Although I just posted the information on the fabrication of the rear flotation tanks today (December 19, 2008), this work was actually completed during the first and second week of July.
Ok, Ok, I hear you now, "Well what the heck have you been doing since then!!!????"
So since that time we went ahead and installed the tanks into the boat. I'll post some pictures and additional explanation of that process shortly.
After the tanks were installed we decided it was finally time to deal with the seats. So I cut those both out and we have completely rebuilt them. Again, I'll post additional explanation and pictures shortly.
With the seats out I had a little bit more room to work, so we went ahead and finished up the final strengthening of the centerboard trunk area. I also put the finishing touches on the forward air tank in preparation for painting. We wanted to paint it while we were painting the seats.
After we got the seats rebuilt we then set up and painted them. I'll detail that process for you in the time before Christmas and New Years. So that just about brings things up to date. We pushed really hard to get the seats painted before the weather got too cold to paint. Yes, even in Atlanta there is winter!
Stay tuned for additional updates and pictures.
James
Friday, December 19, 2008
It's Fiberglass Time
Now that we've finished our molds for the flotation tanks, I'd like to take a minute and talk about the finishing process we went through. It's very important the inside face of the mold be as defect free as possible. The gel coat will cover this surface and it will show every nick, scratch, and bump. You want the gel coat to come out of the mold as smooth as possible to minimize the amount of sanding. Also, don't skimp on the wax when coating the mold. We used Meguir's mold release wax. It goes on easily, dries quickly, and buffs out without a lot of effort. After the wax dried we sprayed on about three or four coats of Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA). This is another mold release compound. Hopefully between the wax and the PVA you won't end up with a fiberglass structure stuck to the mold.
Finally, with all the prep work done, we're ready to start laying some glass and resin. The first part of this process involves putting on the gel coat. We used laminating gel coat so we wouldn't have to worry about adhesion problems between the coats. Since I had never worked with gel coat before it took a little time for me to understand that you get no points for neatness in this operation. The object is to get the gel coat on as fast as possible and make sure you have a good heavy coat. You want to be especially careful to make sure that you have a nice thick coat in the corners and on the flanges. These two areas are the most prone to being thin which could result in a problem when wet sanding the finished product. If you sand through the gel coat you'll have to touch it up and that leads to more sanding! And possibly more touch up...and more sanding...and well, you get the idea. After two coats of gel coat we were happy with how it looked and were ready to start fiberglassing.
Since this is July in Atlanta its hot; which means that the resin is going to set up faster than you realize. You may need to adjust the amount of hardener you're using to give you enough working time to get the glass down in an orderly fashion. We found this out the hard way with the first batch of resin. By the time Bruce got it mixed, handed it to me, and I started to wet the mold, the whole thing gelled up in the cup. So we dumped that out and mixed a new batch with less hardener. The other issue we had was that we had not pre cut the glass pieces we needed for the lay up. This was a major problem because it meant that we were scrambling to cut glass while mixing resin at the same time. This did not go well. We had a number of problems getting all that done at the same time and getting the material down on the mold in a timely fashion. The resin started to harden up on us and we ended up just stopping and letting everything solidify. We then came back, ground some areas off, and then built up another layer. The moral of this story is cut all your pieces first and have them laid out and ready to go. It will make the process a lot easier.
So, as you would expect, we did much better on the second one than on the first. I precut all the glass pieces and was able to lay the glass up in a more orderly fashion. I also did a better job getting the gel coat on - again, no points here for neatness, just get it on in a heavy coat. The net result of this experience was that the second tank was about a full pound lighter than the first one. And of course it looked better as well - even if no one will ever see the inside of it!
Finally, with all the prep work done, we're ready to start laying some glass and resin. The first part of this process involves putting on the gel coat. We used laminating gel coat so we wouldn't have to worry about adhesion problems between the coats. Since I had never worked with gel coat before it took a little time for me to understand that you get no points for neatness in this operation. The object is to get the gel coat on as fast as possible and make sure you have a good heavy coat. You want to be especially careful to make sure that you have a nice thick coat in the corners and on the flanges. These two areas are the most prone to being thin which could result in a problem when wet sanding the finished product. If you sand through the gel coat you'll have to touch it up and that leads to more sanding! And possibly more touch up...and more sanding...and well, you get the idea. After two coats of gel coat we were happy with how it looked and were ready to start fiberglassing.
