02-17-2017, 04:40 PM
The weekender plans call for a bead of 5200 along the joints of the interior. Would it be better to just do a fillet of thickened epoxy?
02-17-2017, 04:40 PM
02-17-2017, 07:32 PM
I didn't do either. I made sure that my joints were pretty good and painted the interior with four coats of topsides enamel. The 5200 isn't going to give you any more strength than you already have with the epoxy coupled with the screws. Basically, fillets are used where you don't have a stringer backing up the joint between two pieces of plywood. 5200 is merely to ensure that if water gets into the cabin or any other interior space that it doesn't get behind the stringers and start to rot the joint. You could get by fine with any good exterior house caulking as long as it is paintable. I have a ton of stringer joints in my new build and I expect that some of them will be covered with exterior caulk. Some of the joints I will do epoxy fillets, but not all of them.
Having said that, I like to always have some squeeze out whenever I do a glue joint. I like it to go the full length of the joint so that I can be certain that I have full coverage inside the joint. With an epoxy joint, you can clean up the finish with your gloved finger and leave a small amount as a tiny fillet along the joint. Always clean up right after you goo up a joint or you will regret it. When I built my weekender, I spread the excess over the interior of the sides as a pre-coat for the paint. I usually mixed up way too much goo so I had plenty to do the job. These days I don't wipe up much at all.
Al
Having said that, I like to always have some squeeze out whenever I do a glue joint. I like it to go the full length of the joint so that I can be certain that I have full coverage inside the joint. With an epoxy joint, you can clean up the finish with your gloved finger and leave a small amount as a tiny fillet along the joint. Always clean up right after you goo up a joint or you will regret it. When I built my weekender, I spread the excess over the interior of the sides as a pre-coat for the paint. I usually mixed up way too much goo so I had plenty to do the job. These days I don't wipe up much at all.
Al
02-17-2017, 08:22 PM
Thanks Al, did you do the Bondo thing for fairing or just fill with epoxy and sand smooth?
02-18-2017, 04:58 AM
I did use a little bondo, but just in small places like wide gaps in a non-structural joint. I didn't fair the hull at all. When I got the sides on, I checked them and they were pretty good, so I just glassed and painted. I also didn't do anything to the keel. It looks like a little kid did mine. I did spend a lot of time fairing the decks though. The butt joints up there were pretty hard to hide. In that case I used epoxy because I wanted the deck to be really strong. Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't hesitate to fair a boat with epoxy fairing compound. When you get to that point make yourself a couple long boards for sanding. I made mine out of the 1/4 inch ply that I used for the sides. I bought a bunch of stick on sand paper rolls of different grits from an auto body supply store to use on the boards. 80 grit seems to be the one I use the most. You will be shocked at how fast a 20 inch long board will take down a big area.
I filleted all the joints like the seats and cockpit sole which went a long way toward making the boat look nice. I have found that sharp joints show just how sloppy my work is, so I do away with them all together. You will discover many of these things as you progress on your build.
Al
I filleted all the joints like the seats and cockpit sole which went a long way toward making the boat look nice. I have found that sharp joints show just how sloppy my work is, so I do away with them all together. You will discover many of these things as you progress on your build.
Al