After that I made some progress building. The planking of the lower hull-half is ready. I laminated the first 2,5 meter of the hull (beginning from the stern) and then ran out of cloth. I thought I'd bought the amount of cloth Ian Farrier had estimated, but clearly I didn't. I'll try to get some new cloth this week.
When laminating the outside of the floats I had a lot of trouble to get a bubble-free and well adhered laminate. One thing I do since then is to coat the foam with epoxy and lay the cloth when that coat is getting sticky. Like this the foam is saturated beforehand so it doesn't suck epoxy while you're busy trying to wet out the cloth. Also you can first tack the cloth bubble&wrinkle free - after that wetting out is quite easy. Downside is of course it's more work than draping the cloth on dry foam and do one wet-out.
I'm using peel ply on the whole surface I'm laminating. I wonder if this is necessary, or am I overdoing it? Maybe it is sufficient to use peel ply in places where a good bond is necessary (like in taping areas). On the other hand I'm not so keen on sanding the laminate prior to further laminating/filling/coating as I'm afraid it can weaken the the laminate (and it is extra work, but so is putting on and wetting out peel ply). Ideas anyone? I transfered the position of the frames to the inside of the foam using my frame-positioning-device shown below.
Making sure the block of wood is straight against the frame I drive the nail through the foam from the outside every 20 cm or so. Then I put the block on the inside of the foam with the nail through the holes, and mark the position of the frame and draw a line with a flexible ehrm.... yardstick(?).
I believe this is accurate enough. Even better would probably be to use a straight needle held directly against the frame, but I don't have any needles in my workshop (who would?). Nails and scrap wood on the other hand......
3 opmerkingen:
The peelply is some extra cost and labour, but this will pay back in leaving a very smooth surface, no need for sanding before paint work and fairing compound, and last but not least, it protects the surface against dirt, drips of epoxy and all other things you can think of that can foul or damage the laminate. I almost said "tracking grass into the hull" but since you are on the second floor there is little chance for that ;-)
Anyhow, I love peelply and use it always and everywhere.
Henny
I also love peel ply. I have used it everywhere, also when hand laminating. I don't think it is much extra work, just put it on after saturating the glass, no need for further wet out, just use a rubber squeege starting from the center of your laminate, squeezing extra resin out, the peel ply is wetted out in this process. Also, it is easier to smoothen the fabric without disturbing the fibers when protected by peel ply
Hi menno,
i always use peelply.
I like your frame-positioning-device
nice and simple...
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