Initial fiberglassing, final filling and fairing

If you think my recent messing around with the light mast and the railings were thinly-disguised excuses for not tackling the scary-nasty work of finishing the fiberglassing on the top, you are right.  I have put this work off about as long as I can. I started on it again yesterday. 

Following is a journal of fiberglass progress on the top project, starting with application of glass fabric in early March, through today. I plan to go all the way through the rest of the work in marathon fashion over the next few days.

3/7/12

1-5 p.m.

• Laid out and smoothed two 50-inch by 12-foot sheets of 6-ounce fiber glass fabric, overlapping fabric about 8-inches fore and aft down the centerline. No stapling was necessary to hold the fabric in place.

• Wetted out the fabric from centerline to the edges with epoxy resin, smoothing the application and removing bubbles. This was a three-man job, with one person mixing 6-ounce epoxy batches and the other two wetting out fabric and spreading un-thickened epoxy.

• The remainder of the top finishing work was done single-handed, except for two occasions when helpers were needed to move the top or flip it over.

3/10/12

2-5 p.m.

• Cut off excess glass cloth with a utility knife. Sanded edges. Bedded 6-ounce fiber glass tape in epoxy resin to reinforce edges.

3/29/12

2-4 p.m.

• Thorough sanding of entire top. 80-grit sandpaper on a random orbit sander
• Tacked with cloth dampened with acetone
• Re-sanded shiny spots
• Re-tacked

3/30/12

Fairing, Day-1

The plan:

1. Apply multiple coats of resin, which will be allowed to cure to “green” stage between coats, to fill the fabric weave on half the 70-square foot surface only. This is to allow the material to be worked “green” into the night if necessary.
   
   
2. When the final fabric-filling coat has cured to “green” stage, apply epoxy thickened with West System 407 fairing filler to fill and fair low spots and other areas as necessary. Allow the fairing to cure overnight.

Today's work

10-10:45 a.m.

• Re-tacked with acetone cloth
• Rolled un-thickened epoxy on port half of top, fore and aft. Used foam 7-inch roller and random overlapping rolling pattern. Used 2-inch natural bristle disposable brush to tip surface for bubbles. Mixed 2:1 epoxy in 6-ounce batches. Used two batches with no waste to complete coat-1.
• Interrupted rolling frequently to attack any bubbles that appeared with tipping brush.
• Temperature in high 60s to low 70s.

This photo shows what it looked like after the first weave coat was rolled on and tipped. The glossy area is about the limit of my reach with my feet on the floor.

(You can click any picture to make it bigger).

1:30 p.m.

Surface still tacky. Temp high 70s. No bubbles apparent. It appears the weave is well filled and that the next application on this side will be fairing filler – after the epoxy has cured to a harder surface.

During the day, I refer often to West System Epoxy videos http://www.westsystem.com/ss/how-to-use-demos/ to make sure I am not forgetting some important detail.

3-4:45 p.m.

• Began fairing applications, mixing thickened epoxy to West System specs. The first pot was too thick. 

The back lighted photo at left should provide some idea of how much sanding awaits me in the morning. I have used the West System "micro-balloon" fillers before, but on much smaller projects. I think a lot of sanding will help me work out this mess .

• I mixed two additional  thickened epoxy pots, this time to a more syrupy than peanut-buttery consistency. This worked out much better, except the second pot  gelled unexpectedly on my last pass.

• The temperature hovered in the high seventies all afternoon. This no doubt reduced working times for the thickened mixtures.

This photo shows what the top looked like at the end of the day. I expect to start as early as I can in the morning so I can continue to work the epoxy before its fully-cured. This saves a lot of washing and sanding work that comes with letting the epoxy fully cure before the work is finished.



On deck tomorrow

Obviously, there is much more work left in this project. But I think I'm on a roll. I also think that the decision to do only half the top at a time was a good one. Today' work was manageable solo. I'll probably get the hang of it by the end of the day tomorrow.

And finally for today...

Please let me know if you think this is getting too technical and I'll try to simplify. On the other hand, if you want more detail, I can always elaborate. Use the comments box below. Thanks for following this story too.

Still On The Rails...

Please do not try to calculate progress on this new top project based on the frequency of blog posts. I am still working. It is just slow going.

