Now That She's Done
I have some final thoughts to share now that I'm officially done with my first (but maybe not last) boat building project. The woodworking aspect was the easiest part. It took relatively no time at all to lay out the patterns, cut them out of the plywood and stitch them together with copper wire. I chose copper wire, which I stripped from some old 14-2 Romex, because I read somewhere that it can be manipulated, loosened and tightened, as needed, better than plastic zip ties. I'm glad I did. The duct tape on the outside seams caused some people some conceptual difficulty. I had to keep reiterating that it was definitely not structural, but only to keep the epoxy on the inside seams from oozing through.
Speaking of epoxy, this was the least enjoyable part of the project. It was messy, expensive, and just plain not fun. I was supposed to have gotten by on one gallon, but I blew through that rather quickly. I didn't waste a whole lot, so I'm not sure what I could have done differently. I expected more itch from the fiberglass cloth. It wasn't too bad to work with, but the cloth unraveled along the edges a bit too easily for my liking. I never quite got the hang of the poor man's ply trick, where you lay plastic sheeting on the wet fiberglass to eliminate the need for most of the sanding. I tried various materials for filleting, from sifted sawdust to a commercial product from West Marine called microballons. Both left a decent surface for fiberglassing, especially since I brushed on some additional epoxy resin prior to laying down the fiberglass cloth. I used a talc epoxy mixture for my fairing compound. It was cheap and sanded very easily and did a nice job of covering most of my sins.
The project took a lot longer than the two or three weekends that some builders have claimed. I started in mid-May and finished in early August. Part of the problem was that after an hour of applying epoxy, I was done for the day, as I waited for it to cure. To further slow me down, I took off about three weeks in July, one to work with a friend vinyl siding my house and a couple more, because of a family vacation trip to Northern Michigan. When I returned, I did some final sanding, applied two coats of Kilz Premium Primer, and three coats of Benjamin Moore House and Trim paint. I can see that I am going to have to repaint the bottom often. Nothing wants to stick to the epoxy on the boat's bottom, even though I sanded to 100 grit to give the surface some "tooth". Every time I roll her over or drag her across the grass, bare spots occur. And I haven't even launched her yet
The best advice I received via a blog and something I want to pass on to all the woodworkers out there building their first boat is that you are building a boat, not a piece of furniture. It doesn't have to be perfect, only water tight. It will get used, abused, scuffed and dinged. Fish will flop on the deck (hopefully) and the anchor will bang on the sides. Finish it to your satisfaction, but don't go overboard (no pun intended) with trying to give it a perfect finish. You are your own worst critic.
Now, it's time for the christening and the launch.
Thanks for stopping by. Happy building.
Th' Th' Th' That's all folks.
Speaking of epoxy, this was the least enjoyable part of the project. It was messy, expensive, and just plain not fun. I was supposed to have gotten by on one gallon, but I blew through that rather quickly. I didn't waste a whole lot, so I'm not sure what I could have done differently. I expected more itch from the fiberglass cloth. It wasn't too bad to work with, but the cloth unraveled along the edges a bit too easily for my liking. I never quite got the hang of the poor man's ply trick, where you lay plastic sheeting on the wet fiberglass to eliminate the need for most of the sanding. I tried various materials for filleting, from sifted sawdust to a commercial product from West Marine called microballons. Both left a decent surface for fiberglassing, especially since I brushed on some additional epoxy resin prior to laying down the fiberglass cloth. I used a talc epoxy mixture for my fairing compound. It was cheap and sanded very easily and did a nice job of covering most of my sins.
The project took a lot longer than the two or three weekends that some builders have claimed. I started in mid-May and finished in early August. Part of the problem was that after an hour of applying epoxy, I was done for the day, as I waited for it to cure. To further slow me down, I took off about three weeks in July, one to work with a friend vinyl siding my house and a couple more, because of a family vacation trip to Northern Michigan. When I returned, I did some final sanding, applied two coats of Kilz Premium Primer, and three coats of Benjamin Moore House and Trim paint. I can see that I am going to have to repaint the bottom often. Nothing wants to stick to the epoxy on the boat's bottom, even though I sanded to 100 grit to give the surface some "tooth". Every time I roll her over or drag her across the grass, bare spots occur. And I haven't even launched her yet
The best advice I received via a blog and something I want to pass on to all the woodworkers out there building their first boat is that you are building a boat, not a piece of furniture. It doesn't have to be perfect, only water tight. It will get used, abused, scuffed and dinged. Fish will flop on the deck (hopefully) and the anchor will bang on the sides. Finish it to your satisfaction, but don't go overboard (no pun intended) with trying to give it a perfect finish. You are your own worst critic.
Now, it's time for the christening and the launch.
Thanks for stopping by. Happy building.
Th' Th' Th' That's all folks.