I have noticed some wire holes that splintered leaving chips in the plywood. Should I fill these? If so do I use clear epoxy? Or thickened with wood flour or Cell-o-fill?
You definitely want to fill all stitch holes whether they tear out or not. As far as what you fill with it depends a bit on whether you plan to paint or varnish. If you are going to paint you can just about use any filler in the MAS system. Cell-o-fill is a decent choice. If you are going to varnish you should know anything you put on there besides un-thickened epoxy will have to sanded back off again or it will show up in the varnish. You will find a good many stitch holes are covered by fillets anyway but don’t forget all the ones that aren’t. That tear out happens, at least it happened to me.
Jon,
I should have specified that I plan on varnishing. Then I should just use clear epoxy on the outside wire holes. Correct? Most of the ones not covered by fillets were covered on the inside with clear epoxy already.
Thanks.
Rob
Yes, I would just dab a little clear, un-thickened epoxy on the holes. I’d probably trim a cheap acid brush so the bristles are 1/8-1/4 inch long and just dab it on the holes. Dry plywood will soak it in. It might take a few passes.
To be fair, before you heed my advice, you might want to take a look at my boat project. I’m more of a work boat aesthetic kind of guy, it’s the world I’m from. If it moves, oil it, if it doesn’t move, paint it, if it yells at you, stop painting it, that’s the Chief.
Some of these folks in here can tell you how to get show quality.
Jon,
I am building a boat for use. I am just being persnickety since this is my first and likely last boat build. I do want it to look nice but I am not looking for show quality. That ship has sailed already. I appreciate and respect your practical advice.
Rob
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I like to make a thick mustard/mayo consistency paste (slightly less thick than Peanut butter) out of a mix of cellofil and wood flour, in a proportion that just about matches the okume color. That is probably about 70% cellofil, 30% wood flour. I dab it into the stitch holes firmly with a finger. Dab the hole full as deep as possible, just so any holes that might get a more superficial filling don’t open up again on subsequent sanding, but do try to limit how much area you “wet” around the hole to just one finger-print size. Immediately after dabbing I scrape over the hole with a nice clean edged metal putty knife to remove as much epoxy as possible from the area surrounding the hole, again just to limit sanding effort. When the epoxy is set up I do give a light/very quick final sanding over the whole surface with something about 120 grit. In my experience the holes will become nearly invisible given this treatment, and there is no discoloration around the hole (no worry that the epoxy isn’t unthickened).
On time I thought I’d get creative - or try an easy/quick/cheap route and made a wood putty out of Titebond and wood flour. The color looked good after application, but even with doing the light surface sanding I found that I’d created splotches that showed up when coating with unthickened epoxy. It took a lot of sanding to correct that mistake - one I won’t make again.
Jeff,
I hope this is what you suggest. I did mix in both thickeners until it looked light enough. This picture was taken after I finished or when it got too hot to apply the epoxy.
Rob
Heat huh? Want some rain?
Jon,
We had that too in VA.
Rob
I’m your neighbor in Tennessee… Guess we get all the good stuff.
Jon,
Thanks for your help neighbor.
Rob
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Of course. I honestly think your little epoxy splotches are going to vanish under glass or epoxy whichever you do. Just the same, a little sanding can’t hurt.
Jon,
Yes, I have been told before by others on this forum that epoxy splotches will disappear under the fiberglass and epoxy. I am not worried. I will sand before laying out the fiberglass. Thanks again!
Rob
If you’re glassing the hull, that will fill the holes with unthickened epoxy with no extra work on your part. The holes suck some of the excess epoxy out of the glass, whether you want them to or not. You end up with dark black dots that glow if you put a flashlight on the the other side of the hull where you are. But they get plugged solid.
Laszlo