Other Methods of Finishing Inside Coves?

[Chotu]

I am starting the shower.

Continuous Formica sheets make the faces of the walls.

The very large glassed cove joint / fillet (approximately 8” diameter from flat surface to flat surface) is an extremely problematic inside complex curve.

I figured I’d just use an extra large caulking bead in there.

It didn’t come out great because I ended up with air bubbles in it. Possibly this was because I applied it from a small tube and had gaps between the different “beads” I put all over the place.

So... it came out rough looking instead of smooth.

Any tips first, on how to get an enormous bead of caulking to come out smooth?

Any other tips on how to finish these inside corners all over the boat with something ease I can put on that will hide them?

Not looking to fair and sand inside corners or paint if at all possible. Working smart, not hard is the key here.

A little good planning for the process can save hundreds of hours of work.

Thoughts?

My girlfriend says do the coves in black caulking so the eye doesn’t see any roughness.

[Chotu]

Solved:

Trick was to use soap and water on the drag.

There’s a line down it only because my drag tool cracked during the drag. Otherwise, I’ll stick with this method.

[coopec43]

Chotu

Will you be able to keep it clean?

When I did mine I use "Wet area paneling" and came in about one inch (using spacers) to minimize curves.

Maybe something like this?


ThermaSheet Curved Boards

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by coopec43

Chotu

Will you be able to keep it clean?

When I did mine I use "Wet area paneling" and came in about one inch (using spacers) to minimize curves.

Maybe something like this?


ThermaSheet Curved Boards

Coop,

Thanks for your post. I fear I may not be able to keep it clean.

Were you able to do compound, inside curves with this material?

I don’t see a mention of that anywhere in this link

[coopec43]

Originally Posted by Chotu

Coop,

Thanks for your post. I fear I may not be able to keep it clean.

Were you able to do compound, inside curves with this material?

I don’t see a mention of that anywhere in this link

I'm certain you couldn't do compound curves.


When I did mine I came in from the side of the hull so I could use a flat panel.



Just doing some googling "compound curve paneling"


https://fineartamerica.com/shop/show...compound+curve

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nayHHsyuP0Y

http://www.marmox.co.uk/uploads/cata...ombrochure.pdf


https://www.finehomebuilding.com/for...g-curved-walls


How Do You Tile Around Curves? - The Mosaic Store

www.themosaicstore.com.au › blogs › news › 1778200...

Nov 11, 2016 — When you use this technique your tiles follow a continual curve, and fit ... so that the maximum surface area is against the edge of the circle or curve. ... If you find it difficult to achieve the right angle make small cuts and w

https://www.google.com/search?source...V_TBhYQ4dUDCAw

[goboatingnow]

Large fillets of sealant are a curse to keep clean

Why not use timber fillets. And paint

No matter what I’ve tried you never get large sealant fillets to look perfect , even with machine application

Small radius is fine

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

Large fillets of sealant are a curse to keep clean

Why not use timber fillets. And paint

No matter what I’ve tried you never get large sealant fillets to look perfect , even with machine application

Small radius is fine

Believe me. I definitely don’t want to do a large fillet of sealant. I just can’t find anything else, so I made this thread to see if there are alternatives.

Timber won’t take a compound inside curve either. Plus it’s heavy

I need something that is like 8” wide, can press into that corner and follow the corner from the bilge, up around the hull/deck curve, and across the ceiling. And it needs to be glossy white and waterproof.

In this picture, look at the upper right hand corner. That’s the curve I need to take with whatever is pressed into the corner.

[smj]

Instead of following the curve just install a flat 8” piece of Formica that will span the curved area. Not as sexy, but........

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by smj

Instead of following the curve just install a flat 8” piece of Formica that will span the curved area. Not as sexy, but........

I mean yes, I was thinking about this for sure. That would take care of the having to press something into the corner issue.

But I’d still need to install probably a dozen of them with joints between them, to make the hull/deck curve and curve of the hull. Many of the little pieces of Formica would be trapezoidal and triangle shapes to make that corner. Check out the hull deck curve in the last pic posted by me. It’s tight.

[Chotu]

Coop: I see what you did on yours. Looks great. You don’t have a hull deck curve like I do. I assume you have a hull deck joint at 90 degrees.

You did make a panel raised off the hull to eliminate these issues I’m having which is a good idea.

However, my damn health problems require me to make a boat without any hidden surfaces. I can’t have dead airspace behind a panel in the shower for mold to grow on.

[smj]

My only other thought would be to fair and paint, but would vinylester bog stick well enough to the epoxy?

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by smj

My only other thought would be to fair and paint, but would vinylester bog stick well enough to the epoxy?

That was my thought as well. The right putty could probably be smeared in smoothly enough to need minimal sanding before painting.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by smj

My only other thought would be to fair and paint, but would vinylester bog stick well enough to the epoxy?

It may. Or it may not. I’m not sure in this particular application. Even polyester sticks fine to epoxy when it’s a large, flat, oversized bonding area.

In this case, it’s a tricky, partially bonded thing to stuff big into the corner and sand.

Since this has to be done everywhere all over the boat and not just in this shower, I’m pretty sure I want to do something less labor intensive.

I mean the months it would take to fair, sand and pain all these inside corners through every bulkhead on the entire boat.. I think I’d actually be a lot happier spritzing a little bleach on some silicone caulking and wiping it down every month or two. Although this stuff does say no mold guaranteed for 10 years when used in a shower.

But the number of hours involved in upkeep on the silicone caulking would be way less than fair, sand and paint.

Granted, it won’t look nearly as nice, but I’ve got to start making some compromises to get the boat done.

[Dsanduril]

Could give a try to one of the spray on truck bed liners? A few of them (Durabak, U-pol Raptor,...) come in smooth versions that can be pretty glossy. Not cheap, and probably not light. Most of them are one- or two-part very thick polyurethane paint. They fill and hide well, take water well, flex/move, and are pretty easy to clean. Might be enough body to spray directly over one of your coves. There are a few that come in spray paint cans, might be worth a visit/online order to an auto parts store, then try it out in a hidden corner. If you like it you can get the real spray versions, if not, well, if you chose a hidden enough corner you could leave it and move on to the next option.

[zstine]

I may consider a 'bondo' like putty filler for that application. Fillet it in just like the caulk, but you can lightly sand it nice and smooth and paint it white. I'm assuming bondo is not going to be a problem with your epoxy allergy.


Vinyl moldings are pretty flexible as well. You may find something at the local Homedepot that you can bend into place and caulk it in... perhaps you can slice groves in the backside to make even more flexible if needed. That would be cheap, easy, rot free.