Fiberglassing the outside of the bottom

February 27, 2011
I  took off the clamps and was pleased to see that the repair I did on the crack in the rail came out OK. I started sanding it, but the sandpaper on the belt sander ripped in half and I could do no more.  MaryAnn helped me flip the dory over again--each time it gets a little heavier. Then I started getting ready to fiberglass the bottom.  Using a hand saw, I cut off the the rails so that they were flush with transom. I sanded the whole bottom and the stem with the orbital sander.  I started laying out the fiberglass when I remembered that I needed masking tape along the bottom edge of plank two, and along the edge of the transom.  I also taped on each side of the stem. Then I laid the fiberglass out and trimmed it along the masking tape.  I was glad the tape was blue because it was easier to see the edges. Finally, I got to the exciting step of wetting the fiberglass with epoxy--I'm so impressed with the way the fiberglass becomes invisible (except for the texture) and how the epoxy brings out the color of the wood.

Masking the stem to get ready for the fiberglass.

Masking the transom to get ready for fiberglass.

Laying out the fiberglass and trimming it to the transom.

Laying out the fiberglass and trimming it to the stem.

Spreading epoxy on the fiberglass with a plastic putty knife.

Wetting the fiberglass with the epoxy.

Fiberglass on stem and bottom is wet with epoxy.

Fiberglass on the transom is wet with epoxy. Note that the rails are trimmed to match the transom.

Fillets again

Repairing crack in rail with epoxy.

Rounding off the front.

Thwarts are sanded and templates are in place to trace the pattern.

Making the fillet larger on the transom.

February 25, 2011
When I took the clamps off I discovered that the rail I put on yesterday had cracked about five feet from the stern.  I added some thickened epoxy and put some clamps on it.  Hopefully, that will work because I don't know what else to do with it. Since I was mixing epoxy I decided to add to the fillets on either side of the transom next to the doubler.  I also added to the fillets on several of the bulkheads.  I'm still concerned that I still have two tubs of wood flour--maybe I didn't make the fillets thick enough.  Since I couldn't flip the dory over and work on fiberglassing the hull, I decided to round off the nose of the boat and filled in gaps with more epoxy.  I wasn't sure how to make the curve for the nose and then decided to just use the curve of the breast hook. I traced the curve onto a piece of paper and then cut it out.  Using the paper as a template, I drew it on the the rails where they came to together in the front, and then used the saber saw to cut it out.  I used my new belt sander to round things off.
I also sanded down the boards that I had glued together for the thwarts,  and then traced the pattern for the thwarts onto the boards.  Now I need to cut them out and I would like to use Dad's band saw.  Somehow I need to make enough space to do this, and then need to make sure the saw works because no one has used it in years.

Gluing second rail to port side

February 24, 2011
To glue the final rail, I went through the same procedure one more time. I took off the clamps and then glued the second rail on the port side.  To not waste more time or epoxy  I also glued the small thwart together.

The second rail is added to the port side.

Once again I used cement blocks to keep the thwart flat on the table.

Pulling out wires - helpful forum tip

This post falls under the category, "Things I wish I had known".
In reading posts in the CLC Builder's forum, I discovered an easy way to pull out wires embedded in epoxy. For wires that are epoxied in, heat them with a small soldering iron and then you can pull them right out with pliers.  I've been trying to pull them with pliers but so far they just break off.  I was trying to figure out what to do with the wires that are still stuck.  Unfortunately, the wires are very short and almost flush with the hull.  Hopefully they there is enough left for me to grab on to them, because I want to try this tip.

Adding second rail to starboard side

February 23, 2011
I took off the clamps and got the second layer of the rail ready for the starboard side.  I picked up a few more clamps to be sure that we had plenty for this rail because some of the small clamps would not fit the new width of the rail.  I also realized that the space is getting tighter and tighter. Each layer of rail adds another inch and there isn't much room to walk around the dory.

The second rail is in place on the starboard side; one more rail to go.

Added the second rail to the starboard side.

I also glued the medium size thwart together.  When I took the clamps off the one I did yesterday, I realized the the clamps were so heavy that they pulled up on the thwart and now it has a slight curve.  Hopefully I can sand it flat.  This time I put blocks on the thwart to keep weight on it to make sure it was flat on the table.

To make sure the thwart is flat I added some weight.

Gluing port rail to dory

February 22, 2011
I took the clamps off the side I did yesterday and then glued the first layer of the rail on the other side.   I wish I had more clamps because I'm going to have to do the same thing two more times to finish this step.  But I'm too cheap to go out and buy another 30+ clamps.  The "Pony" spring clamps are definitely better than the other ones that I bought, but I think the C clamps work the best.  As we worked our way down the length of the boat, we alternated using the different types of clamps.  Some epoxy did squeeze out as we tried to make sure the rail was tight against the side of the dory.  The manual said not to tighten the clamps too much or the bond or we would lose too much epoxy.  It's had to know how much is too much, but the rail we put on yesterday seems OK.

First layer of port rail glued.

 I also started gluing the thwarts because I was going to have the same problem--I have only four clamps and will have to do them one at a time instead of all three at once. I love that CLC included different colors of wood to make them.

Long thwart glued.

Gluing starboard rail to dory

February 21, 2011
This morning I took the clamps off the rails.  For the most part the packing tape helped to make less of a mess, but I did have a couple of my scraps of wood stuck to the rail.  Fortunately, I was able to pry them off and then had to sand everything smooth. 

We flipped the dory back over and I mixed up some epoxy to a paste like consistency to put the rail on the dory.  I was hoping to do both rails but I had only enough clamps to do the starboard side.  I screwed the rail to the breast hook and then started adding clamps to work our way to the stern.

CLC says to always get more clamps and I can see why with this step. I had only enough clamps to do one side.  I went back over the joint between the rail and the edge of the dory with paper towels to clean up epoxy that was squeezed out with the clamps.

Bending the rail was not as difficult as I thought it would be, even though the rail is about an inch square. I've never built anything with curves like this, and it's cool to see how it all goes together. 

Even with all the clamps I had, there were only enough to do one side.