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**knottybuoyz** · 06-07-2015, 12:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by minaret

Very likely thermal expansion of air in the substrate caused by exotherming resin on a warm day. Go to Tropical hardener and heat the substrate to higher than ambient temps before glassing. It can also help to epoxy seal the wood and lam to the sealer by chemical bond after it has thoroughly gelled.

It was a nice consistent 70 degs that day and I was using the slow hardener. That particular section was my fault for lifting the fabric while wet to remove a piece of sh*t. Thought I had it all squeegeed back into place. I think squeegeeing the peel ply lifted it some. The entire bottom of the keel was sealed previously with epoxy when the seams were taped.

Quote:

Originally Posted by minaret

It's gonna suck grinding that out. Air bubbles always happen in the worst possible place. Good luck!

Oh yeah! That's my life.

Got a question for you Minaret, if I work with smaller sections of fabric, say 48" long how much overlap should I have between sections? 2"? 4"? More? I need to wrestle this gorilla down to manageable bites I can handle.

Thanks for looking in.

**chris07732** · 06-07-2015, 15:03

Do the bubbles really have to be sanded out? I can't imagine a less stressed part of the boat.

Alternatively, how about opening them and filling the voids with thickened resin.

Knotty needs a break.

**knottybuoyz** · 06-07-2015, 15:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by chris07732

Do the bubbles really have to be sanded out? I can't imagine a less stressed part of the boat.

It's my understanding that bubbles could cause issues with blisters down the road if water is able to get into them. Up here in Kanada eh we have the freeze/thaw thing happening every year. Probably not that big an issue using epoxy but best to err on the side of caution. What's another day or two of sanding fiberglass!

Quote:

Originally Posted by chris07732

Alternatively, how about opening them and filling the voids with thickened resin.

Some of them could if they were a little more accessible. I'll just grind them out and patch them up!

Quote:

Originally Posted by chris07732

Knotty needs a break.

Six months in the tropics wouldn't hurt!

**knottybuoyz** · 06-07-2015, 15:12

I just made this one up!!

"The only thing really wrong with building your own boat is you don't have a previous owner on which to blame for all the stupid mistakes you've made!"

Hilbert · 07-07-2015, 04:10

Even the pros don't always get it right. Here, it looks like they shrugged it off and maybe tried to do better on the next boat.

I did my best to fix it with two layers of 1708 biaxial.

I feel your pain. Thanks for sharing your project.

**knottybuoyz** · 08-07-2015, 09:39

Hi Hilbert.

Thanks for looking in. That is certainly one of the worst fiberglassing jobs I've ever seen on a production boat.

You've done a nice job of fixing it up though. Well done.

You can fix pretty much any screw up with enough epoxy & fiberglass!

Spent 2-1/2 hrs grinding my sins away with my new 'Mini WMD'! What a great tool for gobbling up bad fiberglassing!

I have one of these flappy style discs on my 4" grinder and it has a ravenous appetite! The little 2" disc on the die grinder was the perfect tool for grinding out the bubbles. Probably saved me a couple of hours with my head stuck in the keel. A right angle die grinder would have been even easier.

All that above and more gibberish on the web log which I just updated: M/V She:Kon: Mini WMD

**knottybuoyz** · 11-07-2015, 08:21

Working smaller sections that I can handle easier. Hope is to spend more time building than fixing up screw ups! We'll see how it works. So far so good.

Just one 4' section done along the starboard side. Getting hot today so called it quits at 11:00 when the temp in the shed hit 33C. I'll try to get 3 x 4' sections done tomorrow. I did do the back end of the keel in smaller sections and it worked out fine.

Web log updated: M/V She:Kon: Slow & Steady

Zach · 11-07-2015, 08:35

Looking good!

Have you thought about a window unit air conditioner, with a piece of 10 inch flex duct taped to the front?

Works pretty well if you cut a hole in the back of your tyvec suit and drop the duct size down with to match a little inline squirrel fan...

Cheers,

Zach

**knottybuoyz** · 11-07-2015, 10:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zach

Have you thought about a window unit air conditioner, with a piece of 10 inch flex duct taped to the front?

Works pretty well if you cut a hole in the back of your tyvec suit and drop the duct size down with to match a little inline squirrel fan...

Walla! SkippySuit2

Warby12 · 11-07-2015, 18:17

Good to see breaking the job into smaller chunks is working for you. It always works for me as I'm usually in over my head. Start a small job, do it with patience, finish the small job, get a small win, do it over. When your confidence is up go bigger, if you want

Best way for me to tackle big projects, little bites

**knottybuoyz** · 13-07-2015, 13:42

Another 12 foot section of the keel covered.

Hoping to finish the forward end of the keel tomorrow then onto the bottom port side I think.

**knottybuoyz** · 15-07-2015, 08:50

First layer on box keel done! Yeah!

Not pretty but I can live with it. Got some cleaning up to do on the bottom panel, port side, then it'll be ready for glass & goop!

Few more pics & nonsense on the latest blog update: M/V She:Kon: 2 Day Update

**knottybuoyz** · 17-07-2015, 08:28

Removed the uprights & cross bars from the rolling frame. Thank The Maker they're out of the way. It'll be pleasant 'Not' smashing my head on them constantly!

Birds Eye View

Port side bottom panel will get glassed next. Just have to go round with the sander and dress up some fabric edges & shiny spots.

It'll be a 'Big Pour'. IIRC the time we did the outside bottom it took 11 hrs & 3 1/2 gallons of epoxy and that was with a helper mixing goop.

Standby...