Skerry puzzle scarf irregularity

Builder's Forum
1

I was not able to get the puzzle scarf joints on my new Skerry kit quite completely flat.  When it comes to sanding them, there's a couple of concerns.  On the first couple before I got the amount of epoxy right, there was excess squeeze out.  That combines with the fingers being a few thou from flat and I got epoxy spots and gaps I can't sand totally flat w/o doing damage to the veneers on the "high" fingers.  It looks like 2 choices:  fair the joints w/ epoxy/wood dust now while they're flat, or wait until the coating/sheathing stage and just make it part of the finish process.  I'm painting this one inside and out, so am not too fussed about messing w/ getting the epoxy showing different color.  The joints themselves are tight and solid.  Suggestions?

 

2

   You could heat the puzzle joints with a heat gun.  I personally would use the wife's iron, no steam, put a throwaway towel over the joint and heat it up. With the epoxy melted you should be able to push the joints flat. 

3

   Trying to heat the joint to move it makes me all kinds of nervous about adversely affecting the joint strength. Epoxy isn't really a thermoplastic after all. They are plenty solid. Mostly it's an appearance issue I think. 

4

If you're going to be painting anyway, might as well just fair them in. I'd recommend using epoxy/phenolic microballoon mix instead of epoxy/sawdust for fairing. It's much easier to sand.

Have fun,

Laszlo