.
“just don’t burn the wood while you heat the epoxy” <<< Howard’s words were haunting me and I was too timid at first. Here’s what I suggest. When you have extra epxoy, get scrap wood similar to the boat’s plywood, create something that looks like the part you are tackling and create 3 or 4 screwups intentionally. Leave it for 24 hours, come back with the heat gun and experiment. Now you can experiment and find “not hot enough”, the “oh my god, this is great” (for me, that was having it come off in one peel, I probably should have taken a picture to share, and “holy sh*t I burnt the wood.” That way you can learn on scrap and then use that knowledge on the boat.
I kept the heat gun moving, 2 - 3" away, never lit it linger on one spot, and counted. If the CLC folks monitor the forum, this would be a good video for them to produce to help out builders.
We had a fun build day yesterday. I knew my wife would enjoy the stitching process so I held the panels and she did most of the stitching. That was really good because I want her to have that shared ownership that only comes from participating. The other thing we did after the first panel was to draft a neighbor’s home schooler into the process. Boy did he light up and enjoy himself! Rewarding day all around.
Hi Ernest,
just want to second your comment about ‘practice’ .
there are a lot of elements of a build like using a heat gun. drilling or a sawing you can do a little practice on…and get the hang of it without putting an expensive piece at risk.
when i first built a strip built with my nephew i had him practice on some scrap strips with the block plane so that he got the basics down prior to going at our more expensive inventory…we also practiced drilling holes on scraps and even a little glass work on a piece of scrap were all part of the repetoire of building a bit of confidence in a low stakes environment.
great to read your report out and the enthusiasm 
