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It's the false keel I was thinking about deleting, along with the outside stem.  I suppose the real issue is that I'm a bit timid about taking off any more material from the stems.  The keel is pretty easy, it's just laid on there, screwed and glued, but right now I've got about 3/4 of an inch of flat on the ends (that is, flat area on the bow and stern to lay the outer stem on) and I simply don't know how much more I can take off before I cut through the hull or get it too thin.  :-\


More pics-


I should sweep more often.


Haven't seen this cleaned off in quite a while.


Panorama of the shop.  Put down plastic tonight to catch the epoxy drips.  Should have done that to begin with, but I can live with the glue bumps

From a while ago ... (Page #1 of the post) ...

(07-25-2012, 12:39 PM)Will_Lavender link Wrote:I even have a door that she will fit through.  Really!  I measured!

Will she still fit through the door if you put the Keel on?


So I suppose it would be fair to ask why is the keel on a Maine Pea Pod in the first place?  Does it help the boat track better while rowing across a windy lake?


Tom

(10-08-2012, 08:11 AM)tombayus link Wrote:So I suppose it would be fair to ask why is the keel on a Maine Pea Pod in the first place?  Does it help the boat track better while rowing across a windy lake?

That is the million dollar question. 

The false keel is a rub strip on this design and it does offer some tracking ability underway, though not a lot. The false stem is a cap to cover the hood ends of the planking. Will, split the different in regard to how much you grind off the planking to fit the false stem. By this I mean you can "back out" the false stem to fit over the planking, rather then grind a flat along the centerline. I don't think it will make much difference if it's epoxied in place, but will if screwed over bedding. The false keel could be left off, but the planking will then take all the abuse in beaching and grounds. If it was me, I'd epoxy the stem and bed the keel, knowing the keel will likely need to be replaced at some point, but the stem probably not. If the stem does need repairs, these will be "scabbed" on, rather than wholesale replacement.

Okay, so here's a tentative plan. My strips are 3/8" thick, which means that two strips placed flat against each other would be 3/4" thick.  Since none of the strips planking this boat are flat against each other, it is reasonable to assume that the thickness of the planking from one side of the boat to the other at the bow would never be less than 3/4".  If this is correct, then a 3/4" flat would be the widest I could cut and still be sure that there will be material underneath. 

With that in mind, I can grind the hood ends down to 3/4" and no further.

Then fiberglass the outside of the hull.

I could then cap the hood ends with a laminated false stem of 1" wide, tapering down a 3/4" cutwater.  Any small variation in width between the stem and the planking on each side where it is epoxied to the boat would be filled with an epoxy filler. 

The keel I cut for the original design (before wood strip conversion of the plans) is 1.75" wide.  I would taper it down at the ends to match the false stem and attach with bedding compound and screws.

Starting to 'glass-  Step 1: 4 oz fiberglass to clearcoat the sheer strake.  Generous overlap will be covered by 10 oz cloth.


Now you see it...


Now you don't!

This shot doesn't look different, but there are two layers of 10 oz fabric on the boat in addition to the 4 oz along the sheer.





Here is a pic that shows the weave of the 10 oz and the spot where the two layers overlap on the bottom. Lots of work still to do.  I can't believe how much epoxy this stuff soaks up!



Overall, this was much, much more difficult and took much longer (>3 hours) than I expected.  There, I said it.  10 oz cloth is really hard to get to lay down where you want it to.  Lots of bubble to chase.  I made it hard on myself by putting the 10 oz on while the epoxy from the 4 oz was tacky (the normal recoat stage) AND doubling up the 10 oz fabric on the bottom.  I knew I would have a fight on my hands and I was ready for it.  Nonetheless, I got caught off guard in a few spots.  I kept at it until the cloth finally surrendered to an abundance of goo.

One interesting little tidbit.  I don't know where I read this, or if I even did, but I found that a dry roller does a great job of evening out the epoxy after you've wet out all your 'glass.  You simply pull the roller, with firm pressure, straight down the side of the boat in strips.  Shiny spots disappear and the weave stands out as it should on the first coat. 

Well, time to go back down to the basement and chase drips!

Stay tuned!

The pictures show some white spots, especially near the bow. Have you worked those out before the goo kicked off?

I hope my fiberglass job comes out at least that good.  I'll be the first to admit that im clueless when it comes to fiberglass. I have been in the process of making a basswood model, decided to fiberglass the bottom and hull up to the rub rails, and well, lets just say if it ever sets.up, it will be a 1000 hour sanding job, or a oh well, pitch it start over. :'(

@Paul-  Yes, I worked on those.  The spots that are still light are where the wood filler is (look a few pages back in this thread to see the w/o glass). I worried over those a long time before I was satisfied that they weren't voids. 

@Josh-  it's a good idea to practice like that and get a feel for how epoxy and fiberglass act.  My first practice run, I mixed my goo at a 2 to 1 ratio but unfortunately it was 2 parts hardener to 1 part hardener.  Couldn't figure out why it wouldn't kick off!