Thursday, March 27, 2014

Interior Work

I finally separated the halves and removed the strongback.

This was much more difficult than necessary. The stern area lifted out fairly easily, but of course, some glue found a way to cement the bow together. Afraid to use too much force, I decided on the spot never to use an internal strongback again, and sawed the bugger in two. It still seemed to weigh a ton.
The culprit. I wiggled, juggled, and went at it with large drill bits, until it came free.
The OI was built with wooden internal stems. I think they are a good idea, giving you something to glue the strips to. Here, I had to use a significant fillet of epoxy & microbaloons. I also used Fairing Filler on some of the gaps & low spots. 
Again, I found it easier to 'glass the bow & stern separately.

After glassing the rest of the interior, I used these spreader sticks, as per the instructions. They're are supposed to prevent the hull from shrinking when the epoxy shrinks. I hope it works,

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Completing The Deck

The Obligatory Whiskey Plank Photo:
Somehow, its getting easier to do these. As usual, I had a lot of slightly-offset strips, but the difference in height between the foredeck and afterdeck is less than on the OI, so no dangerously-thin areas.
With the height of the table, and the length of the 'yak, its hard to get a picture of the whole thing. Lots of fairing to do.