Hello all,
I'm new to this forum and to boat building so just checking in to say hi and to share my excitement about building a Passagemaker dinghy. I'm not a wood worker and have never worked with epoxy so I'm sure this will be a challenge. I began today with epoxying the rub rails together and already said a few choice words while trying to get the scarf joints glued, aligned and clamped. :-) We'll see how they turn out in 24 hours.
I'm sure I'll have questions along the way, so thanks in advance for your patience.
Steve, in San Antonio, TX.
Hey Steve, pretty much in the same Dinghy with you. I’m doing my first, (jimmy skiff II) I have worked with wood all my life though, just never in a heated shop/garage! Carpenter/GC for 30 yrs. I’m the Building inspector now. Much easier on the back! First time is first time though and I did my share of cursing with the first few puzzle pcs. I read around this site and glean a ton of good advice and tips to make this process doable and fun
Thanks for the reply, Mac62, and I wish you the best in your build of the Jimmy Skiff II. I seriously considered the one as well...she is a beauty!
Hey Steve,
Congrats on your PMD build! Sounds like you're in the home stretch. I finished my plans build just over a year ago. I'm happy to share any experience I gained along the way.
I went with mahogany rub rails finished bright and had to do two scarf joints on each side, so it took four days for that step. I learned the hard way to clean up as much of the epoxy as you can before it hardens...
Thanks Captain Skully, but I've just begun. In fact I think I just made my first blunder. Epoxying together the bottom did not go so well:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/h94cfdv0dnrbkrs/2019-12-16%2016.17.41.jpg?dl=0
You can see that the puzzle joint was not seated well. I don't think I can recover from this without getting the plans, cutting another bottom out and trying again. Such a bummer...but I am new to all this and bound to make some mistakes.
Coldaddy,
There's at least 2 ways to recover. You can use a heat gun to soften the epoxy, peel everything apart, clean it up and try again.
Or, you can grind the high side down smooth, fill the other side with epoxy/woodflour mix and put a couple of layers of 6 ounce glass on each side extending at least 6" to either side of the joint to reinforce it. A coat of paint at the end and no one will know.
I'm sure other builders will have more suggestions. All is not lost.
Good luck,
Laszlo
Thank you Laszlo, you have encouraged me! I'll give the heat gun method a try tomorrow. Many Thanks! It's so good to have access to the helpful folks on this forum and not be completely alone in this.
Steve
Cured epoxy is amazingly sturdy and strong. But it is also (as Laszlo suggests) amazing how easily it softens in high heat. I don't even have a heat gun and could disassemble some badly aligned parts with my wife's blow dryer.
It's such fun working with wood and fiberglass. Everything can be fixed!
Hey Steve, when I did my first pieces I concentrated on keeping the topside as close to perfect as possible, and then put plastic over it and laid a 2 by 4 over it with two 20 lb weights to keep er flush. I didn’t pay much attention to the underside but the mess wasn’t anything that 120 grit sandpaper couldn’t cure.
Sean
If I understand correctly and you don't have the plans, I highly recommend getting them.