Best order for my last few steps?

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TX_yakker
Posts: 24
Joined: Thu Dec 27, 2012 9:11 am

Best order for my last few steps?

Post by TX_yakker »

Being a first timer, I'm at a small point of confusion on the best order of my last remaining steps to finish up my boat. As she sits right now, the inwales are attached and the inside of the hull is sanded and ready for varnish. My seats are finished completely, ready to be hung. Yoke needs 2 more coats of varnish and a trimming on each end for the proper fit (I initially cut it longer than needed just to be safe). I have a temporary yoke in place right now with clamps.

My decks are put together, and I will be giving them the first of 2 coats of epoxy tonight to seal them up. Here's roughly my plan, but I dont know if any other order would make more sense so if you guys see a better order that I'm not seeing (due to lack of experience), feel free to pipe up! :tu

-Epoxy the decks and get those ready to install
-Varnish the inside of the hull, 3 coats, and get that how I like it
-Install the decks (I'm going to be putting thickened epoxy on the sides, and then some screws through the hull and inwale into the deck for added support.)
-Attach the outwales (I'm doing this with thickened epoxy only, no hardware through the outsides)
-Flip her over and sand, sand, sand to get the outer hull ready to varnish.
-Varnish the outer hull
-Flip her back over, install the yoke and start messing with how i want my seats.

Not much left now, but that varnish stuff will take a little time while it cures I reckon. It seems pretty simple and straight forward, just wanted to see if moving any of my steps around would make more sense and I'm just not seeing it. Thanks!! Cant wait to get this thing done and on the water! I'll post up pictures soon :cool
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Patricks Dad
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Re: Best order for my last few steps?

Post by Patricks Dad »

I would install the decks and outwales before varnishing the inside. Consider the outwales part of the inside (with the seam between outside and inside "hidden" under the outwales). Mask the outside of the hull just below the outwales when varnishing the inside. This will allow you to have a consistent finish/coating of varnish over the outwale/inwale/deck/inside joints.

If you do decide to varnish the inside before installing the decks, be sure to mask the areas on the inwales where the decks will attach to ensure a good epoxy bond between the decks and the inwales.

Consider sanding the outside of the hull before installing the outwales. If you sand the outside after installing outwales (and if you varnish the outwales as I suggest above) mask the outwales to avoid scratching them with your outer hull sanding.

Also, consider sanding and varnishing the outside before the inside.

When you shorten your yoke to fit, be sure to put a few coats of epoxy and/or varnish over the bare ends.

When you hang your seats, assuming you will drill holes in the inwales to hang them (and the yoke for that matter), be sure to wet the inside of the holes (seats, yoke and inwales) with epoxy and varnish (pipe cleaners work great for this).

There are lots of ways to skin the cat. Use the methods that suits you best.
Randy Pfeifer
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TX_yakker
Posts: 24
Joined: Thu Dec 27, 2012 9:11 am

Re: Best order for my last few steps?

Post by TX_yakker »

Thanks for the advice!
Guess I'll be revising my plan, but thats what I came looking for so thats ok! I've coated the bottom (inside facing edge) and sides of my decks with epoxy to seal those. I'm in the process of epoxying the "boat facing" side of my outwales before attaching those, so I guess once those are ready my next step will be attaching decks and outwales. Then it'll be some sanding to make everything smooth in those areas!

I'm curious why you recommend sanding/varnishing the outside before the inside? Not knowing any better, I dont understand the logic behind it so I'm just acting like a sponge and looking to absorb the knowledge.

Since I'll be putting the decks on before varnishing the inside, the area up underneath the deck will be difficult to varnish naturally (i presume). At the same time, since varnish is protecting from UV rays and this area will be always shaded by the wood deck, do you just kind of varnish under there a few inches past the deck and call it good?

I definitely planned on coating the ends of the yoke with epoxy once its all trimmed up. Found that bit of advice a few times through the board (I've combed through all of the threads twice, lots of good stuff in here!). Also planned on coating through the seat holes as you mentioned. Did that on my seats prior to weaving them so I should be good!
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Patricks Dad
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Re: Best order for my last few steps?

Post by Patricks Dad »

Order of varnishing outside before inside is simply based on the number of times you need to flip the boat over and how much effort you spend cleaning your shop between sanding and varnishing.

I think the more important advice here is to finish ALL your sanding before you varnish anything significant. It takes quite a bit of time to clean up the shop to catch all the sanding dust. Once all the sanding is done, clean thoroughly and then you can varnish both inside and outside without worrying about creating more dust.

So, once you have the decks and outwales in, and inside sanded, you could varnish it then but you will just mess up your shop again with sanding the outside. You might as well flip it over and sand the outside (while you still have a messy shop and have finely honed your sanding skills :wink ).
Then while you have it up-side-down, you might as well go ahead and varnish the outside first. You will of course have to wait for it to cure before flipping it back over to varnish the inside (But you will have a similar problem going in the other direction too).

As for varnishing the inside, I try to be very thorough even under the decks and the stem. But yes it is a bit harder (but try).

One other piece of (unsolicited) advice (depending on the nature of your decks): When the canoe is upside-down, the decks may be a place where water can be trapped. If you have a hole in ends of the decks, the water can drain out. If there is no such path out, be sure to thoroughly seal the underside of your decks (and the joint between the deck and the inwale). I usually, set the canoe upside-down and pour an extra ounce of epoxy in there to ensure a complete seal. Also look at the underside of your inwales to ensure a good seal there as well.
Randy Pfeifer
(847) 341-0618
Randy.Pfeifer1@gmail.com
TX_yakker
Posts: 24
Joined: Thu Dec 27, 2012 9:11 am

Re: Best order for my last few steps?

Post by TX_yakker »

Good call on the sanding issue, but I'm a special case. I'm building in an apartment complex, in a one car garage. Strongback is on wheels, so I typically do my sanding outside of the garage with the door closed so the dust (for the most part) stays out of the "shop".

Good call too on checking under the deck and making sure everything under there is sealed up with epoxy! I wouldnt have thought about that but I like the idea, so I'll definitely be checking that along with the underside of the inwale.
alick burt
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Re: Best order for my last few steps?

Post by alick burt »

Hi TX-Yakker
I agree with the others and fit my decks before varnishing.I also drill all my seat and yoke holes and fit a pair of temporary thwarts (just rough battens)using 15mm plumbing pipe for spacers Like this.Image
These can be used to support the hull so that I can varnish everything in one go by coating the inside first and then turning the hull over resting the rough battens on some supports on my strongback to varnish the underside.Like this
Image
I varnish my seats and yoke at the same time but they are done separately carefully resting the first wet side down on some nails that are driven through a board.Here is one of my seat frames resting on nails. Image
I make sure all the dusty work is done on everything before starting any varnish work so both inside and outside the hull are ready.
I'm sure there are other ways but it works for me.
Hope this helps.
Cheers
Alick :tu
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