May 13, 2011
MaryAnn and I, along with friends Pete and Donna, attended the Okoume Fest at Chesapeake Light Craft in Annapolis, MD. I wanted to attend some of the demonstrations and I had some additional things that I needed for the dory. Every time I think I'm all set, I discover something else I need to finish it--this time it cost me $200+ for a bunch of little stuff like oar lock sockets, rope, etc. that all just adds up. The others were good sports and made the day a lot of fun.
I enjoyed seeing the shop and especially and CNC machine that they use to cut out the boat parts. The operator has to be alert because if the high speed router bit gets caught on something it will start a fire "faster than a boy scout on steriods". The plywood is held to the table by a powerful vacuum, which also provides an excellent source of oxygen. It's impressive to see the router travel all over the sheet and even go get its own bits if needs a different one for a particular operation. In just a few minutes it cut a monkey out of a sheet of plywood.
Fiberglass tips: Sometimes knowing small tricks can make a big difference. In this demonstration, I could see how easy it was to get a wrinkle out of the cloth just by pulling on it at a 90 degree angle to the direction of the wrinkle. Instead of trying to use the plastic spreader on the wrinkle, just pull on a dry section of the fiberglass to flatten out the wrinkle and it's easy to use the spreader to move the epoxy into the cloth.
Once you have spread epoxy over the entire piece of fiberglass, go back over it with the scraper to take up any excess. To make this part of the job easier, take a paper cup and cut a slit part way down a side. Then when you scrape off excess epoxy, pull the scraper through the slit and the excess epoxy will drain into the cup--easy to do and a lot less mess.
Varnishing tips: Keep a wet edge by not putting on too much varnish at once. The hotter the air temperature, the less you put on at once. Use a roller get the varnish on the boat, and roll it across the grain of the wood. Then immediately go back over the varnish with a disposable foam brush to "tip" it out along the grain to smooth out the bubbles. Watch for holidays and runs because these must be caught immediately. If it has set up, it's too late and you must resist the urge try to fix it. Pulling the brush across a spot that has set up will just make a bigger mess. To fix the holidays and runs that have set up, let it dry, sand it out and then add another layer of varnish. Evidently there is never a "last coat" of varnish.
In learning about varnishing technique, I was also pleased to hear that there can be a "10 foot" finish and a "20 foot" finish. (Looks good from 10 feet away....Looks good from 20 feet away.) While I want my dory to look nice, I don't think I have the perfectionist need for everything to be flawless. I overheard others refer to a "work boat" finish, although it sounded like settling for something less than you should. When I asked how to get into places on the dory that a roller would not reach, I was advised to just use the foam brush and just get some varnish on it. In looking at the dory that CLC put together, I realized that their fillets were much smoother than mine, which made the finish look great. Hopefully, I can get someway between "work boat" and immaculate finish. My dory is not going to be a museum piece anyway; I want to actually use it. While it has been fun to build, I'm also looking forward to rowing and sailing it.
No comments:
Post a Comment