Lately, I have been working on the grab rails that will run the length of the top on either side. I found these rails in a consignment shop in North Carolina. They are old. I think Captain Ahab used them on the  Pequod. I believe he had them varnished weekly, for years, and the first coat is still intact.

That's my friend Major on the right. He is a little taller than six feet. The rails, on this day, were exactly 10 feet long.

As of today, I have cut the formerly 10-foot, eight-loop rails down to six-loop rails that are 7 feet, 6-inches long.

While these rails are not very limber, each will bend enough to run the length of the hardtop in one piece on its respective side. The forward ends and the first two loops of each rail will bolt through the new hardtop and the fiberglass cabin above the windows. (Where the original rails were once attached). This will require reinforcement above the cabin windows to provide solid backing for the forward rail bolts.

The photo on the left is the area over the port cabin window looking forward. The white material is 1x4 PVC "Trim Plank" from the home center that I  cemented into place with thickened epoxy then planed to shape. The matching backing insert on the starboard side has a channel routed in it for the dome light wiring.

The curvature and height of these pieces conform to the curvature and height of the rafters. The new top will sit flush on the rafters and the backing inserts.


The remaining four loops and the aft ends of each rail will be fastened with large stainless steel screws through the new hardtop and into the 2x4 fir longitudinal stringers.



Mechanical Fastening!

Please recall that the new top is to be glued to the underlying structure on the boat with thickened epoxy, and filleted all-around, inside and out. I had been a little worried about the top flying away when the boat reached highway speeds on the trailer. I now realize that with seven large rail screws and bolts through the top and into the structure on each side, this worrisome scenario becomes highly unlikely. Four additional 2-inch stainless steel screws will be near the forward edge of the top, in the middle, fastening the light mast brackets. These screws will go into a specially reinforced area over the windshield. I think I will stop worrying about the top flying off.


Meanwhile I have been making great clouds of orange dust as I sandpaper my way though varnish applications from antiquity. I hope to remove as much old varnish as I can mechanically, then use some kind of stripping chemical and scuffing pads to get the rest cleaned up. I will coat the rails, and the mahogany light mast I made last week, with three applications each of Cetol Marine Natural Teak and Cetol Marine Gloss finishes.


And, a plan for finishing and fairing  the hardtop itself is finally coming into focus. I have mapped out detailed tasks and sequences for a four to five-day epoxy marathon, starting March 30.

Problems + Time = Solutions

It's not quite that easy, but it can't be denied that backing off a difficult challenge and thinking about it for a time usually comes up with something. So while it might appear that nothing is happening, gears are turning--some say very slowly. And, progress is happening, often invisibly.

Such is the case with the hardtop's final fairing and epoxy coatings. I have gone up to the shop and looked at the structure several times and walked away each time, feeling somewhat daunted. Seventy square feet is a big area. This thing is going to need washing, drying, sanding, epoxy coating, fairing applications, more sanding, washing, drying more fairing, more sanding, more coatings and painting. So I moved this part of the project to the back of my mind and began work on a couple of other substantial tasks that will have to happen before the top goes on: A new light mast and the grab rails.

Ms. Bettencourt was wearing what I am certain was the original equipment light mast when she came to me in 2003. I never liked it. The cross-arm (is that called a spreader?) is totally non-functional. Stainless steel cable is threaded through it and down to the mast body, through a couple of little turnbuckles that defied rust control. When I took the mast off to strip and paint it, the thing appeared to be composed more of body filler and glue than wood and wires. The new mast is going to be much simpler and more substantial.

My neighbor Hargroves gave me a 6-foot piece of 1 1/4" x 8" rough-sawn mahogany.  I had the plank planed smooth on both sides and the edges. Then I used the vertical part of the old mast to pattern a rough shape for the new mast. I cut out two identical 1-inch thick mahogany shapes from this pattern. Using a veneer blade in the band saw, I sliced a quarter inch of thickness off one of the shapes. This produced two pieces, one thinner than the other.

This photo was taken after I had done a lot of shaping on the the two pieces, and routed out a lengthwise slot in the thicker piece to carry wiring to the light fixture.

A band saw, a router, a hand sander and a drill were the only power tools used to rough out the new mast.

The largest part of the shaping was done with a small block plane and a quarter-sheet sander. I think I worked on it about day, off and on.

When the two pieces are put together (below photo), the mast's shape becomes more apparent.