Since this is July in Atlanta its hot; which means that the resin is going to set up faster than you realize. You may need to adjust the amount of hardener you're using to give you enough working time to get the glass down in an orderly fashion. We found this out the hard way with the first batch of resin. By the time Bruce got it mixed, handed it to me, and I started to wet the mold, the whole thing gelled up in the cup. So we dumped that out and mixed a new batch with less hardener. The other issue we had was that we had not pre cut the glass pieces we needed for the lay up. This was a major problem because it meant that we were scrambling to cut glass while mixing resin at the same time. This did not go well. We had a number of problems getting all that done at the same time and getting the material down on the mold in a timely fashion. The resin started to harden up on us and we ended up just stopping and letting everything solidify. We then came back, ground some areas off, and then built up another layer. The moral of this story is cut all your pieces first and have them laid out and ready to go. It will make the process a lot easier.
So, as you would expect, we did much better on the second one than on the first. I precut all the glass pieces and was able to lay the glass up in a more orderly fashion. I also did a better job getting the gel coat on - again, no points here for neatness, just get it on in a heavy coat. The net result of this experience was that the second tank was about a full pound lighter than the first one. And of course it looked better as well - even if no one will ever see the inside of it!
Two Lefts Don't Make a Right
By now you've read my post dealing with the construction of the molds for the rear air flotation tanks. I'm sure you were impressed with how smoothly and easily it went. Well I must confess that I left a 'small' part out of the story. This is that missing part of the story.
OK, so our intrepid molders are busily putting the pieces of the first mold together. Things are going well. We've got this down to a science. We complete the first mold and I take the patterns for the second mold and trace out the pieces and cut them out. So far so good. At this point we get a visit from my sons and my brother in law. There are lots of questions about what we're doing, how's it going, how far have we gotten, etc. The purpose of this visit is to have me finish up for the evening so we can go to dinner. So Bruce and I are answering the various questions while trying to hurry up and get the starboard mold put together. We slap some glue on it, drive in a couple of nails to hold everything and leave it for tomorrow.
So the next day, after I get home from work, Bruce informs me that we have made a small mistake......It seems that in our haste to get the second mold assembled, I managed to put it together backwards. So instead of having one port and one starboard mold, we had two port molds! I hadn't paid attention to the proper orientation and had glued it together "inside out".
How do you spell frustration! Well I knew there was a reason I had brought that whole 4'x8' sheet of MDF up to work with. So I went back to work and cut out a new set of pieces and we put them together in the correct orientation.
A word to the wise - don't be in a hurry when you are assembling the molds. Make sure you have the orientation correct before you glue and screw everything together. It will save a lot of headache if you do.
OK, so our intrepid molders are busily putting the pieces of the first mold together. Things are going well. We've got this down to a science. We complete the first mold and I take the patterns for the second mold and trace out the pieces and cut them out. So far so good. At this point we get a visit from my sons and my brother in law. There are lots of questions about what we're doing, how's it going, how far have we gotten, etc. The purpose of this visit is to have me finish up for the evening so we can go to dinner. So Bruce and I are answering the various questions while trying to hurry up and get the starboard mold put together. We slap some glue on it, drive in a couple of nails to hold everything and leave it for tomorrow.
So the next day, after I get home from work, Bruce informs me that we have made a small mistake......It seems that in our haste to get the second mold assembled, I managed to put it together backwards. So instead of having one port and one starboard mold, we had two port molds! I hadn't paid attention to the proper orientation and had glued it together "inside out".
How do you spell frustration! Well I knew there was a reason I had brought that whole 4'x8' sheet of MDF up to work with. So I went back to work and cut out a new set of pieces and we put them together in the correct orientation.
A word to the wise - don't be in a hurry when you are assembling the molds. Make sure you have the orientation correct before you glue and screw everything together. It will save a lot of headache if you do.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Phase 4 - Interior Fiberglass Work - Rear Flotation Tanks
Ok, I know we all love grinding, sanding, scraping, and stripping paint. But let's face it - there are tasks in this project that are supposed to be more fun. One of the primary reasons I bought this boat was to learn how to work with fiberglass. So it's time to learn dang it!
During the week of 6/9/2008 we began to look at how to construct two new rear flotation tanks for the boat. These would replace the previous installed flotation; a block of Styrofoam wrapped with part of an old sail. While this previous method was certainly functional and met the requirements of the class rules, it lacked the style, grace, and elegance that I'm looking for. *Grin*
So we spent some time measuring the rear flotation tanks on my wife's boat and then brought those dimensions back to see how it laid out on my boat. We then constructed a paper template of the tank to test the layout and fit. Once we were satisfied with that, we transferred the template to cardboard and checked that fit as well. As part of this process we realized a slight difference in how the D&M and Clark manufacturers constructed the stern of the thistle. On my wife's boat (D&M), the wood piece the traveler attaches to does not come down below the level of the rear grate. On my boat (Clark), that piece of wood comes down further, two to three inches below the level of the rear grate. So my air tanks will be flatter as a result since I don't want to attach the fiberglass air tank to the wood. Even with that slight difference I will still have the required volume in each tank.
Once we were happy with the fit of the cardboard mock-up, we then transferred those shapes to some 1/2" MDF that I had. I used a jigsaw to cut those shapes out and then cleaned them up on the band saw. We then used wood glue and a combination of screws and finish nails to put them together. We then added support pieces to the edge of the molds to form the flange that will be needed to provide the attachment point to the boat. So now we have a mold that when fiberglass is laid in on the inside will produce a perfectly sized flotation tank, complete with attachment flange. However, we're still not there yet. Although the MDF is very smooth, it is still not smooth enough so as to not show the MDF surface pattern when the gel coat is applied over it. To create a perfectly smooth surface on the inside of the mold for the gel coat to cover, we lined the mold with tile board. This product is available at your local home center and is used as an inexpensive shower surround finish (in place of ceramic tile). It's basically an 1/8th inch thick piece of fiberboard with a thin, hard, smooth finish. So, using our cardboard patterns, we marked and cut out the three pieces needed for the mold. We used 3M No. 77 spray adhesive to attach each piece to the inside of the mold. Now we have a smooth bearing surface for the gel coat. We're finished now, right? Wrong! Yes, we do have a very nice looking mold, but it has on 90 degree square corners. That's not very functional when trying to lay the cloth into the mold. We need nice rounded corners for the cloth to lie against, both for the inside corners as well as the outside corners where we transition to the flange.
On the first mold we made I was concerned that we wouldn't be able to use a router and round over bit to make a nice smooth curve because I was afraid that the tile board would fracture and splinter. So Bruce didn't argue with me (I wish he had!) and we attacked those edges with a rasp and file. What a mistake that was. I succeeded in making a nice rounded over edge but it just took too long. Then because it was so rough, we had to spend a lot of time applying wood filler and sanding to create the smooth transition we were looking for. On the second mold we used a router and 1/2" round over bit to route the outside corners and it worked very well. The tile board did not splinter and we ended up with a very smooth edge. We still had to do a little bit of hand shaping and filling since the router can't go all the way into the inside corners, but it was much simpler than on the other one.
So now our mold has nice rounded corners where it makes the transition from the vertical surface to the flange, but we still have the issue of how to deal with the inside corners. We discussed several different ways of doing this including using wood filler, drywall compound, or modeling clay. In the interest of time we decided to go with a fast drying, light weight, drywall crack filler. While in theory this was a good idea, the material was difficult to work with and was finicky about sticking to the very smooth tile board. We made it work but it was hard to get it as smooth as we wanted. We have since had a conversation with someone who does this sort of thing for a living and they use modeling clay for this purpose. The next time we do this that is what we'll use. It's soft enough to mold easily but hard enough to allow you to work it into the corners and smooth it out with either your fingers or simple tools.
After we got the corners and edges the way we wanted them, and everything was as smooth as we could get it, Bruce applied several coats of lacquer over all the exposed wood. We are now ready to wax the interior surfaces with Meguiars mold release wax. That's the final step before actually laying up the fiberglass and resin.
During the week of 6/9/2008 we began to look at how to construct two new rear flotation tanks for the boat. These would replace the previous installed flotation; a block of Styrofoam wrapped with part of an old sail. While this previous method was certainly functional and met the requirements of the class rules, it lacked the style, grace, and elegance that I'm looking for. *Grin*
So we spent some time measuring the rear flotation tanks on my wife's boat and then brought those dimensions back to see how it laid out on my boat. We then constructed a paper template of the tank to test the layout and fit. Once we were satisfied with that, we transferred the template to cardboard and checked that fit as well. As part of this process we realized a slight difference in how the D&M and Clark manufacturers constructed the stern of the thistle. On my wife's boat (D&M), the wood piece the traveler attaches to does not come down below the level of the rear grate. On my boat (Clark), that piece of wood comes down further, two to three inches below the level of the rear grate. So my air tanks will be flatter as a result since I don't want to attach the fiberglass air tank to the wood. Even with that slight difference I will still have the required volume in each tank.
