Hi all. I am getting the bottom of the hull on my Guider build ready to glass. I’m wondering if those with experience have advice on fairing the lapstrake type joint prior to glassing. See the attached cross section diagram from the manual. It is how I currently have it finished. However, it seems like a fairly acute angle to glass with a high risk of air trapping. I’m wondering if it makes more sense to slightly sand down the outer panel edge vs adding more filler to create a bit of a gentler angle? Curious what others have done - seems like a common situation for many types of builds. Thanks and please advise if the question isn’t clear
I don’t know the Guider so well, but it developed from the Skerry, I believe. On my Skerry, done from a kit per the instructions, the outside glass is just on the bottom and first side panel, so there’s no glass going over the lapstrake edges. I trimmed the glass right below the overlap between the 1st and 2nd panels.
That said, all the lapstrake edges, in fact all edges on my boat, got slightly rounded with a sanding block, if they weren’t rounded more generously. In machine tool language, I was “breaking the edge”. To help avoid chips and help with coating.
On my boat the glass does not overlap the whole joint. It stops just short of the edge of the 2nd plank without wrapping. I filled the weave using epoxy thickened with microballoons which made it easy to feather the edge of the glass. I can’t tell there is an edge there at all; it looks like the rest of the lapstrake fillets.
Does the Guider manual want you to glass beyond the bottom edge of 1st plank?
Thanks. Yes, the plans call for glassing the bottom plank, plank #1, and plank #2. Planks 3 & 4 don’t get glassed. But point taken, the angle between #1 & #2 is certainly much less acute than between 2 & 3 so should be easier if I just soften the edge a little I suppose.
ah… I see what you mean now. The bottom of the Guider is not much like the Southwester Dory at all. And I was mistaken about my own boat. The glass does go over the 1st plank. For that joint, I did round it over mayb 3/8" prior to glassing.