Mini learning project - making skegs.

[goanywhere]

I am in the process of preparing to build a Sabalo, but while I am getting prepared I am planning to do a couple of small projects to get the hang of things.

My first is to make a couple of skegs for my current yak. I have taken some pics but I don't appear to have the user level needed to post pics yet.

So far I have laminated the ply to two thicknesses of 4mm ply (only cheap stuff for this job), cut out the skegs, sanded them to shape, cut out and formed up the mounting brackets (aluminium bar) and applied a coating of epoxy on one side of the skegs and glued the brackets on one side to this coating. I will do the other side with the other brackets tomorrow night.

I next intend to apply glass all over, then after curing, mount them to the hull. A nice little project to get the feel of handling epoxy etc.
One thing I have learnt already is that mixing tiny quantities of epoxy is a pain in the $#@%. I hope I have measured it correctly, it appears to be curing ok.

Also, I didn't have any cheap paint brushes so I had to use a plastic spatula to try to spread the epoxy. Not easy on a small area. I'll get some cheap foam paint brushes from a local discount shop tomorrow.

One other thing I learned is that by waiting for the epoxy to 'gel' it is possible to use it to fill crevices without having to mix filler in it. It is not going to be as strong, but that's not really an issue with this project.

My next project will be to make a pair of outriggers that will be used with my new yak as well as my current one. I'll take that project a bit more seriously. Hopefully I can post some pics soon.