The "Onkalaker" Laker 13

[OnkaBob]

Thanks for the kind words guys. Bruce, I think it's mostly about the time taken so even a no talent bum like me can do it given enough hours . Or to put it more elegantly "Make haste slowly".

"Finished" applying filleting material today (may need to fill some low spots if they show up later) and all looks very rough. Am worried about sanding as the exterior plies are very thin so will need to be very careful.
May be a stupid idea but has anyone tried a spokeshave on the external fillets before the epoxy goes rock hard?
There must be a way to apply this stuff so it forms a neat radius first time - but I'm blowed if I know what it is .

The panels are still at slightly eneven heights at some points along the keel line but being underneath the boat I'm going to accept this as the learning phase and vow to do better on the deck.

The pictures don't look so neat but the staining around the seams is only where the epoxy has come out of the mix and soaked into the ply.

[TARHEEL]

Don't worry about the staining. most of it will blend in when you do you're first saturation coat on the exterior.

[OnkaBob]

Had trouble getting enough filler material to stay in place on the ends to allow for shaping so tried putting tape extending above line to support it.







Got there in the end.
Had the hull out in the sun for a while to help harden the last filler and the shadows showed up the pinched end curves in the panels. This shape is supposed to be good for improved tracking.


Now for the misery bit.
Made a bad decision last night. Was already tired and decided to go ahead with glassing the hull. To cut a long story short it was supposed to be the glass on tacky resin method but the resin had not gone off enough and it became a mess. Result is wrinkles along the bottom, resin everywhere (took a while to get my knees unstuck from each other ) and today I bought a new pair of shoes. 'Nuff said.

The clear message for a first timer here is: follow the recommendations in the instructions ie apply the glass to a dry surface (if I had done this it would have conformed nicely and there would have been NO problem!) and get someone to help you if possible.







So that's all in the past now and I am starting from here.
Sides look to be OK although there is some excess resin in patches. The bottom wrinkles look like bubbles but all feel solid. The problem is that the glass is raised in these areas and will be prone to sanding damage.
There are 3 options that I can think of:
- Coarse sand it all off the bottom and reglass (don't want to)
- Carry on and sand carefully so as not to go through the glass (Will leave a rippled bottom). Use as is for a while with the option of applying another layer of glass during winter maintenance.
- Carry on by sanding the bottom and applying another layer of glass now on the bottom only. The glass is lightweight and I was thinking of doing this anyway.

Opinions/recommendations welcome.

[Bruce36549]

Hi Bob,

Rotten thing to have happen at this stage of the build. I don't know enough about fiberglass to give worthwhile advice, but for me now would be the time to take a step back and not do anything but think about it for a day or two or three. Perhaps sanding through the irregularities and bubbles, then applying FG patches over just those areas and overlapping the unsanded areas by 5 to 10 cm. I wouldn't think that would affect the integrity of the overall build all that much.

Best luck,
Bruce

[john the pom]

Bob, if you had wanted or expected a perfect boat you coulda gone and spent five times what you've spent up to now and within a few months regretted not building your own. The beauty of what you're involved in is. It can be fixed! Its really that simple. Sand off the lumps and as bruce said patch it here and there. If you take your time doing that, by the time you have a few fill coats and some epoxy/graphite on the bottom NO ONE (except everyone on this forum and we all made our own personal mistakes) will have the vaguest idea there was ever a problem. The thing you lost is a bit of time. The thing you've gained is experience In that you probly won't make that mistake again.
Once your boat is finished if anyone ever says to you "thats not good enough", knock them out. Then ask to see the boat that they built

[olsnappa]

G'day Bob........ I have to totally agree with John the Pom and Bruce. This is easily fixable and mate, you wouldn't believe the little and not so little blunders I made along the way with my build...... The great thing is that apart from losing a little time (and using a bit more material) virtualy everything can be fixed. And no-one that's seen my CF has picked up any evidence of the "WOOPS"
As John the Pom said, you'll be amazed at how invisible the error is once you've corrected it. And you WON'T make the mistake again........ I got heaps of mistakes I won't make again

[hairymick]

Bob,

Do yourself a favour mate.

get yourself a pull, carbide scraper. The only ones I have seen available in Australia look like this -



and are available at the better paint shops, I think I even saw one at Bunnings a while back and should cost between 15 and 20 bucks.

They will save a heck of a lot of sanding.

I get those lumps and ridges too at times and after the first wet out coat, I use that scraper to remove them. I do it after the resin has gone hard but before it has cured properly. usually with 24 hours of applying it.

You will need to get rid of them. How you proceed after that is entirely up to you. Bear in mind that these boats are also suitable for stitch and tape construction so unless your lumps are actually over the seams, thereby weakening them, I wouldn't stress too much about it. I would just get rid of the lumps and proceed with the rest of the resin fill coats. - easy.

If you want to apply a little patch over where you have removed your cloth, then do it. Unless the lump was huge, or over a seam, I wouldn't bother.

Again mate, DON"T PANIC!!. Its only wood and epoxy. it can be fixed.

[OnkaBob]

Thanks for all those replies. Ran the full gamut of emotions last night. You know - shock, horror, panic, desperation, anger etc but feeling quite OK about things at present

Did some fine sanding and put a fill coat on this afternoon. There are too many lumps to do individual patches and it would be easier to put another glass layer over the entire bottom so at this stage I think that's the way it will go.

Family day at Monarto zoo tomorrow so no more action til Friday and I can consider the options a bit more in the meantime.

[TARHEEL]

It could be possible to take a utility knife to the larger lumps, cut a slit to remove the trapped air underneath, and patch the area. If there is air beneath the areas in your pics, it could be trouble later on, if not, don't worry w/ it. Most folks are not going to be able to take their eyes off of the beautifully constructed fill lines!

[jem]

Plus it's on the hull bottom.