TexasKayakFisherman.com

This week I put a fill coat on the outside and then started sanding.
And sanding... and sanding.

I sanded the bottom and then one side. It was about the time I was getting to the end of that first side, when I began to understand how much sanding was needed. At that point, (about an hour of sanding), I realized that I had to do the entire boat again.
Now, mind you, I still don't have a clue as to how much to sand or where to stop. But, it seemed to me that after 1 fill coat, I needed to get it as fair as I could. So, I sanded until the whole thing was smooth as silk. (mostly)

I hope I didn't sand all the glass and epoxy off, but it was pretty darn smooth when I got finished. Took another 2 to 3 hours. Broke my sander in the process. I use a Rigid ROS and the base pad is about 1/2" thick made of some kind of foam. It just came apart. So, this morning, I went to Home Depot and bought a Ryobi base pad (same thing) and finished my sanding.

Put the 2nd fill coat on just in time for the Cowboys game.

Here are some pics.

A lot of sanding isn't it...looking good..

Well, honestly, I think I sanded too much. There were lots of places where I was sanding the top of the cloth down because I could feel the weave.
I guess I won't know till the boat gets in use if I took too much off.

Are you planning any type of extra coating for the bottom? Graphite?

2 words

sa weet

tbone56, I'm assuming your using the velcro type sanding discs, if so as your now aware there's a lot of sanding, those backing pads you refer to don't last to long before your discs take off flying (velcro worn) I carry a couple spare pads to avoid downtime.

preacher, good to see your posting again, trust the health is steadily improving.

MM

TexaRican wrote:Are you planning any type of extra coating for the bottom? Graphite?

Yep. I ordered the graphite when I got my epoxy.
I was thinking 2 coats.

makenmend wrote:tbone56, I'm assuming your using the velcro type sanding discs, if so as your now aware there's a lot of sanding, those backing pads you refer to don't last to long before your discs take off flying (velcro worn) I carry a couple spare pads to avoid downtime.

preacher, good to see your posting again, trust the health is steadily improving.

MM

Thanks. Yes that's exactly what I have. I am planning to keep a spare. Appreciate the tip!

Thanks Preacher!

Well, another interesting day for the beginner!

Today we learn how not to do an end pour.
I have read a lot of posts on this subject but it just doesn't stop me from making things harder!
I wanted to do both ends at the same time which meant the boat would be horizontal during the process.
Here is the setup for my end pours:
You can see the duct tape dam and the 2x6 wood block I fit to take up some volume.
I am running a little low on filler material so my epoxy was a little thin. I didn't mind this because I wanted it to flow around the block of wood.



Well, so here I go mixin' and pourin' and mixin and pourin.
Then the dam sprang a leak. No little dutch boy to be found... and then it broke.
Epoxy rushing towards the bulkhead.

Well, not to panic. I re-taped the dam over the top of the nose a couple of layers.
Then, I picked the boat up and carried it outside and set it on end.
Even though there was not much wind, I tied the boat up so it wouldn't fall over.


Epoxy rushes back to the end of the boat. All epoxy is squeegeed back to the front and this is what we have:




I had to tape a little stick on the wood block to keep it from floating up.


And, here is how it came out.




It seems that I either need to spend more time setting up the end pour, or just plan on doing one end at a time.

That's all for now. Planning on doing the other end tonight.

Wish me luck!

Nice. I've had the tape fail on an end pour more than once. You'd think a feller could learn from his mistakes

Nice save, trying to do to much at once, usally gets me in trouble.

MM

Been a while since my last post.
I have been agonizing over doing the detail work on the topside, and have been putting it off.
I had find a way to make some cedar strips to use for inwales. I finally got my radial arm saw set up well enough to do a fair job of that and after going through a million 2 x 6 boards at Lowes', I finally got some cedar strips.

After making the strips, I was rounding one of the ends to fit next to the bulkhead filet and broke it off about 6 inches short. GRRR!!

So, today, I am scarfing on about a foot to that one.

I got the decks put together. That was agonizing. I guess they came out okay. Not as nice as most of y'alls work, but I'll take it as a first time effort.

Here is what I started with on the rear deck:


Then I added glue strips:



Stitched everything together






I just like taking pictures



Well, not knowing any better, I put goopie along the top of the deck. Afterward, I had the pleasure of removing all of it with the sander.


Here is the inwale scarf glue up




Port side inwale being glued in:




Here are the 2 decks. They have glass and 1 fill coat on each side.




Here, I set the bow deck on the boat just to see it.


Hopefully, I will get the hatches cut out of the decks this weekend.
Oh. By the way, I weighed it this morning with both decks. It weighs right at 60 lbs. Looks like I'll be lucky to keep it under 70 lbs.
That's all for now.

Hey group! Long time....
Well, one divorce, and 2 houses later, I am going to get back to work on my River Ranger build.
The sad thing is that I have to repair the boat before I even got it wet.
While moving the boat to storage, I loaded it on my trailer too close to the back of the truck and when I turned a sharp corner, the truck caught the nose of the boat and bent it around. My tie down straps held tight and it broke the joints in the front of the boat.

My previous pics are all gone, so I'll just post a couple to show where I left off. Here are the spots on the outside where there is damage.

Here is the inside. Here is the starboard side bottom joint where to glass cracked

This one is the furthest away from the bow. I got to work last night repairing the inside. Put a strip of glass down there.
Here, the boat is upside down. I am ready to fix the outside. I also began putting on the lips for the hatch.

Made a little progress.
I repaired the damaged areas and then applied 2 coats of graphite/epoxy to the bottom.
Now I think I am able to concentrate on the topsides.
Here is the bottom.

Now I can work on the topsides.
So many options that I have to decide upon.

What seat? where to put it? how to mount it?
Foot rests, buy adjustables or make some fixed ones?

Rod holders. I need to either find some tubes or make some before I attach the front deck. Also need to attach the rod holders inside the main compartment.

Bow and stern carry handles.

Decide whether to paint the inside or leave natural.
Decide on the varnish or clear coat.

Choices tend to slow me down quite a bit.
Here is the bow deck set in place: Water bottle shot: Stern

Glad to see you're getting that boat done. After everything that you've been through, you could use a nice relaxing float.

I have had to repair some of my goof ups too. She looks good you will be fishing before long.
Ron

I wanted to ask you guys about epoxy in cold weather.

Will it cure correctly in temperatures between 32 and 45? I am using 3:1 epoxy.

That is one of the excuses to myself for not doing more work on it.

Thanks for the support!

It will but it takes longer for sure. For my present build I have 3 hardeners slow, medium and fast, and I find the fast (4-1) will pretty much set up over nite with our weather now.

MM

Okay. Thanks.
No more excuses.

would someone please delete the previous post.

MM

Sorry for the slow delete ,been out of town for a few days.
Report any post like that and they will disappear fast. It sure helps the mods.
Ron
PS happy new year to everyone.

I have news!
I finally finished this boat!!!
It has taken me sooooo long!!
Before I could have room to work on the boat, I had to remodel my shop. I didn't have time while I was working.
I retired March 2019, so now I could get started on the remodel.
Finally got the shop in order in January 2020.
I took some progress pictures so I could share. Here goes: