Kite +6%

I found glassing in the middle of Winter, was a pain.
Nothing like a July glass job.
Cold and epoxy don't mix.
How warm was your shop ?

Jim

I probably had my garage at 65 F for the job. I preheated the shop overnight with the baseboard and 2 space heaters to ensure it was at max temp. I them shut the space heaters off before starting to ensure temperature drop during the job to prevent wood off gassing. It was -8 F here yesterday so getting the shop hot was tough. When I did the seal coat the shop was chilly so I turned on a space heater before starting the seal coat. There were little bubbles all over the place that you could pop/crush with your finger after the epoxy hardened. It really showed me why you need to pre-heat the work. I'll keep the shop above 60 F for the next couple of days while the epoxy cures.

It feels like I have been doing nothing but shoveling the driveway here. All that snow made for an amazing deep day at the ski hill though so it's a worthy trade off. Stripper Guy will likely appreciate this picture I took of my daughter showing the conditions. Over a foot of fresh on top of a few feet of fresh'ish fluff.


The kids have both gone back to university now and Christmas is mostly put away. Time for me to get back to the garage. I was working on the float tanks today. The taper is different front and rear on a Kite and I want to have the carry handles near the end of the float tanks. I put my MEC Scully bag and bear barrel in to get an idea where to end the tanks so things will still drop in without the thwarts being in the way. In the end I made the bow tank an inch longer. Hopefully sand and shape the tops tomorrow.

What height will the decks be in relation to the gunwales?
I like the way you're stripping, with the fasteners just outside of the future deck/bulkhead...clever.

As far as those snow conditions, I am truly jealous.
I BC skied yesterday at a defunct downhill area (Hogback Mt in VT). Barely 30" for the season so far, with some rain and warm temps affecting the snowpack.
I had 5" of powder over a breakable crust, with a myriad of undergrowth and pricker bushes poking through. Still nice to be out.

@stripperguy The plan is to have the top follow along just under the walnut.

Today started well, I sanded the pieces then taped the templates to them and cut them out. I sanded them to fit below the walnut allowing room for the plate and a filet joint up to the walnut. I planed down some bead and cove scraps to and hot glued them in place bead side up on both ends. I was just finishing the stern and looking back at the bow I realized my mistake. I intend to have walnut in a T shape on the upright potion of the float tank. I wasn't thinking about that when I was fitting the top pieces. Looking to the bow while working on the stern I saw the walnut line that runs along the tumblehome wasn't going to meet the top of the T with how I glued the support pieces in. I need to raise the top piece up to flush with the walnut so the top of the T makes a uniform line otherwise it would look wrong. Not sure how I forgot that part of the plan but it seemed a good time to stop for the day.

Bummer about the slip, but it's looking great and I'm loving this thread. Do you think you'll just glue another strip on top of what you put in, as a shim/riser? The boat is going to be gorgeous!

TPG

@ThatPaddlingGuy Those supports are just tacked in place currently with hot glue. Fortunately I realized before I attached anything permanently. I'll break them loose and re-glue at the correct height. Thanks for the kind words. Hopefully I'll get some more time for it tomorrow.

Not much of an update. I planed the strip of walnut down to 18mm to match the inner stem and shaped/trimmed a few pieces before tending to household chores. I didn't want to be the neighbor out too early running the snowblower. We have a lot of standing snow and are just starting a week long chinook. I had to clear the snow away away from the house and shovel some weight off the deck before work tonight.

Finished the wood on the front tank, just needs a little sanding then glassing. If I'm adding too many pictures please me know and I'll just add the important stuff.


I took advantage of the weather window and was hoping to get the gunnels cut to length. Since they're 18' I have to open my garage door. Turns out they are pretty tough to get on there. The only bit that went on easily was the bit I'd stuck a 1/4" strip in. I marked and cut the end I'd got on with a zip cut then pulled it off. I used a gasket scraper and stuffed pieces all the way along to flare it. I'll have to knock down any excess epoxy too before trying again. Hopefully that will be enough flare.

The site has a limit on how many pictures you can add per post. Not to worry, you haven't come close to that and I know I like looking at pictures so, IMO, the more the merrier.

This thread and erica's are the ones that get me and maybe others through this winter. Building bloggs are great even years after. More pics help a lot to tell the story. Looking forward to more progress

Pictures are really the best part, lets the reader actually see what is going on, sometimes words fall far short of reality.

OK, I won't skip any pictures then. This is one I skipped on that last post. It's one of ripping the walnut trim piece down to the thickness I needed. It's hard to see a line drawn on walnut so I use the tape to make it easier to see. Mainly I took this picture to show the Japanese pull saw. I'm sure most guys here already have one but if you don't consider getting one. They make a gentle cut with a very thin kerf.

I spent a little time getting the gunnels cut to length outside before it gets cold here again. I had left them overnight with the wood bits in there which did help a fair bit. The best way to get them on ended up being getting them started, lining them up then whacking them into place. They are a very tight fit made worse by the curve of the hull. You kind of had to let it twist then pry it open and give it a whack further back to seat it deeper. I was using a mallet and a piece of wood to distribute the force. I tried padding but wound up leaving some small dents on the top of the aluminum. Part of me says to buy a new one, the other part of me says oh well now they've already got their first dent. On the positive side they slide all the way down to the yellow cedar.

Later on I was planning to mount them, drill them, remove them to drill the wood holes a hair larger, seal the holes then remount and rivet. Considering the difficulty getting them on I'm wondering if I should just drill, seal, put the rivet in with the epoxy wet?

A concern I have with Aluminum gunnels on strippers, is the possibility of rot.
I would want to make sure water isn't trapped between the hull, and the gunnels.
I would suspect the rivet holes, to be the first place for rot. The top of the shearline would also be a concern.
I've always glued and screwed my inwhales, and glued the outwhales.
No chance for moisture to rot between the hull and gunnels.
With hulls over 35yrs old ? No rot.

Just how I do my gunnels.

Jim