Goat Island Skiff Plan - simple building and very fast

Q&A – Painting and Varnishing Epoxy

Paint vs Varnish Paint is more durable and will protect the epoxy and timber the best. Varnish hides a rough surface better.  If you have done a rough job the timber grain will hide it.  Make sure the varnish contains ultra-violet filters.  It is a photo from the Goat Island Skiff Calendar put together by [...]
December 5, 2007 0

Q&A – Reducing labor and waste when using epoxy

There are a number of labour and materials saving techniques that are applicable when using epoxy. Contents of this section Wet-on-Wet Coating and Dewaxing Cured Epoxy. Building strong lightweight boats – a note on the use of epoxy One Hit coating and gluing Wet-on-Wet Coating and Dewaxing Cured Epoxy. As epoxy cures some of the [...]
December 1, 2007 0

Q&A – Saving time by precoating plywood sheets with epoxy.

If ply sheets are precoated it saves lots of time. It is easier to coat areas on the flat Gravity works with you to keep the coated surface level so there can be no runs. It is easier to get an even distribution of epoxy on the surface There is much less chance of missing [...]
December 1, 2007 0

Q&A – Fibreglassing method 3 – Method for large areas

Fiberglassing larger areas is done differently from small. Large areas require that the glass be draped dry over the surface then the epoxy is applied over the glass and worked through the surface. The example here is glassing a centreboard but the principle is the same for much bigger areas like the bottoms, sides and [...]
December 1, 2007 0

Q&A – Fibreglassing method 2 – Double bias tape for curved surfaces

Where a seam has to be glassed and it is difficult to make the glass sit flat because of a complex curve then a double bias tape is used. It is also useful for complex 3D curves like the tips of centreboards and rudders. Commercial double bias tapes can be bought but you can make [...]
December 1, 2007 1

Q&A – Fibreglassing method 1 – small areas

This is the normal method for fibreglassing small areas – typically using fibreglass tape to hull seams. Here I document the process of coating the hull and glasstaping the chines in one hit. Integration of different steps in this way is one of the major efficiencies of modern epoxy boatbuilding. However if simply glass taping [...]
December 1, 2007 0

Q&A – Are 1 to 1 (1:1) epoxy mixes OK for boatbuilding?

Most quality boatbuilding epoxy manufacturers have a structural boatbuilding product. They normally are “high solids” boatbuilding epoxies that have uneven resin to hardener ratios (2:1, 3:1, 4:1 or 5:1) which you have to add powder to make a glue or filleting mix The same companies often produce pregelled products that are mixed in a 1:1 [...]
November 30, 2007 0

Q&A Are Screws and Fasteners Required in Epoxy/Wood construction?

One of the great leaps forward available to us when using epoxy is being able to eliminate fastenings (screws,nails, bolts etc) from the structure. Many builders now only use fasteners to temporarily hold things together while the glue sets up.The temporary fasteners are removed and can be re-used many times. Eliminating fastenings also speeds up [...]
November 30, 2007 2

Q&A – Fast boat repairs with no fasteners.

Hole in Boat and More Fasteners in traditional construction are the ONLY way to go – whether metal or trunnel. But once moving over to glued construction there are certain advantages in eliminating the fasteners as far as possible. We’ve made a bit of a career of it over the last 20 years or so [...]
November 28, 2007 1

Q&A Teak Decks and Sikaflex

There are two tricks to sikaflexing between strips. Use the Sika Primer – it improves the bond strength to the timber for a permanent job. You can get away without it often, but it changes the situation from a fairly strong bond to a hugely strong bond (you’ll know this if you have ever removed [...]
November 28, 2007 0

Q&A Epoxy Preservatives that “Soak into” the wood. CPES, Everdure

  “Soaking” Epoxies – not so good Generally the thinners based products were a precursor to the full high solids epoxy catastrophe (and I mean that in the most positive sense). The most common in Oz is the dear old Epicraft Everdure which we all used to seal the insides and underdecks and often under [...]
November 28, 2007 0

Q&A Preventing Rot – The Good, the Bad and the Fugly

This was as a response to the idea that one should chuck a handful of salt into interior areas of a boat to prevent rot. Not a good idea. The problem is that salt sucks moisture. So it will remain almost perpetually moist. Then on a warm day the moisture will evaporate. At night the [...]
November 28, 2007 0

Q&A Epoxy Resin vs Polyester Resin for Wood

Should one fibreglass using epoxy or polyester resin over wood.  In this case it was to join the plywood panels of a stitch and glue boat. First, Woven fabric will give a smoother finish than chopped strand matt and is much stronger for the same weight.  It also requires less filling of the weave to [...]
November 28, 2007 0

Q&A Epoxy vs Resorcinol Glues

This was in reference to a deck repair – what glue to use to apply teak planking to a plywood substrate. It makes general comparisons between the glues Epoxy is gap filling – so if there are gaps between the ply and the deck substructure the epoxy will have no problems. With a deck done [...]
November 28, 2007 0

Lug rig alternative for OzRacer and PDRacers.

I have just finished additional drawings for a lug rig version of the OZ PDRacer. Properly designed and engineered spars and sail. I would like to think I am something of an expert on lug rigs ritted to small boats. I have sailed countless hours with such rigs including weekly club races against conventional boats [...]
October 22, 2007 0

Duck Flat Spring School 2007

The Spring School is underway. About 15 people, around 10 projects. A couple of days ago it was just a big empty space. Now there are boats sprouting everywhere. Storer boats, Oughtred boats, Redmond boats, Bear Mountain boats You can see my pics on Flickr – about 600 of a whole bunch of different details [...]
October 5, 2007 0