The photos below show my experiment with the filleting powder, using the first (failed) test panel. It worked out really well, the fillets are rock hard.
I also decided to get on with the second test panel, so as to properly get my head around using this Bote Cote epoxy system. I set it up vertically, trying to simulate the actual application conditions, as well as to develop my technique a bit. I don't want the epoxy to flow down too easily, leading to what they call "drain out".
Using the preservative/viscosity additive (called TPRDA), the timber & weave was wet out much more effectively this time. I first wet out the timber, allowed it to soak for a bit, then applied the cloth & wet that out with more epoxy. Once that was allowed to cure for a bit, I applied a thick coat of epoxy (without the TPRDA) to fill the weave and then rolled on the peel ply. I had to work quickly as it was getting late, dark & cold. It took a while to cure (due to the weather being pretty cool & damp) and I haven't sanded the dry panel yet but it seems to have turned out ok so far. Here's a shot of the panel just before I rolled on the peel ply.
I've also spent some time sussing out a long sanding board (called a torture board). I was appalled at their cost, plus the fact that you have to use the more expensive Velcro backed sandpaper sheets with them. So I figured I'd try to make one up for myself. I used a cedar blade & glued a couple of handles on one side. Then I rang around & found a local manufacturer of foam sheet products, from whom I quickly obtained a sheet of evil smelling orange stuff. I glued a strip of this onto the board with some of the elastic glue that was given to me by my brother in law. Finally, I stapled a strip of 80 grit paper & it was ready.
I tried the torture board on the hull but unfortunately it seems too bendy and it doesn't sand evenly. I may try stiffening it up a bit & see if that improves it at all. Otherwise I'll just have to bite the bullet & splurge out on a shop bought one. It's something that I want to get right, because if I can't properly fair up the hull for painting, then it's going to end up looking like shit.
I've also been agonizing over the whole "paint vs clear finish" thing again. Gary Dieriking (the designer) kindly sent me drawings of the canoe, showing the waterlines. The more I analyse them & imagine the finished product, the more I start to think that perhaps dragging the waterline up the stems might result in ruining the apparent lines of the boat. I know that you have to be careful with how you paint a boat, as you can easily create optical illusions which distort it's true shape. Anyway, the matter is still under consideration at this point.
Conscious of time slipping by, I decided to measure out & cut the fiber glass cloth & peel ply in readiness for the actual act of glassing (one day).
Here's the peel ply......
....and here's the plain weave cloth.
One thing that this has shown up, is that I haven't ordered enough fiber glass cloth. There's enough for the outside but not for the inside. No biggie at this point, but I will have to get more.
Other than these little tasks, I have also been sussing out what I'm going to do about building the ama (float). Gary's book recommends to use a ply sheer web with foam blocks glued to each side, which you then shape before glassing. This seems pretty straight forward, except that the cheapest foam quotes so far have come in at $200 to $300. Since I've got some cedar planks left over, I'm now sussing out how I might plank the ama instead. It's harder to do but at least it is possible.
So, that's it for now. Hopefully soon I'll be able to post about making actual progress next time.
