2003/06/17 [ 8 hrs ]: Completed batten installation on the inner hull side.
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| Fig 11: Shows what's left to do. The Kwik clamps that you can see are being used to deform one of the battens into the correct hull curve. |
2003/06/18 [ 8 hrs ]: All battens are now installed. For any other F-41 builders out there, I'd strongly recommend that you cut the forms taking into account the extra width of the battens as Ian suggests. I probably spent an extra 8 hours just cutting out notches for the battens. Also, having a second person to hold the battens in place would definitely help speed things up. The 1x2 battens I was using were only 8' long - get longer ones if you can ( I only had access to 8' lenghts ).
All the battens attached to forms 1-3 were fixed from behind. This should allow for removal of those forms before the inner hull half is removed so the hull half can just 'roll' off - at least that's the plan.
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| Fig 13: A close up of the bridgedeck forms . |
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| Fig 14: Some of the butt joints used to connect the battens. Due to the short 8' lengths of the battens, each run required between 5-6 butt joints. As you can see, I tried to alternate them so they weren't all in a straight line. |
2003/06/19 [ 1 hr ]: Trimmed the aft and stern batten ends to the correct lengths. Started sweeping/vacuuming all the MDF shavings/dust up before I start laying the foam.
2003/06/20 [ 3 hrs ]: Spent the whole time sweeping and vacuuming the entire shed. It's clean again and ready for epoxying...
2003/06/21 [ 5 hrs ]: I finally got round to mixing my first ever batch of epoxy - something I've been avoiding for 8 months. I first had to start by attaching hand pumps to the 55 gallon resin drum and to the 5 gallon hardener pail. I really lucked out here since the hand pumps I had brought were able to fit both the 2" thread on the 55 gallon drum and it also had an adapter to fit the 'FlexSpout' connection on the 5 gallon hardener pail ( I didn't realize until I tried installing the pump on the 5 gallon pail that it even had something called a 'FlexSpout' - I thought it had the same connector as the 55 gallon drum ).
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| Fig 15: My 'epoxy station' setup. The East Systems epoxy is mixed at a 5:1 ratio. The white pails contain the different fillers ( currently 3M Bubbles, Cabosil and cotton fiber ). |
So, after reading all the 'horror stories' about using epoxy, I decided to mix up my first batch. Somehow I ended up squirting hardener over a few items and my hands ( I was wearing latex gloves, goggles and an organic respirator ). I also thought I'd try mixing in some 3MBubbles as well. This is how it turned out - not that bad for my first attempt - although when it 'kicked', it started to steam, so I _quickly_ took it outside :)
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| Fig 16: My first epoxy attempt. |
Put in the first two vertical foam strips. The epoxy batch I mixed up had only 3MBubbles in it. It was a little to liquid - I should of added some cabosil to it to give it a more antisag property. But in the end, the epoxy gelled and the front looks good. The backside of the join is a different story. Looks like I'll be doing quite a bit of sanding on this first join once the hull half comes off. My next join shold be alot better - and faster to setup and complete.
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2003/06/22 [ 3 hrs ]: Setup the next two foam strips to epoxy ( Fig. 17 ). I'm able to bend the Corecell into the curves with the help of the clamps. Once clamped in, I go over the foam with a heat gun to help keep the foam deformed to the correct shape. Seems to work well - I haven't had any foam snap on me let. Although, for some of the tighter curves in the bow, I expect I'll have to heat the foam as I bend it into the curve. I'm currently using 8'x8" foam strips. Put another 30'x50' tarp on the shed roof with help from Frank.
2003/06/24 [ 1 hr ]: Put another foam strip on. I'm still trying to determine the best epoxy mix before I start putting multiple strips on at once. For todays batch of epoxy I added some cabosil - though I think I made it a little too thick - but the cabosil did seem to help. Hopefully I'll get the right mix tomorrow. We're currently in a heat wave with daily temperatures in the mid 30's, with the shed temperature going up into the low 40s so I can only do epoxy work from about 6am-9am before it starts getting too hot in the shed.
