More planks fitted on #6

Tonight I spent a bit more than an hour in the workshop, fitting planks. Next session I'll fill in the 'opening' with planks. Then the gunwhale and glue the whole stuff together. If I am a really good boy, the hull can be glued this weekend or during the next week.

Inside of panel #5 glassed.

Last night Frode, Omar and I glassed the inside of panel #5. Quite an enjoyable and efficient evening. Done in two hours with Frode and me laminating and Omar mixing epoxy batches. 550grams of epoxy used, and then we squeeged off some so not the full weight. Will be interesting to weight this panel as we have not used the pre-coat technique on these.

Now, on for panel #6. The big one before we can flip the stations over! I have already put some planks in place, so it is just a matter of continuing. Overtime work have taken much time lately, and I have a cold that drains my energy, but much of the planking on #6 should be done during the weekend.

A co-worker and I have begun chatting about building a plane. A replica of a WW2 Mosquito would be fun ;)

Some light sanding and planking.

Last night I sanded some fairing done inside panel #5. We had filled some gaps and knotholes with epoxy mixed with microballoons. It is the first time I have sanded microballoons, and that was a relatively pleasant experience. Sands really easily.

I also planked a bit more on panel #6. Hopefully I can glass the inside of #5 tonight, if I dont have to work more overtime..

A quiet weekend

This weekend was reserved for the family, in a cabin far, far away :-)

Sunday evening Frode came over, we planed down the gunwhale and filled a few gaps where I did not use the plane sparingly enough while planking. We also re-taped the mould and I got to fit six planks before I called it a night. Nice to have started on panel #6. Last one before we flip the stations over.

By popular request.. the mould.

Here is a quick pic of the mould. Many are wondering what the mould looks like, so here is a pic showing the whole thing.

Done sanding the inside of panel #5

After some breakages I am finally done sanding the inside of panel #5. Sanding wood instead of epoxy is just SO much faster! The angle grinder with the cleaning pad was a real timesaver.

In the last two nights the attrition rate have been rather high. The drill used to sand the inside with a foam pad bust a bearing. This is a cheap chineese drill, so I dont worry about it. It is still under warranty as well, so.. I also bust two of the foam pads I use when sanding with the drill. Things delaminated while sanding :-( Time to find a stronger or more flexible glue I guess.

Tomorrow night I'll plane the gunwhales to shape and post some photos.

done glassing panel #5 on the outside.

Practice makes perfect. Frode, Omar and me working together put on the glass on panel #5 in two hours. Will have to pop down later tonight for a quality check, but it went on easily and looked well. I did not have time to apply the pre-coat this time, so we used 100grams more epoxy than we usually do.
We also had time to do a movie pop-quiz while glassing. Great fun, but Frode is scary with his selection of movies at times. "Nobody puts baby in a corner".. Seriously!

Friday I plan to pop the panel off the mould and start sanding the inside for glassing. Hopefully we will manage to glass the inside during the coming weekend.

Done sanding panel#5

Last night I went over panels #5 with the longboard, and the panel is now ready for glassing. Hopefully that will happen tonight, if Frode or Omar comes to assist. Aim to do this fast so I can do the quality control before I go to bed.

I skipped making a blog entry the other night after I was down working over the hull panel with the belt sander and the sanding disc. Funny how that works, much more fun to enter a blog entry after each session.
For panel #6, I will enter the working hours with each blog message. Phill Brander asked me how l many hours each panel takes and I could not give an exact answer. The best I could do was a guesstimate, so now it is time to record working hours. I will not multiply working hours with an hourly wage and get the cost though!

Belt sander is too slow, enter the angle grinder!!

After reading some tips on Bjørn Thomassons (master strip plank builder and kayak+canoe designer) website, I tried a new metod for grinding off epoxy last night. With a coarse cleaning disc in the angle grinder, it was very easy to remove any epoxy from the hull panel. They moving on to the belt sander and the sanding pad in the drill. Without having to sand off the epoxy with the beltsander, it was much quicker sanding the hull. I also used far less sandpaper!
One needs to be really careful with the angle grinder though. 100% concentration all the time!

Tomorrow night I hope to get time to use the longboard a bit on panel #5. Otherwise, it is ready for glassing on the outside. One learns all the time..

Belt sander back in action..

Frode and I visited the shop where we bought the belt sander last night. We got a new one after some light arguing where the clerk wanted the original box and a bag for the dust. In the end, she accepted that she could just take what she needed to return the sander from the new box. Her alternative would be to have the sander fixed, so she choose a strange position to be obnoxious.
Before we left, we got 108,- norwegian kroner from her, since the sander now had dropped in price?? We did not understand it, but choose to not argue, accept the money and the new sander, and leave the shop.

When it rains, it pours..

First the skil saw, and tonight the beltsander overheated or burnt out. I dont know which, but at least it dont run when I press the button anymore. funny how you dont notice things like smoke coming from the sander when you wear goggles and a respirator..
Anyway, panel #5 is now sanded 50%, and I can do the rest with the disc sander. We definately need to get the beltsander back to life though. Great tool!