Once we were happy with the fit of the cardboard mock-up, we then transferred those shapes to some 1/2" MDF that I had. I used a jigsaw to cut those shapes out and then cleaned them up on the band saw. We then used wood glue and a combination of screws and finish nails to put them together. We then added support pieces to the edge of the molds to form the flange that will be needed to provide the attachment point to the boat. So now we have a mold that when fiberglass is laid in on the inside will produce a perfectly sized flotation tank, complete with attachment flange. However, we're still not there yet. Although the MDF is very smooth, it is still not smooth enough so as to not show the MDF surface pattern when the gel coat is applied over it. To create a perfectly smooth surface on the inside of the mold for the gel coat to cover, we lined the mold with tile board. This product is available at your local home center and is used as an inexpensive shower surround finish (in place of ceramic tile). It's basically an 1/8th inch thick piece of fiberboard with a thin, hard, smooth finish. So, using our cardboard patterns, we marked and cut out the three pieces needed for the mold. We used 3M No. 77 spray adhesive to attach each piece to the inside of the mold. Now we have a smooth bearing surface for the gel coat. We're finished now, right? Wrong! Yes, we do have a very nice looking mold, but it has on 90 degree square corners. That's not very functional when trying to lay the cloth into the mold. We need nice rounded corners for the cloth to lie against, both for the inside corners as well as the outside corners where we transition to the flange.
 |
| Rear Air Tanks |
On the first mold we made I was concerned that we wouldn't be able to use a router and round over bit to make a nice smooth curve because I was afraid that the tile board would fracture and splinter. So Bruce didn't argue with me (I wish he had!) and we attacked those edges with a rasp and file. What a mistake that was. I succeeded in making a nice rounded over edge but it just took too long. Then because it was so rough, we had to spend a lot of time applying wood filler and sanding to create the smooth transition we were looking for. On the second mold we used a router and 1/2" round over bit to route the outside corners and it worked very well. The tile board did not splinter and we ended up with a very smooth edge. We still had to do a little bit of hand shaping and filling since the router can't go all the way into the inside corners, but it was much simpler than on the other one.
So now our mold has nice rounded corners where it makes the transition from the vertical surface to the flange, but we still have the issue of how to deal with the inside corners. We discussed several different ways of doing this including using wood filler, drywall compound, or modeling clay. In the interest of time we decided to go with a fast drying, light weight, drywall crack filler. While in theory this was a good idea, the material was difficult to work with and was finicky about sticking to the very smooth tile board. We made it work but it was hard to get it as smooth as we wanted. We have since had a conversation with someone who does this sort of thing for a living and they use modeling clay for this purpose. The next time we do this that is what we'll use. It's soft enough to mold easily but hard enough to allow you to work it into the corners and smooth it out with either your fingers or simple tools.
After we got the corners and edges the way we wanted them, and everything was as smooth as we could get it, Bruce applied several coats of lacquer over all the exposed wood. We are now ready to wax the interior surfaces with Meguiars mold release wax. That's the final step before actually laying up the fiberglass and resin.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Phase 3 - Chemical Warfare - Part II
This weekend was the beginning of final preparation to the inside of the hull. As you can see from previous posts, I have sanded off a lot of the interior paint and tested out a couple of different strippers for removal of the remaining finish. While doing this I exposed something like 4 or 5 separate coats of paint. It appears that the base coat is red (either that or they used red resin!), or I'm just seeing the first coat of gelcoat from the inside of the boat. I'm not at all sure that one of these coats of paint (the most recent) wasn't house paint! It appears to have been applied with a brush while the person doing the painting was under the influence! At least that's the way it looked to me.
Since my previous testing had indicated that the old standby stripper, methylene chloride, worked best (i.e. the quickest), I set to work with that product. I don't think brands here are very important. The key is to just get a product that has the highest concentration of methylene chloride you can find. Not many list this information on the label so you may have to consult the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for the product to find out the concentration. Don't just rely on marketing or descriptive terms on the can - things like Professional Grade, Premium, etc., can be misleading - get the MSDS and see exactly what you are getting for your money.
And a note about safety - make sure you follow the directions on the can you purchase - wear gloves, eye goggles, and clothing you don't care about. Also make sure to do this outside and keep any ignition sources away from you. Some strippers contain methanol as well as methylene chloride so flammability is an issue. You may also want to wear a full or half face respirator with Organic Vapor cartridges. I'm a chemical engineer by training so I pay attention to this stuff - its' important - you should pay attention to it too. No boat is worth injury or death. Take your time and be careful.
Strong recommendation: Have several good scrapers handy, small as well as large, and keep them sharp with a file. This task is going to wear you out and you want to get the maximum effect for your effort. Don't waste it fighting paint/epoxy filler with a dull scraper.