2003/06/28 - 2003/06/29: HAM Radio's Field Day 2003!. I had to spend the last few days finishing up building the 160m, SSB, and KAT2 modules for my Elecraft K2 HF Transceiver as well as getting all the needed supplies together for the club's Field Day location. When I volunteered to be Field Day Chair for the local HAM club, I thought I'd have these finished by now, plus I wasn't single at the time, so I thought I'd have some extra help. Anyways, it was alot of fun and it was a nice break from the boat.
2003/07/09 [3½ hrs]: Work and weather have not been very cooperative up until today. I was finally able to get back into the shed and put on 2 more strips. Also did a bunch of prep work for putting on more strips - drilling holes through the battens, covering with tape ( for some reason I had done it in the opposite order which ended up requiring me to remove a bunch of tape I had applied ). Also cut up a bunch of ply strips and covered them with tape.
2003/07/10 [3½ hrs]: 6 strips applied - 7ft done so far. Was going to do more, but it started to rain - and the only leak I have in the shed is right above the area I'm working. And I won't be able to fix that till the 20th. Now that I'm getting the hang of it, it's taking about 45 mins to apply 2 strips at a time. Taking into account the initial prep work for each strip, it's averaging about 30 mins per strip. You could halve that time if two people were working together on it.
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2003/07/12 [ 7 hrs ]: 8 strips applied. About 1.5 hrs was spent drilling holes through battens and then taping them up. Also cut up and taped a bunch more ply strips.
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| Fig 19: 12ft of foam stripping done so far. |
2003/07/13 [ 5 hrs ]: 4 strips applied. Reassembled the vacuum table - I really need to get started on the bulkheads so they'll be ready once the outer hull half is done. I still need to design the plumbing for it. More drilling and taping of battens. At this point it's an advantage to be 6'3" tall as I can just reach the top of the foam from the front without having to run around to the back and use a ladder to attach the ply strips along the keel - however, I still haven't figured out how to attach the foam in the bow section yet without hanging from the roof :)
2003/07/14 [ 3 hrs ]: 4 strips applied. Argh! The plastic packing nut on the hand pump on the resin drum snapped in two just as I was mixing the second batch of epoxy. I guess the resin is just too viscous for the the pump to handle. Went out and brought a new larger ( and much more expensive ) rotary barrel pump. The hand pump does work great with the hardener since it's much less viscous ( plus it's the only pump I've found that supports the flexispout opening on the hardener pail ). Setup and heat formed 4 more strips for tomorrow.
2003/07/15 [3½ hrs]: Removed the old hand piston pump and installed the new heavy duty rotary pump - a messy job - but the rotary pump works really well. 4 strips applied. Traced and cut out the transom boarding deck - this will be the first part I try vacuum bagging. This time I used a jigsaw - _much_ easier than the knife and spinsaw I tried with the forward bulkhead. I'm not sure why I didn't try it initially - inexperience I guess.
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2003/07/16 [4½ hrs]: 6 more strips done. Yesterday I thought I'd try mixing and applying the epoxy without wearing a resprirator - I ended up with a sore throat. I think I'll continue to wear it from now on. However, I did forget to open up the shed vents and put the fans on, so maybe if I had done that the fumes wouldn't have been as bad. I'll probably try again next week.
Snapped my first foam strip as well today. I was trying to bend a 5" wide strip into the keel bend around form 6 when it happened. The bend is much more pronouced in the bow area, so I now have to heat the foam as I push it into the bend. Picked up up some plumbing ( ½" tubing, connectors ) for the vacuum system. It's going to take me a couple of days to play with it and get it all together, but when done, I'll write up a separate page about how I've done it.
2003/07/17 [ 2 hrs ]: Mostly prep work today. Drilled several hundred holes in the battens between forms 3 and 6. Heat formed 4 strips into the correct shape in the aft section. Removed a bunch of ply support strips from the front. I really need to get this hull half completed in the next 2 weeks if I want to get the starboard hull shell done before winter ( which for this part of Canada is around mid October when temperatures start going below 0 ).