That's the old mast in the vise to the left. The old mast is about 1 inch thick at the base. The new one is 1 3/4 inches at the base.

I really had to whittle on my mahogany blanks to get the shape to morph from a baseball bat kind of feeling to something somewhat more nautical, but still substantial.

So here is what it looks like (photo below), temporarily assembled and mounted with its tabernacle brackets on a scrap of 2x6.

I regret there is a lot of background clutter in this picture, but if you click to enlarge you should be able to pick out the details of the new mast, compared to the old on the right.

With the combination steaming and anchor light fixture on top, the new mast is not much taller than the old. But it is definitely more muscular in appearance. There will be attachments on the aft side for a pennant or burgee.


When the mast is installed, the wiring will connect through a water-tight deck plug. This will allow me to easily remove the mast when it needs refinishing.

I plan to coat the mast with Sikkens Cetol Marine Natural Teak finish, the same stuff I use for the grab rails, the flag staff and the wooden cleats.

So, mast work is some of what I have been doing while I have not been doing epoxy work.

I have also started on rail work. I will report on that in my next post.

And, somewhere deep in my subconscious, there is an idea forming about how to manage that looming epoxy work. Time will provide a solution.

A Bad Case of Epoxy Fatigue

I am tired of epoxy-ing, and I am not going to do any more of it for awhile. The washing-drying-sanding-rolling-fairing-rolling is making me glassy-eyed. So, I am taking a break and checking other items off my to-do list.

There are some tasks that must be done before the top goes on that cannot get lost in the shuffle. For example, I must plan a route from the shop where the top is now to the boat in the river where it is to be installed. My friend Major and I walked down to the river a couple of days ago. I am guessing that the distance is about 100 yards.

Down the driveway,

around the bend, past two of my (mostly friendly) 6-dog entourage,

through the gate and onto the river side of the house,

over the ramp to the gazebo,

through the gazebo....

Through the gazebo?  Uh-oh. At just an inch shy of 10 feet long, Ms. Bettencourt's new top will not make the turn from the gazebo onto the dock ramp. But we are resourceful. We talked about skidding it down the rocks and floating it over to the Albin. Too heavy. It would probably sink. We talked about moving the houseboat under the gazebo, handing the top town, then delivering it by water. Unfortunately, the space is too tight and the water too shallow  for the big boat,

Then we measured that big opening in the gazebo, just to the right of the ramp rail in the photo above. More than enough room to get the top through on a diagonal. Major thinks that if we can muster a few more old dudes to help, we can pass it through, swing one end around and head on down the ramp.

Where Ms. Bettencourt is awaiting her new top.

So, we will check that item off the list and give that route a try when the fateful day arrives. Meanwhile, there are many other things to get done, not the least of which is finishing the epoxy work.

Evidence in. Disaster avoided!

I went to the shop this morning to see if that test piece I reported about yesterday had gone flat. As predicted, it was flat as a pancake. And, another important piece of evidence surfaced:

This is the test board, as of this morning. All those bubble-looking features on the surface were not there yesterday afternoon when the tension was removed from the piece.

Close inspection shows that they are not air bubbles. Instead, this surface condition appears to be an early stage of what happens when the fiberglass and epoxy film begins to pull away from the underlying wood.

This is what Dan predicted might happen when tension is released from a piece of plywood fiberglassed under bending stress.

I am so glad I found this out on a little test piece instead of on my 70 square foot new hard top. Thanks again Dan.



So, Paul and Major and I congratulated ourselves briefly this morning, then deployed cloth on the now-flat new top. Some three hours later, we had expended about a half-gallon of epoxy and catalyst, resulting in what appears to be a pretty level first coat.

I am going to let this cure for a few days, then trim the excess fabric and fix any small flaws that may become apparent.

A lot remains to be done.

If no problems arise, the next steps will be to roll on and tip one or more additional coats of epoxy to fill the fabric weave. There will be generous curing times between additional coats.

After that there will be sanding and fairing and sanding and fairing and sanding and fairing....you get the idea.

Then there will be paint primer, followed by a couple of coats of epoxy topcoat paint.

Please stay with us as this project unfolds. I am sure there are many exciting chapters yet to come. For example, a question has been raised about a turn the finished top will have to make in its portage through the gazebo and down the dock ramp to where the boat awaits her new top.

I probably should look into an answer to that question pretty soon.