Here are some pictures of the progress I made over the two days of the weekend:
In several of the photos you will notice damage to sections of the glass. It appears to us that the two longitudinal stiffeners were added after the boat was constructed. We believe this to be true because in places the fiberglass covering the wood strips is not even stuck down. It didn't stick because the fiberglass was applied over paint. I have no idea why someone would do this. Because the glass was loose in several places, it was probably not really providing all that much stiffening. We will have to grind out these places and install new glass. In addition, several of the rounded stiffeners had holes in them. We'll have to patch these as well.
At this point Bruce thinks that I've got enough paint removed that we can move on to the fun stuff! Fiberglass fabrication and repair here we come!
I'm going to make a list of areas that need repairing and just tackle them one by one. Stay tuned.
Since my previous testing had indicated that the old standby stripper, methylene chloride, worked best (i.e. the quickest), I set to work with that product. I don't think brands here are very important. The key is to just get a product that has the highest concentration of methylene chloride you can find. Not many list this information on the label so you may have to consult the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for the product to find out the concentration. Don't just rely on marketing or descriptive terms on the can - things like Professional Grade, Premium, etc., can be misleading - get the MSDS and see exactly what you are getting for your money.
And a note about safety - make sure you follow the directions on the can you purchase - wear gloves, eye goggles, and clothing you don't care about. Also make sure to do this outside and keep any ignition sources away from you. Some strippers contain methanol as well as methylene chloride so flammability is an issue. You may also want to wear a full or half face respirator with Organic Vapor cartridges. I'm a chemical engineer by training so I pay attention to this stuff - its' important - you should pay attention to it too. No boat is worth injury or death. Take your time and be careful.
Strong recommendation: Have several good scrapers handy, small as well as large, and keep them sharp with a file. This task is going to wear you out and you want to get the maximum effect for your effort. Don't waste it fighting paint/epoxy filler with a dull scraper.
Here are some pictures of the progress I made over the two days of the weekend:
 |
| Chemical Warfare |
In several of the photos you will notice damage to sections of the glass. It appears to us that the two longitudinal stiffeners were added after the boat was constructed. We believe this to be true because in places the fiberglass covering the wood strips is not even stuck down. It didn't stick because the fiberglass was applied over paint. I have no idea why someone would do this. Because the glass was loose in several places, it was probably not really providing all that much stiffening. We will have to grind out these places and install new glass. In addition, several of the rounded stiffeners had holes in them. We'll have to patch these as well.
At this point Bruce thinks that I've got enough paint removed that we can move on to the fun stuff! Fiberglass fabrication and repair here we come!
I'm going to make a list of areas that need repairing and just tackle them one by one. Stay tuned.
Timeline
This will serve as a kind of time sheet for the effort associated with this project. I will edit this on an ongoing basis as I move through the process.
5/21/2008 - Date of Purchase
5/24/2008 - 3 hrs - remove hardware
5/25/2008 - 4 hrs - begin sanding interior paint
5/27/2008 - 1 hr - continue sanding interior paint
5/28/2008 - 1 hr - continue sanding interior paint
6/2/2008 - 1 hrs - begin chemical stripping of interior paint using West Marine Enviro-friendly paint (poor results, but I left it on too long and it dried out - even while covered with kraft paper - directions say to leave it on no more than 6 hrs - I left it 24 hrs due to time constraints)
6/3/2008 - 2 hr - apply another application of the West Marine product and let it sit for 2 hrs. Then test some methylene chloride based product as well.
6/7/2008 - 7 hrs - begin chemical stripping of interior paint with Methylene Chloride based stripper - this stuff works - used a power washer to assist with this task)
6/8/2008 - 4 hrs - continue chemical stripping of interior paint
6/9/2008 - 6/13/2008 - 5 hrs - I decided it was time to do something that was more fun than stripping paint. This week we started to design and construct the two new rear flotation tanks. Made paper forms, then transferred those to cardboard, then transferred those to MDF
6/14/2008 - 6/15/2008 - 12 hrs - Began to construct the wooden molds. Purchased the needed polyester resin, fiberglass cloth, fiberglass mat, and layering gel coat. See the detailed description of this task, and the pitfalls associated with it.
Week of 6/16/2008 - 3 hrs - Didn't have a lot of time to work on things this week. Mostly spent the time getting the mold corners smooth (both inside and out). Bruce then applied a number of coats of spray lacquer to things so we'd be ready to wax and go.
