I was just wondering if I should flatten the inside wire loops that protrude in order to get a smoother filet? I have already tightened the wires as much as I could without breaking them. Thanks.
First, I might recommend tacking the pieces together then removing the wires. For me, the wires got in the way of doing fillets.
If you leave them, you do want to get them flat. When you tighten the wires are you pulling the ends straight away from the hull and then twisting them? Twisting alone will not pull them as tight.
Steve,
Yes, I pulled the wires tight before tightening them. I did see the discussion on ātack weldsā but I think Iāll just push the protruding loops down and fillet over them. Thanks for the suggestion. Maybe Iāll try that on my next build!
Rob
Yes pushing the wires down will allow smoother filets but that also makes it much harder to pull the wires out so you have to just cut them off.
I am a big fan of the tack weld approach because it allows for much smaller filets/weight savings. Pictured is my current build, a Chesapeake Sport Tandem.
Mark,
I can see why. Beautiful work. Steve S. also suggested using tack welds. I guess I am a bit reluctant to use an āoff the bookā method on my first build. I have a few days to think about it. It does make sense and at 73 I like the idea of a lighter boat. The temperature is going over 95 here this weekend. Thanks again.
Rob
Iāll hop in and join the chorus singing the praises of tacking (no welding involved, the wood never melts). Actually removing the stitches is a pretty simple job repeated many times, as is tacking the joints.
The first time I tried it my big fear was my carefully assembled and aligned hull popping apart as soon as I put any stress on it. That is so not the case. The tacks are much stronger than you would think. And because there are so many of them, if worst came to worst (and Iāve never seen it happen) the other tacks would hold the hull together until a new tack was in place.
Finally, removing the stitches makes filleting way easier, so in the long term itās actually less work. After I tried it, I really wished that I had done it on my previous boats. This is your chance to avoid a regret 
Laszlo
Laszlo,
Thanks for the encouragement. I may just try it on some scrap ply I have. Or Iāll just try a few spots on the boat to see how it goes.
Rob
As far as going off the books- I believe tack welds are a āsanctionedā method.
I was surprised how strong the boat felt after the tack welds cured. I have seen some people even use super glue for the tack welds with success.
Scott,
Yes, I have seen the too. Thanks.
Steve,
Thanks for the information. I just found an CLC article on building a Peeler Skiff using ātack welds, with epoxy. So, I stand corrected.
Rob
Hey Robert, keep in mind that the Chesapeake is an old design that uses older techniques. As an example, manual for the Sport Tandem was last updated in 2002 and my Ch17LT was 2010. Better/newer techniques appear in the manuals of CLCās newer designs. The manual for the Shearwater line uses epoxy tack welds with wires removed for filets. In the even newer Petrel line, the manual calls for use of superglue to tack weld. Pictured is the underside of the Petrel Play deck. It was stitched together with wire then dots of superglue used to tack weld it together. The wires were then removed prior to filets.
Mark,
Good to know. Thanks.
Tack welding on anything i have built since the year 2000ā¦
Mark hit the nail on the headā¦these are old, but still great design. The advances in techniques proven through years of builds discussed in the forums like this is whag we are trying to bring to the table.
H
Howard,
That is great to hear. Everyone has been a great help convincing me this is the way to go. I have been reviewing videos of the builds using tack welds Mark mentioned particularly by Nick Schafer. I am thinking Iāll use epoxy for the welds instead of CA glue though. I plan on doing the fillets and cockpit fiberglass in one go. It is getting hot here but I think I can do it all in early morning. Is that too ambitious? If I use the tack welding technique can I then do the sections separately? Thanks.
Rob
I strongly advise against trying to do the entire inside (fillets/tape/glass) in one session. It is possible to do but probably not for a first time builder in a warm climate. To put it in perspective, I spent a total of 9.5 hours on this step on my Sport Tandem build. The tandem is a bit longer than your boat but this is my 14th build so I am pretty quick now. The other issue with trying to do it all at once is that you have a bunch of things to do simultaneously. Much easier approach is to break it into 1/3rds and do one part each morning. Start with the smallest and least visible section of the boat (bow or stern) and do the entire process. You will develop your technique on the first section and any mistakes that you make will be mostly hidden. Do the other end next then cockpit last.
Mark,
Excellent advice and just the answer I was looking for. I was confused about the optional ātabbingā (wedges) with epoxy section in the manual. They seem to indicate this needs to be done if you plan on doing the filleting in sections. It seems that spot welding would accomplish this also. Is that correct? Thank you!
Yes, no need to tab if you are tacking with epoxy. One last point is to make sure you check for twist before and immediately after tacking. Once the epoxy cures the boat should hold its shape. Even so, I also check before filleting and immediately afterwards. Probably overkill but canāt hurt.
Mark,
Great news. I have a plan. I will check and double check for twist. Thanks again. I appreciate your help and advice.
Mark always gives sage advice. As he said, break it up the work into manageable parts and organize the work from low risk to higher risk so that the things that are most visible or consequential will come after some practice in less risky zones.
One of the other things that helps develop learning is to have a thermometer and stop watch handy when working and looking and noting them so you start to develop a sense of how fast you work and how long your epoxy mixes last.
I always time from the first pumpi into the mix through the completion of the workā¦and then the time of whatever is left in the epoxy cup to thickenā¦and is losing its workability.
The timing is also heavily influenced by what kind of cup you are mixing in and how many pumps of epoxy you are mixxing at a time. Smaller batches tend to last longer and bigger batches can go off quite fast. So build up with consistency to get a sense of things.
You would be surprised, i think, to see how little spare time on a hot day you will have to simply fillet a single section. So for each section (front, back, middle), at least two sessions, a fillet session and then follow it up with a taping (or cockpit glassing) session before the fillet is fully hardened.
You will also get a sense, by breaking it up, how much epoxy you need to make a certain amount of fillet and the relationship between how much wood flour is needed per unit of epoxy to get the mix consistency you want. Again, my perspective is simply to make part of your process, standardized ācup fullsā of epoxy, spoon fulls of wood flourā¦etcā¦so you have e confidence about how it behaves and reproducability.
You may find that on a hot day, for example, that it takes three seperate batches of your standard cupfull of epoxy plus x spoonfulls of wood flour to make enough material to do so many feet of filletā¦
Looks likes it coming alongā¦keep up the good work.
H