2003/07/18 [ 3 hrs ]: 4 strips done. All the foam from form 6 to the aft is done!
2003/07/19 [ 8 hrs ]: 2 hrs+ spent drilling and taping up the last of the battens in the bow section. Discovered two of the battens along the keel area between forms 1 and 3 weren't attached from behind, so had to redo those. All battens are now ready for foam. Installed one large 4'x8' sheet of foam in the bow. Installed half length strips near the forward bridgedeck area as the bend is to severe for full length strips.
2003/07/20 [ --- ]: Parents up for the day - no construction done.
2003/07/21 [ 2 hrs ]: Heat formed 6 strips. 2 strips installed. There is now a continuous strip of foam from the bow to the aft :) Some A1200 Core-Cell I ordered a while ago to be used for the high density inserts in the hull won't be here for another couple of weeks. Apperently ATC Chem ( the makers of Core-Cell ) have been brought out so orders have been delayed for a bit :( I'm not sure if I'll be able to add a HD insert along the keel in time for this inner hull half as I had planned. I'll use some 3/4" marine ply I have for the other two HD inserts that are required for this hull half - not my original plan, but I can't delay removing the hull half any longer.
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2003/07/22 [ 3 hrs ]: Had some problems this morning with the epoxy kicking as I was still using it - luckily I was almost done, but it hasn't done that before. The temperature wasn't any warmer than normal, so I don't know why it happened.
2003/07/23 [ 3 hrs ]: Snapped three pieces of foam today as I tried to bend them into the keel. For these pieces, I now heat both sides of the foam with the heat gun and then push it into the bend while still heating one side with the heat gun. 4 strips done.
2003/07/24 [ 4 hrs ]: Would have liked to spend the entire day out in the shed today - the temperature was a perfect 20C all day - but I've got a deadline coming up at work. Epoxied a bunch of strips - should all be done by end of the weekend. Started trimming the foam along the keel line. Removed alot of the ply strips from the front - discovered two that I had screwed in backwards ( i.e. the tape was on the wrong side ). I had to rip them off with each taking a chunk of foam with them. At least I now know that the epoxy is definetly stronger than the foam :)
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| Fig 22: The chunk of missing foam caused when I had to rip one of the ply strips off the front since I had screwed it in backwards. A bit of epoxy will fix that right up. |
2003/07/25 [ 2 hrs ]: Put the final foam stips in along the keel section at the bow. However, as I was trying to push the small foam pieces into the bend with the heat gun, I accidently touched my face onto the end of the heat gun - I now have a large burn on my cheek. Brought a RYOBI 5" random orbital sander from Home Depot. Tried it out - totally useless.
2003/07/26 [ 8 hrs ]: Returned the sander and after talking to the tool guy, exchanged it for a Bosch model - it's _much_ better - it's well balanced and just glides across the epoxy/foam joins and does a great job. Recommended. Started sanding the aft end join lines. Worked on the forward bridgedeck join - a section I've been avoiding due to it's shape. I have to cut and trim each foam piece to shape since the foam has to bend in 2 directions at once and requires careful fitting. Even after that, it'll require more fairing than any other area. Epoxied the first 3 strips in this area - it was as difficult as I expected - especially since there's no battens that I can use to attach the foam to - and the MDF forms don't hold screws that well. Heat formed a bunch of strips along the bow deck. Traced and cut out both transoms. Used that to properly position the Ttransom Boarding Deck to determine where to trim the foam along the aft ( right pic in Fig. 23 ). The burn I got yesterday has cracked and started to bleed a bit - I think I'll avoid going out in public for the next week or so :)
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| Fig 23: Fitting in the foam in the forward bridgedeck join. Time consuming... |
2003/07/27 [ 3 hrs ]: Mainly working on the vacuum bagging system. Spent over an hour at Home Depot picking out piping connectors and putting together a suitable epoxy trap. Realized finally that if I used a 3/8" to 1/2" adapter on the vacuum pump, I could use mostly 1/2" components instead of the miss mash of 3/8" and 1/2" parts I had been planning on.
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