BYYB Forums

Epoxy will eventually post cure itself when placed in the sun for long enough. What happens is the epoxy shrinks just a touch and you'll get cloth print through, if the primer and/or top coats are thin enough. What I do on non-critical jobs is let the goo cure for a week (I have an average temperature here over 70 degrees), then roll the what ever into the sun for a few days, covered with a black tarp in the cooler months. The epoxy shrinks and it's on to primer. If you paint over, before it fully cures, the print through can usually be wet sanded out, with a long board and additional top coats. This is one way to really fine tune the paint job.

Ever prep something, thinking it's really nice, just to have the gloss show you all the spots you missed? This is the time to fix this. A long board, wet sanding will revel the lows very quickly and you can knock down the highs, to bring them closer together. This is why I insist on sufficient film thickness. Lots of primer, knowing 50% or more will get sanded away and ditto the top coat, for the same reason. If you can post cure with the sun or heat lamps or what ever in the process, you can kill two birds with one kerosine heater.

At about 50 degrees the slow Marinepoxy will cure, but it'll take about a week to 10 days. It really prefers over 60 and at 70 you can guarantee an over night cure.

Started to get out the keel, rub rails and gunwales today. Figured out how to get all the above out of the ash pieces that I bought for this purpose two years ago.  Set up the table saw. Drew a deep breath and flipped the switch.  Nothing happened. Checked the cord.  It ran my drill fine. Checked the reset button on the saw.  Not tripped.  My saw is broke and I'm not sure why. I can't sy that I miss it.  This old Ryobi-low price point machine always scared the crap out of me anyway.  But I'm still pretty peeved that it wimped out just as I was about to make some profound progress.  Still don't know why it would cease operation between uses and not in process.

The first check to preform is to use a piece of scrap wood and spin the blade after you've turned it on. If the motor has a bad segment in the commutator, it'll prevent it from starting up. It also depends on the type of motor. If it's capacitor start, you could just have a bad one. They cost about 10 bucks and are simple to change out.

The next check is to see if the motor is actually trying to start. Make sure things are quite in the shop and flip the on switch. Is the motor trying to hum. If so, give the blade a spin. Of course use some common sense spinning the blade, as it'll try to kick back anything you use to spin it with.

A motor with brushes can also do this, when the brush spring breaks or the brushes themselves are very worn. Sometimes all you need to do, is smack the side of the motor housing, near the back with a small hammer. Anyone with an old Chevy starter knows this trick, when brushes wear down. The shock of the smack will sometimes jolt the brushes enough to make contact with the commutator.

Lastly check the motor for dust buildup. Blow it out with an air hose or leaf blower. Then try it again. Most of these motors are designed to run really dirty, but enough dirt can stop them. You could get real anal about it and pull a load test or amp draw on it.

Table saw repair and further build progress will have to wait a while as we're headed to Florida on vacation.  Paul- unfortunately (or fortunately, depending upon how you like meeting up with the builders you advise), we'll be in Santa Rosa Beach, several hours away from Eustis.  Otherwise, I'd swing by and say hi.  If you happen to be near that part of the panhandle, send me a message and I'd love to meet up.

I did get to be a bit productive tonight, even without a saw.  I did a complete inventory of my lumber supplies (it didn't take long), and compared it to the remaining bits that are required to finish the boat.  Surprisingly, with some creative adaptations, it should work out just right.  Here's the current prospective fit out for the rest of the boat-

Inwales, outwales, rubrail, keel- Ash
Inwale filler blocks- Maple
Breasthooks and oarlock pads-  Walnut
Seat Risers- Pine or Spruce (I honestly don't know which this board is, but it's a really nice 12 foot 1x8)
Floor Timbers- Pine or Spruce
Sole Boards- Cypress
Thwarts and Seats- Bamboo

Yes, bamboo.  Believe it or not, I have some great solid bamboo flooring left over from a kitchen remodel.  ~8 inch wide click-together style.  I plan on coating the click parts with epoxy, snapping them together and making wide panels.  Hope it doesn't look too weird.

I have a few options still open, given the small supply of lumber.  For example, I have some pieces of nice maple and cherry plywood that could substitute for the seats (not long enough for thwarts.)  Also, I've got a thin length of solid cherry that might work for the inwale filler blocks and give a nice contrast.  Not sure if I have enough though.  All this is of course contingent upon access to a working table saw.  We'll see how that works out in a week from now.

It's definitely going to take a while if someone asks me, "So, what kind of wood did you use to build this boat?"

That's quite a list.  I used merenti ply, fir and cedar for my boat, mahogany for the tiller handle, rudder and dagger board, a piece of poplar for the seat top and hemlock for the oars.  When most people ask what wood I used I just tell them marine plywood, mahogany and fir since those three account for 95% of the boat.  The only comments I get are on the wood grain of the tiller handle and how straight and light the oars are.  Unless you are talking with another boat builder or someone that works wood most people seem to relate to wood grain or the paint job.

It's odd, but the first question most people ask me about this boat is, "Are you going to sell it when you're done?"

I've found the first question is "were did you buy it?".

I am ashamed to say that the most common question I get asked is..."You built this?".  The tone of voice usually communicates doubt of my being able to create anything of the boats quality.  It stems from a history of building halloween prank devices, corrals that reguired a 45 minute application of a 90 pound jackhammer for each hole and complex irrigation systems that suffer from limitations of low water flow.  Their suprise that I could build something with nice lines, steam bent wood and a nice looking paint job is understandable.

Well, I'm back to work on the boat after a week in Fla.  Keel is roughed out, as are the gunwales.  Still need to rough out the rub rail, but I'm debating whether to build it out of ash as a whole or make it as a two part rope rub rail.  Regardless, here's progress-

Keel roughed out.  It fits!  Now I need to do some final shaping and install it before painting.

that looks amazing, what determined the depth / shape of your keel?