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I finished the outer hull glassing last week. It actually went better than I had hoped. I feel like I have crossed a major threshold in the boat building process. What an amazing transformation. Thank You to EVERYONE for there help up to this point. There are many different ideas expressed on this forum but they all share a common goal, helping others to get the best end result for their efforts. The advice that we accept ultimately becomes our own individual choice. Is their anyone out there that hasn't learned from the first experience?
Moving on. I plan on leaving the epoxy sanding until I can get the boat out of the basement. I would prefer to not expose the family to the epoxy dust indoors. The wood sanding wasn't that messy since I hooked up the ROS to a shop vac, but there was some. I figure a day out in the yard sanding and then back into the basement for the next step. Probably a months time frame. Does anyone foresee a problem waiting a month or so for this sanding step? I don't plan on attaching the gunwales until after the sanding.
Also, does anyone have a great idea to convert my strongback into a stable platform for sanding the inner hull? A sling looks like it moves a lot.
Once the hull has been removed from the forms you should use several spreader sticks postioned to maintain the hull's proper dimensions. I agree that the sling doesn't prevent the hull from moving around while working on the interior. Let us know if you find a better way.
Even though the sling does not provide stability during sanding, it does allow you to rotate the hull to a comfortable sanding angle. I have just started sanding the interior of my hull. I spent about two hours working on it last evening. After only five minutes, I was already readjusting the hull to a more comfortable angle. When I quit for the evening, I did not have any aches or pains from bending over or reaching. Just make sure you build it to match your height. Not too tall or short.
I used a small ratchet strap to secure the hull a little better. Doing this can be tricky. The spreader strips maintained the hull dimension while the strap tried to pull it closed. Apply enough pressure to hold the hull in position whithout pulling it closed. Position the strap as close as posible to a spreader strip and this should not be a problem.
Aloha, Stingray,
The slings worked great for me. If you angle them a little and vary the distance from the stems, you can get the hull to stay pretty much where you put it for different angles of sanding. I used a ROS with soft backing pad for the vast majority of the inside surface, then a sponge pad for hand sanding the tough parts. Went pretty fast and got a nice fair surface.
When you cut out your forms for the various stations, you had (maybe still have) scraps of plywood that are a good match wtih the curve of your canoe. They could either be cut another 1/4" to make up for the thickness of the hull or moved toward the end of the canoe a bit further to create a form that will support the canoe. These forms can be screwed to the strongback and covered with a padding. Haven't done this yet but that's our plan... I'll let you know if it doesn't work....
The station cut outs do work just as you stated. I initially did this and mounted them on my saw horses with carpet for padding. Somewhere in this forum, there is a better picture and it is downsized into my avatar of the week. My thinking was that on saw horses, the hull would be at a more comfortable height. My cut outs didn't have much meat left on them. The hull sat there virtually untouched for two months. The only reason I did not stay with this setup was that I had some difficulty holding the hull in position while sanding. It sat upright great but when rolled on it's side, it kept wanting to roll back upright. I didn't have enough hands for the job. Maybe if I had moved the hull fore or aft the result would have been different. The cut outs I used were from station #4. Basically this gave me 4' hanging out on each end with 8' in between. Another set of stations may have worked better. I do not believe a center support at station 0 would have helped. This might cause a teeter totter effect and put undue pressure centrally located at the center of the hull.
I took it off the molds this weekend. I used plywood cut out with the profile of mold #4. I cut an additional 1/2 inch off and slid a piece of foam pipe insulation over the edge. Works great, holds everything firmly in place, but it is a bugger to sand do to the height and inability to move the canoe around. I don't know if I'll keep it or go to the sling idea.
It sure is fun to see the inside of the canoe. A have sone planks that didn't align as well as they did on the outside, but nothing major. The inner stem looks great. Like many first time builders, this was an area of concern in the building process. Another note, the hull felt a bit firmer than I thought it would.
I enjoyed fairing and sanding the outer hull. I get the feeling that I won't enjoy doing the same to the inner hull.
Thanks again to all. Not only for your help, but knowing that if I do need help, you are always there.
I had a problem of wood drying and splitting (although I was using redwood), probably as a result of both the length of time between fiberglassing the outside and inside (3 months) and the change in humidity (humid midwest July and drying fall). There is a thread on this site centering on my split-problem. Thus on my next canoe, I will try to move as quickly as I can between fiberglassing the outside and inside.
Fiberglassing the outside of the canoe is relatively easy, in my opinion. The inside is a whole different story. Same technique, except now you have that nemesis of gravity working against you, instead of on your side. I have built a number of canoes and have yet to get an inner fiberglass job that I am really proud of. I am just mentioning this as it appears you think you got this fiberglass thing licked. Never underestimate your enemy!
I usually flip my strongback over and use the two long boards as a cradle. Lay some padding down, like old carpet. I then take two 1"x2"x24", pad them, screw them into the end of the strongback and make a "V" at each end of the strongback. This holds the stem of each end of the canoe from coming off the strong back. Then I sand, sand, sand, sand, cuss, and then sand a little more.
It really helps to have low viscosity epoxy for the inside of the hull. If you are using West, have a warm shop and warm the resin and hardener in water before mixing. This will make life a bit easier. Good luck.
