I ordered Beckson clear deck plates and the other materials I need to reinforce the foot well sides and flotation chambers as discussed. This whole situation reminds me of the rules of water taught to me by an architect. I don’t know the original source.
I went ahead and did the frame stringers while I’m waiting on the inspection hatches and other materials to glass the footwell fillets.
Frame one for the wet well required I rip the cleat at 67 degrees and then rasp down the plywood to match the angle. The cleat I did with my table saw and the plywood I used a bastard file and some elbow grease.
Whoever suggested mixing cell-o-fill and wood flour to get the color closer to the okuome plywood, thank you! I tried that a little today and you were right. The only thing I plan to finish bright is the top of the deck/seats, all else will be painted. I want to work all this out before I get to the varnished bits that have a much smaller tolerance for error. Anybody try that particular mixture on puzzle joints? What does it look like varnished?
I think I’m the one that originated the cellofill / wood flour color match idea. Anyway, I never did this color matching on any puzzle joints, only filets. Puzzle joints I used cellofill only, maybe because I never considered doing otherwise. The gap you are filling/line you are creating at a puzzle joint is so small I’m not sure the color shows much - and in fact my puzzle joint lines always show up darker than the surrounding okume, even using 100 percent cellofill. I think that is because of the epoxy soaking into the end grain on the plywood. Thus mixing in any wood flour would seem to only make the line more visible. And finally, I think epoxy containing wood flour (I don’t have real data or knowledge on this) is slightly less structurally strong than epoxy with cellofill. I don’t think that’s a concern for puzzle joints, but would be a reason I would only thicken will cellofill when joining other structural pieces during construction.
And if you ever get round to staining any pieces of this or any other build, you can also add drips of you alcohol based stain to your filet mix to do a color match. A little stain goes a long way, so approach the desired color drip by drip. Any maybe do test pieces, because the final color of a stained piece gets much darker when the first coat of epoxy soaks in as you overcoat, and that is the color you’ll be trying to match (in advance) with your filet material.
I do like some of the aesthetic effects that can be achieved with stain, but do add a warning - staining, and keeping stained pieces looking nice and uniform throughout a build is a whole 'nother level of complexity and can of worms. Once stained and coated, if you EVER subsequently sand through into the wood during any part of subsequent contstruction step (or later repair) it is very difficult to get a nice uniform color match in the sand-thru area.
Hey thanks Jeff and thanks for the mixture suggestion, so far it’s been awesome!
First of four foot well side reinforcements. I sanded, cleaned, put another fillet over top the original fillet. Rolled out 2” glass tape and bedded it into the wet fillet. Then used a chip brush to push unthickened epoxy into the weave. Also cut the aft locker stringers.
Beckson hatches arrived today. Attempting to follow Howard’s recommendations in Genes thread. My thought is the clear beckson’s will fog up if any moisture is present, kind of an early warning device. Also in the off season I can open the covers and put a bug screen on the holes to keep out vermin. A dehumidifier under the cover of the boat drained out the motor well to dry everything out. I’ll put a small circulation fan in there too.
Looking good. In your photos I see the CLC part label stickers still on some parts. Just note to be careful - might depend how long they’ve been in place or how warm they’ve ever been, but be sure to give the area where they re removed a quick sanding and alcohol wipe. I’ve had occassion where remaining sticker residue caused a visible spot on the first attempt to do the ecpoxy first coat due to reduced absorption. So many little lessons to learn…
Yep, just when you think you have them all LOL… This area is going to get painted so not the end of the world, I will sand though.
Here’s what I got back from CLC: “Thanks for reaching out. Yes I would most definitely install some hatches/access ports to air out the tanks. It might be a good idea to rebuild those fillets or locate the leak for repair.”
I’m envious of your wide open voids!
Also Jon you’re going to want to install a drain plug in the deck. The cockpit fills up with water like a bath tub and you’ll get tired of pumping it out after each outing or heavy rain storm.
Thanks for the drain recommendation Gene. That reply from CLC made me chuckle. Where is the best place to put the drain plug. I will have centerboard case and motor well.
A lot going on here. I’m trying to do the drill-fill-drill for the fore peak drains. I got the forward locker stringers in. I made this backing plate (Laszlo’s Plywood Doubler) for the new Beckson deck plate. Those little screws are temporary till the epoxy sets. The internal glassed fillet went into this chamber today. I haven’t drilled the limber hole yet.
The inspection plate doesn’t sit perfectly flush. I think the flange is hitting the glassed fillet. I think my options are to glass the plug back into the hole and saw a new hole a couple inches higher or grind out a little fillet right here so the flange can sit flush. Or option three, just slap a a copious amount of 3M-4200 in the gap and hope for the best. Thoughts?
Or add a spacer under the flange shaped to make things fit flush. Not the best solution but better than the 3M. I think sealant should be used to finesse a joint not to make it.
That’s not a bad idea Steve. I also considered applying a little heat to the flange with a heat gun and allowing it curve and conform to the shape of the fillet.
