Saturday, February 03, 2007

Glueing on the Stem and Skeg Doublers



It was still too cold to do epoxy work out in the garage this morning, so in order to keep things moving I brought the stems and skegs inside. I wanted to get started glueing on the 6mm doublers that go on each side, so I put them on some card tables covered with plastic sheeting to keep from glueing them to the work surface and used temporary drywall screws to assemble the parts. I use a lot of these drywall screws in my boatbuilding, as they are easy to shoot in with a power driver, requiring no pilot hole, and they are just as easy to remove once the epoxy cures by reversing the driver. The holes they leave are not an issue as these surfaces will be epoxy coated and glassed (on the outside parts) and the holes are easily filled with thickened epoxy. It's faster than clamping and is especially useful for glueing parts that have to be kept flat or straight until the glue sets, as you can simply use long enough screws to go right into the work bench - providing of course you don't forget the plastic sheeting between the part and the work surface, and that you don't do this when using your girlfriend's card tables! In this case I used short, 3/4" screws that were just long enough to hold the parts to the main 18mm plywood stems and skegs. These will be cured overnight, then I can flip them over tomorrow and glue the remaining doublers on the other side. This operation only took about a half hour to set up and complete. I spent several more hours out in the garage and finished cutting out all the bulkheads. I have more photos from that job that I will post in the morning.

2 comments:

tsunamichaser said...

I love it! Boat parts everywhere. Does your girlfriend help you out? I have boat related stuff everywhere in my house. I too have been assembling things in the mudroom. My wife built a pygmy kayak in our living room a about eight years ago; I coached her from the comfort of a couch so I know she's ok with it!

Scott B. Williams said...

Yeah, it's great. She's definately okay with parts being manufactured in the house, epoxy stored in the office where it's warm, no place to park in the garage, kayaks hanging from the ceiling.... And, yes, she will help out if needed, on those steps that require an extra set of hands. Too bad I don't have room to build the hulls here too. Well, there is a wall that could be knocked out....