Big Glue Day

This past week I picked up a foam insulation board from Home Depot to remake two bulkheads that were just slightly undersized. While there I also picked up a tube of Liquid Nails with the intention of using it to secure the bulkheads to the panels. I also ordered another quart of structural fillet, figuring that the original quart would not be adequate to do the entire hull. Lastly, I cut 3 to 3.5 inch wide strips of the 12 ounce biaxial knit cloth to back the lower seams of the hull.

Taking the stuffing box I found it didn't quite fit through the oval hole cut into the hull - at least not at the 14 degree angle. So, using a half-round rasp/file I spent some quality time enlarging the hole, primarily beveling the inside fore and external aft surfaces. This worked quite well.


Today I reassembled the hull. This was necessary to make sure that the new bulkheads fit properly. Some additional sanding was needed to get the bottom edges of the hull to fit to the bottom panel, and to get the cockpit floor panel to properly cover the sides. It was also done to shim the bottom panel to make sure the side panels would properly mate with it from stem to stern.

Once this was done, I disassembled the hull, spread the panels on the benches so that the bottom hull panel was accessible and the two side panels were stacked, with one accessible.


Finally, everything was ready to be glued.

I mixed a small bucket of resin, and poured it along the length of the bottom panel and one side panel. Taking a squeegee I spread it over the surfaces, working it into the grain. As the resin soaked in, the wood changed color twice. First, it changed to an intermediate slightly darker color. Second, after a minute or so it would change to a darker, richer color that was very pleasing to the eye.

The small bucket of resin was depleted before the first side was completely done. Another batch was mixed and applied, completing the surface. It was now time for applying resin to the edge.

For this task I used a sponge brush. It was somewhat messy, as the sponge was fairly flimsy and the resin viscous. There were a few drips on the floor and elsewhere.

Once the first side panel was finished, with resin applied to the interior side and bottom edge, it was put in place on the bottom panel. Paint cans were used to keep it from flopping over.

The second side panel was coated, and resin applied to the bottom edge. It, too, was put in place on the bottom panel, supported by paint cans.




The next phase should have been to apply the fillet material and glass reinforcements. However, the sides refused to stay where they were supposed to be. So, plan B went into effect: Glue the bulkheads into place and apply the fillet and glass afterwards.

I used leftover resin on the sides of the bulkheads. It was starting to kick off, and was pretty viscous, so it stayed in place pretty well. Shrink wrap plastic strips were tied around the hull at strategic places to hold things together. Wedges of foam under the shrink wrap were used to apply pressure were the side panels were misbehaving. Spring clips were used at the bow and stern to hold the tips, and a clamp was used at the stern where the panels wanted to twist to one side.

About two thirds of the quart of fillet material was mixed in the now empty resin bucket. The green and red components turned into a muddy brown goo.

This goo was applied with a small squeegee to the bottom seams of the hull. It was easy to apply too much fillet, but also pretty easy to scrape up the stuff that managed to get spread far from the seam. Once I got the hang of it I was able to apply it along the most of the length of the hull - at least until the squeegee couldn't fit any more.

Fillet was applied to the fore side of the wooden bulkhead as well as the aft side below the deck. It was also applied to the foam bulkheads until I ran out.

The glass strips I had pre-cut were now too long. They had to be cut to fit between bulkheads.

After they were cut to fit the strips were put in place. This was a bit messier and somewhat more difficult as the edges of the strips were rough. When they brushed the side panels they tended to stick - often in not quite the right place. The strips also tended to stretch longitudinally just by handling them, and had to be fattened (stretched laterally) to return to their proper dimensions.

Twelve ounce knit cloth really soaks up resin. It took four large cups to saturate the cloth on the bottom seams as well as the wooden bulkhead. It also took two small foam brushes to do the job as they quickly lost their shape and integrity.

Four hours after I started it was done. Whew!