Thursday, April 19, 2007
Quick Fairing Update
A quick update on the fairing process. In the first couple feet foward of the transom, I've got a pretty good amount of hook, which is basically a depression in the hull. This can negatively affect the way the boat performs on plane, so it needs to be filled, making the back 6-8 ft of the boat a straight run. Bayport Bob had a similar problem and spent a lot of time trying to figure out the best way to correct it. He's had the best success by trueing up the keel and each chine. These can then be used as guides in the same way that wooden forms are used when pouring a concrete sidewalk. The area between the chine and keel lines are filled with fairing compound and and it is pulled down the hull with a straight edge laid across the panel in the same way that the sidewalk is leveled off to the wooden forms. After screwing around with the fairing compound a bit, I think this really is the best way to go. By tonight I should have the keel and chine lines pretty close. I made a longboard by gluing the biggest belt sander belt I could find onto a piece of hardboard and gluing a couple handles onto the other side. I used it on the keel last night and I think that it will help enormously in getting things straight and fair. I may make one out of scrap 1/4" ply too as I think that a stiffer version might be even more useful for the back half of the boat where everything is pretty flat. As I had hoped, the fairing compound has turned out to be much easier to sand than anything so far. I'm sure I will get tired of hand sanding, but right now it's a welcome change from the noise and fiberglass hell that is the random orbit. Will post again when I have something good. Right now, it's just puddles of purple stuff on the hull.
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5 comments:
"Puddles of purple stuff" - that's been my life for the last 6 weeks & longer. But , I'm almost finished - with the outside. I hope the concrete analogy saves you some time and headache. It won't save on any materials though. Compound on, sand off. Repeat...
Your new pics are looking great man. Did you use a longboard for your sanding? Now that I've really started paying attention to the shape of the boat, it seems like the back half of mine is a little different than yours. I think that my panels didn't conform to the frames quite as well as yours did and a little aft of frame C, my keel line starts to "tent" up and create deadrise. I think that it's doing this further back than it should, but there's obviously nothing I can do about it now. I'll just roll with it I guess. To many other things to think about that I actually can fix. What are you thoughts on leaving the keel off? I'm considering it. The Gladesmen has one. The Glades Skiff doesn't. I think the Glades Skiff has harder chines on the running surface than the ECC does though. Just wondering if the benefits outweigh the added inch of draft.
The photos are very deceptive. They make everything look flatter than reality. Especially when you look at the round chine section, it's difficult to tell from the pictures that there's a lot of radius to the chine. I wouldn't sweat the comparison of the back part of the hull because my photos make it look like a pool table when in fact it has noticeable deadrise moving forward.
As far as the keel & a skeg, I'm putting one on basically because the draft factor doesn't really come into play for my fishing style. Almost all of my fishing in Florida has been done from a kayak. It's the ultimate in stealth. And if you want to get really close, you wade. The reason I'm building this boat for the most part is to extend my fishing range since it was extremely limited in the kayak. A 5 mile paddle while kayak fishing is an all day affair. I can still reach the similar fishing areas because of the Flat Stalker's draft, but I'll be able to get to some areas I've really been longing to fish but were out range on a single day kayak trip.
I have a 15 ft canoe that I've poled around quite a bit. It doesn't have any kind of keel, and it can be difficult to keep it on a straight path when the wind and tide are making life difficult. I know that a a skeg will help the boat to track much better when the elements try to push the boat off coarse. Tight turning while poling will be slightly diminished with a skeg, but since boat will be fairly light, a quick push from the side with your pole should bring about a sharp turn with little forward movement.
I used a long board for sanding the bottom and the sides. I broke down and bought one of those 3M fairing boards from Fiberglass Supply for around $34. The sheets are expensive, but last forever since the cutting area is across such a large surface (4" x 30"). The 3M boards are feather light, so there's little fatigue from holding it. They're essentially polyurethane foam molded to shape with a thin, hard "shell" that makes it rigid. I've mostly used the 60 grit paper. If there's an area that needs a lot of shaping or material removal, I'll slap on a 36 grit sheet to get things close and then put a 60 grit sheet back on. I haven't picked up a power tool in weeks. It's all been done by hand.
Spook,
Things are looking very nice, I didn't realize that you had glassed and were fairing. I got to noticing that you hadn't been around the board on bateau in awhile, so I had to come snoop you out.
Looks great, and oh just out of curiosity, Where can I get me one of those sweet "crab" t-shirts, that is priceless....
Pony
Thanks Pony. I tend to only post on Bateau when there is a noticable improvement in the boat. Now it looks worse, just purple. I think that the entomology student organization at UF is responsible for selling the shirts. Their website is at: http://enso.ifas.ufl.edu/index.htm
I would email one of the officers. I see most of them everyday, so I'll do my best to remember to ask one if they have any left.
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