6/21 - 6/22/2008 - No work this weekend - It's Reggae Regatta weekend at the club! Our boys raced their Opti's, Marian raced her Laser, and I worked on the committee boats. The family brought home much treasure! A 1st and a 3rd for the boys in their Opti class, and a 2nd for Marian in the Laser!
Week of 6/23/2008 - 8 hrs - Spent two hard evenings grinding more paint out in preparation for fiberglassing. Ground around the keelson area to removed loose glass and fill holes. Then filled in those areas. Then constructed a foam core stack and attached it to the keelson to raise it back to the level it should be based upon the plans. See details concerning this process.
5/21/2008 - Date of Purchase
5/24/2008 - 3 hrs - remove hardware
5/25/2008 - 4 hrs - begin sanding interior paint
5/27/2008 - 1 hr - continue sanding interior paint
5/28/2008 - 1 hr - continue sanding interior paint
6/2/2008 - 1 hrs - begin chemical stripping of interior paint using West Marine Enviro-friendly paint (poor results, but I left it on too long and it dried out - even while covered with kraft paper - directions say to leave it on no more than 6 hrs - I left it 24 hrs due to time constraints)
6/3/2008 - 2 hr - apply another application of the West Marine product and let it sit for 2 hrs. Then test some methylene chloride based product as well.
6/7/2008 - 7 hrs - begin chemical stripping of interior paint with Methylene Chloride based stripper - this stuff works - used a power washer to assist with this task)
6/8/2008 - 4 hrs - continue chemical stripping of interior paint
6/9/2008 - 6/13/2008 - 5 hrs - I decided it was time to do something that was more fun than stripping paint. This week we started to design and construct the two new rear flotation tanks. Made paper forms, then transferred those to cardboard, then transferred those to MDF
6/14/2008 - 6/15/2008 - 12 hrs - Began to construct the wooden molds. Purchased the needed polyester resin, fiberglass cloth, fiberglass mat, and layering gel coat. See the detailed description of this task, and the pitfalls associated with it.
Week of 6/16/2008 - 3 hrs - Didn't have a lot of time to work on things this week. Mostly spent the time getting the mold corners smooth (both inside and out). Bruce then applied a number of coats of spray lacquer to things so we'd be ready to wax and go.
6/21 - 6/22/2008 - No work this weekend - It's Reggae Regatta weekend at the club! Our boys raced their Opti's, Marian raced her Laser, and I worked on the committee boats. The family brought home much treasure! A 1st and a 3rd for the boys in their Opti class, and a 2nd for Marian in the Laser!
Week of 6/23/2008 - 8 hrs - Spent two hard evenings grinding more paint out in preparation for fiberglassing. Ground around the keelson area to removed loose glass and fill holes. Then filled in those areas. Then constructed a foam core stack and attached it to the keelson to raise it back to the level it should be based upon the plans. See details concerning this process.
Phase 3 - Chemical Warfare
On June 2 I purchased some eco-friendly paint stripper from West Marine. I really was looking for the Dumond Chemical Company product, Marine Safety Strip II, but I was only able to find that via mail order at Defender.com. So I settled for what West Marine had in stock. I purchased a quart of the product and was just totally horrified at the cost - $34 - FOR A QUART. I did not have high hopes for the effectiveness of this product so I was wondering how many thousands of dollars this was going to cost me in stripper! Anyway, I took it on home and figured I'd give it a try. The directions specified a dwell time of 2 - 6 hours but since I was starting this after work, I didn't have that much time. So I cut some strips of kraft paper, applied the thick paste as the directions described, and covered it with the kraft paper. I then left it until the next day.
Here are the pictures of this process:
The results were not good. When I peeled the paper off the next day, some of the paint came off on the paper, but the majority was still stuck to the boat. Some of it was wrinkled up and could be scraped off, but most appeared not to be affected. To be fair, I had not followed the directions. So, I decided to try again, using the rest of the container this time. I spread the material onto the same surfaces and left it about 2 hours. During that time frame it began to wrinkle the top layer of paint, and it appeared to soften the underlying layer, but it did not remove anything like the advertised "multiple layers at one time."
At this point I brought out the big guns. My old favorite, methylene chloride. I poured some of this material down onto the interior finish and it was wrinkling the paint within about 2-3 minutes. Within 15 minutes it had removed the top layer or two and softened the remaining layers enough so they could be scraped off. Although it required a lot of elbow grease, this was definitely the way to go.
Better living through chemistry!
