Puzzle joints aren’t perfect. I think where I erred is I tightened my thumb bolt knobs too tight, should have relied on the weight of the bucket more. I’m trying that on Plank 1 Port and Starboard (stacked). We shall see. I cleaned up drips and puddles with a painters tool and a heat gun. I just lightly sanded the puzzles. I don’t want to burn through the veneer. My plan is to deal with it when I fair the inside and out prior to final epoxy/glass. Probably use epoxy and micro-balloons.
I suggest that you’ll find it much easier to get the panels/puzzle joints fair and flat now, prior to assembly. It is harder to sand assembled/curved parts, and harder to get nice flat epoxy coating on non-horizontal surfaces. And remember, if using epoxy with microballoons as a fairing compound you’ll be retricted to a painted finish- just making sure that’s your plan. And even if not per the plan-build instructions (I’ve done a NE Dory, but not the SW, so I’m not sure what your build manual says), I’d suggest putting on and sanding smooth the first coat of epoxy on panels (and MANY other parts) PRIOR to assembly - on most all of the sides/areas that won’t be coated over with glass. It is much easier to start with a nice, flat, no-sags/runs, pre-sanded first coat finish on the various parts/pieces rather than doing the first coat after assembly. You can recover any plugged pre-drilled stich holes in short order with a small drill bit. You quickly can rough up the areas that will become glued joints with 60 grit as part of the assembly process to ensure good joint and filet bonding to the pre-finished parts. Don’t pre-finish the areas to be glassed over so that you get a good glass-to-wood bond. Also, don’t do parts that might be overly resticted from making really tight bends by the added stiffnes of an epoxy coat - but I doubt that applies to any hull lapstrake panels. Finally, if the white spots I’m seeing on your panels are hardened drips of thickened epoxy, a best practice is to keep a sharp metal spatula at hand and clean those up as you go. Avoid letting the drips harden in place, which creates a siginificant effort to scrape/sand them away once hardened. I can’t judge well from pictures, but your epoxy looks very white, perhaps over-thickened. If that’s from cello-fill, don’t add it past the “drippy mustard” thickness described by CLC recommendations. Unthickened epoxy can get absorbed and lead to dry weak joints, but over-thickened epoxy can also lead to a weak joint as it barely penetrates into any wood fibers. Again, these are all just suggestions that I’ve developed in experience from building 4 boats - you get to do things your way.
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Thanks Jeff, much to consider in your post. I haven’t begun stitching anything yet so definitely time to make some improvements.
The #1 planks are in the clamps and have been since yesterday. We’ve had some cool evening weather here in East Tennessee so I decided to double the curing time. I did adjust my approach a little and I’m hoping for better alignment than the bottom board. If they are still not great I’m thinking about drilling a tiny hole (1/16th) at the apex of each puzzle joint. Buttering each piece with thickened epoxy everywhere on the puzzle except the hole an then holding them in alignment with my fingers (in gloves) and then putting a drop of CA glue in each hole at the apex and then putting a tiny amount of baking soda right there. With loose puzzle joints other people have used CA glue and epoxy successfully. Mine are perfectly snug so the only way to use the technique is to make a tiny hole.
Adjusting clamping pressure helped, considerably. I took Jeff’s advice and sanded the puzzle joints a lot. While they aren’t perfect, they are sturdy and nice looking.
Started stitching today. 3-D!!
Love the tool rack on the door!
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Hey thanks Michael! It’s all magnetic stuff from Harbor Freight. It really makes it nice when you need a glove or a paper towel in a hurry! I had to add the little clip because the breeze kept unwinding my paper towels.
I managed to get the starboard side plank on yesterday too but forgot to take another photo. I see a little daylight between that forward bulkhead and the side, I thought it best to just finger tighten the stitches till it’s all together then snug it all up later.
Plank 3 stitched
Used a bike frame clamp to hold the transom while I lined things up and stitched.
Transom Stitched.
Routing detail. I’ve never used a router before. I practiced for awhile on scrap before attempting this. I think It’s quite serviceable. Plank #4 puzzle joints are curing now.