Here are the pictures of this process:
 |
| Stripper Testing |
The results were not good. When I peeled the paper off the next day, some of the paint came off on the paper, but the majority was still stuck to the boat. Some of it was wrinkled up and could be scraped off, but most appeared not to be affected. To be fair, I had not followed the directions. So, I decided to try again, using the rest of the container this time. I spread the material onto the same surfaces and left it about 2 hours. During that time frame it began to wrinkle the top layer of paint, and it appeared to soften the underlying layer, but it did not remove anything like the advertised "multiple layers at one time."
At this point I brought out the big guns. My old favorite, methylene chloride. I poured some of this material down onto the interior finish and it was wrinkling the paint within about 2-3 minutes. Within 15 minutes it had removed the top layer or two and softened the remaining layers enough so they could be scraped off. Although it required a lot of elbow grease, this was definitely the way to go.
Better living through chemistry!
Friday, June 6, 2008
Phase 2 - Hardware Removal
Ok - now that I have a picture record of everything, it's time to start removing all the hardware so I can get on with the sanding and repairs. I pulled all the hardware off and put it in individual bags, trying to keep similar parts together. It's clear now that I will be replacing a lot of this hardware but I suspected that once I saw the boat.
Once I got all the hardware off I then set about removing the forward and rear grates. This involved drilling out the plugs on various screws and then cleaning out the screw heads so we could get a grip on them with a screwdriver. Unfortunately some of these plugs were put in with epoxy and didn't want to come out. With all the hardware off and the grates removed, I was able to take a good look at things. Some of the wood in the grates had been replaced since there was some Mahogany mixed in with Teak. In addition there was significant decay around the centerboard trunk since previous owners had extended the front grate supports all the way to the bottom of the boat. As a result they stayed wet and eventually decayed.
At some point in time this boat had taken a hard hit on the port side, just forward of the front grate. The rail in this area has been spliced, but the individual strips of wood were not matched up and the scarf joint was done almost as a 2:1 instead of the recommended 12:1 scarf joint. In addition, they didn't even make the new strips the same width as the old strips, so they don't even line up! This will have to be removed and replaced. The rail on this boat is made up of two inner strips that are mahogany while the two outer strips are oak.
Once I got all the hardware off I then set about removing the forward and rear grates. This involved drilling out the plugs on various screws and then cleaning out the screw heads so we could get a grip on them with a screwdriver. Unfortunately some of these plugs were put in with epoxy and didn't want to come out. With all the hardware off and the grates removed, I was able to take a good look at things. Some of the wood in the grates had been replaced since there was some Mahogany mixed in with Teak. In addition there was significant decay around the centerboard trunk since previous owners had extended the front grate supports all the way to the bottom of the boat. As a result they stayed wet and eventually decayed.
At some point in time this boat had taken a hard hit on the port side, just forward of the front grate. The rail in this area has been spliced, but the individual strips of wood were not matched up and the scarf joint was done almost as a 2:1 instead of the recommended 12:1 scarf joint. In addition, they didn't even make the new strips the same width as the old strips, so they don't even line up! This will have to be removed and replaced. The rail on this boat is made up of two inner strips that are mahogany while the two outer strips are oak.
Phase 1 - Documentation
The first step of this project is to document everything about the boat. I want to make sure that I have evidence of where all the hardware was located in case I need to review that when it comes time to put it all back. So without further fanfare here are the initial pictures of the boat and trailer.
Here are some pictures of the centerboard:
and here are some pictures of the forward and aft grates:
 |
| Thistle #2687 Restoratio |
Here are some pictures of the centerboard:
 |
| Centerboar |
and here are some pictures of the forward and aft grates:
 |
| Front and Rear Grates - Initial Conditions |
Friday, May 23, 2008
The Beginning
Let me just start this off by saying that sailing was not my first choice. I grew up on the lake water skiing and power boating, not sailing. However, when you get married, you inherit a whole lot of things, some good and some not so good but of course that works both ways. Well, as a result, I've been around sailing for almost 20 years, about the amount of time that I've known my wife. When I say "around sailing" that's all I mean! I'm certainly no expert, and have only been part of the crew on my father-in-law's (Bruce) boat (a Harmony 22) several times during races. I've sailed casually with him and my wife, have bareboated in the British Virgin Islands with friends, and have raced a few times.
Although my wife raced in college, at MIT, she is just now getting back into the swing of things after a long absence (twin boys - now 10 years old- sailing custom made Opti's courtesy of Bruce). Her Dad, Bruce, is really the one with all the experience. His sailing resume is a long one and includes racing, building, and renovating a number of boats along life's way (including a Hereshoff S). So when my wife, Marian, decided to buy a Thistle and get back into racing, well, I got dragged along.
She recently purchased Thistle #3444 - Esperance. This is an excellent boat, with a strong racing history and has been a lot of fun in the short time we've had her. At this point in time we've been out in the boat exactly 5 times. We sail out of Lake Lanier Sailing Club (www.llsc.com), just north of Atlanta, Ga. Our fleet (Thistle Fleet #79) is very strong and has an excellent group of helpful sailors. Since Marian got the boat they have been very tolerant and helpful as we pepper them with questions about everything from rigging to tactics!
So after sailing a few times in Esperance I decided that the best way to learn about this boat was to get one to play with. What I needed was a project boat - one that had just enough wrong with it that it would provide a good learning experience with marine wood working and fiberglass. After scouring Craigslist and the Thistle Class web site I finally came across a likely candidate; a boat in northern Florida that had been dropped from a lift and sustained thwart damage. After some back and forth with the owner I was on my way to Florida to pick her up. At a final price of $400, I figured that the cost of gasoline to make the trip in Bruce's truck was almost as much as the boat!
Although the trailer was not in great shape, we were able to make it road worthy after re-wiring the lights and trailer harness. We also elected to purchase a spare tire before we left town just in case one of the existing tires gave way on the trip home. After loading everything in the truck, and tying down all the various bits of hardware, we started the trip home. Thankfully, the trip was uneventful and we parked the project boat in Bruce's driveway until I could create space for it at my house.
At this point a bit needs to be said about the parking of the boat in Bruce's driveway. Bruce's wife, Mary, is a long suffering sailing widow. She has lived through all of Bruce's many boat related projects and has spent many years stepping over and around boats and parts of boats.
She has had her furniture covered in teak and mahogany dust and her house filled with epoxy fumes more times than she cares to remember!
So as a result, she is none too pleased to have this boat in her driveway. I initially promised to have it out of the driveway by the end of Memorial Day weekend........Well, I didn't make that deadline but I am getting closer. I've just got a few more things to relocate at my house and then we can bring it down. Then I only have to find enough souls to hoist it (and the trailer) over a fence and set it on my back patio. But enough of the background - let's get on with the rehab!
Although my wife raced in college, at MIT, she is just now getting back into the swing of things after a long absence (twin boys - now 10 years old- sailing custom made Opti's courtesy of Bruce). Her Dad, Bruce, is really the one with all the experience. His sailing resume is a long one and includes racing, building, and renovating a number of boats along life's way (including a Hereshoff S). So when my wife, Marian, decided to buy a Thistle and get back into racing, well, I got dragged along.
She recently purchased Thistle #3444 - Esperance. This is an excellent boat, with a strong racing history and has been a lot of fun in the short time we've had her. At this point in time we've been out in the boat exactly 5 times. We sail out of Lake Lanier Sailing Club (www.llsc.com), just north of Atlanta, Ga. Our fleet (Thistle Fleet #79) is very strong and has an excellent group of helpful sailors. Since Marian got the boat they have been very tolerant and helpful as we pepper them with questions about everything from rigging to tactics!
So after sailing a few times in Esperance I decided that the best way to learn about this boat was to get one to play with. What I needed was a project boat - one that had just enough wrong with it that it would provide a good learning experience with marine wood working and fiberglass. After scouring Craigslist and the Thistle Class web site I finally came across a likely candidate; a boat in northern Florida that had been dropped from a lift and sustained thwart damage. After some back and forth with the owner I was on my way to Florida to pick her up. At a final price of $400, I figured that the cost of gasoline to make the trip in Bruce's truck was almost as much as the boat!
Although the trailer was not in great shape, we were able to make it road worthy after re-wiring the lights and trailer harness. We also elected to purchase a spare tire before we left town just in case one of the existing tires gave way on the trip home. After loading everything in the truck, and tying down all the various bits of hardware, we started the trip home. Thankfully, the trip was uneventful and we parked the project boat in Bruce's driveway until I could create space for it at my house.
At this point a bit needs to be said about the parking of the boat in Bruce's driveway. Bruce's wife, Mary, is a long suffering sailing widow. She has lived through all of Bruce's many boat related projects and has spent many years stepping over and around boats and parts of boats.
She has had her furniture covered in teak and mahogany dust and her house filled with epoxy fumes more times than she cares to remember!
So as a result, she is none too pleased to have this boat in her driveway. I initially promised to have it out of the driveway by the end of Memorial Day weekend........Well, I didn't make that deadline but I am getting closer. I've just got a few more things to relocate at my house and then we can bring it down. Then I only have to find enough souls to hoist it (and the trailer) over a fence and set it on my back patio. But enough of the background - let's get on with the rehab!
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