Started with a bargain buy.

[goanywhere]

Hello all. I guess this is where bulders record their triumphs and tears! Well, my first post here will be a triumph. I was offered an almost complete set of gear to make a Sabalo, which I bought today. This fellow was given a gift of a set of plans (wife bought them for him I think), went and bought the best gear - Okoume ply, Bote Cote epoxy, Herringbone weave fibreglass, inspection hatches, etc. etc. and ended up not building it. Now he's bought a moulded yak and decided to sell the lot for $300!

Not a bad start. Only thing was I already ordered a set of plans for a Wadefish 15-32. Now I have the difficult job of deciding which to build. I like them both!

Maybe I'll keep both sets of plans and eventually build them both.

I'll keep you posted on my progress. I won't be starting for a couple of months because I have the 'boss' breathing down my neck to get the house painted first.

Doesn't stop me hopping on the 'net in the wee hours for research purposes though does it!?

Cheers

Steve.

[jem]

$300??? That's an excellent deal!

[goanywhere]

Absolutely! I can't believe my luck. I was hoping originally to build it for around $400 but the more research I did the more my budget grew and grew. Just when I was starting to get a bit despondent and thinking how I could compromise, this deal came up.

A really nice guy too. He has built two other JEM's and so he has heaps of experience to go along with the bargain.

Cheers.

[goanywhere]

Actually I can't be certain that his other builds were JEM's but i think at least one was.

[goanywhere]

I practiced mixing some epoxy to laminate the ply for a couple of skegs I am making for my current yak. I had some 4:1 epoxy I bought awhile ago, so I thought I would have a play with it for this little project. I found trying to mix a small amount at 4:1 a bit difficult to judge, (for my build proper I will be using Bote Cote 2:1) but I wanted to get an idea of working time and consistency etc. more than anything else. I think I must have got it fairly right because the gel time was about what the instructions said. I think that building in winter is going to be a test of patience rather than speed. That's good though, I want to have plenty of time to get epoxy application and working right and not have to be worried about it going 'off' too fast.

I will attempt to glass the skegs this week and see how I go. They are only small so I will just be using glass tape, but it's at least a start at getting a hang of how it works, having never fibreglassed anything in my life before.

Next project will be to make 2 outriggers, where I will have a play at stitching and filleting etc. I will be using these on my current one as well as my new build, so I want to do a decent job. I'll keep you informed, and may even take some pics.

Cheers.

[goanywhere]

Just as a bit of an update - and to demonstrate my total newbie-ness re using epoxy. I just checked the glued laminated plywood skegs to see how the epoxy was curing and it absolutely amazed me! I am amazed at the strength of the laminated plywood pieces with the epoxy glue. With a fibreglass coating these things will be pretty much indestructible!

I know.... small things.... but I am sure everyone here had a 'wow' moment when they first saw how strong epoxy is.

Why didn't I get into this earlier? I'm going to love this!

[jem]

You're on the right path doing little projects first. Using that stuff is addicting, isn't it?

[OnkaBob]

I can see it now - "Hello, my name is Steve and I am a boataholic"

[goanywhere]

Hey, if you can't be amazed by little things anymore you are one foot in the grave!

And yes I can see that too Bob!

Just a thought though, I was trying to nut out how I was going to glass such small pieces without making an absolute mess. I thought of taping some baking sheet to a board, making up the aluminium brackets that the skegs will mount on, attachting them to the skegs, screwing them to the board with the baking sheet, glassing the whole lot and then trimming it all. The epoxy won't stick to the baking sheet so any excess will just peel away making it easy to trim.

To get a good adhesion of the aluminium to the ply, would you suggest using fillet material or just glass and epoxy? I could also use small nuts and bolts but I don't really want to do that.

I was thinking to tack the angled brackets to the skegs first with just a dab of epoxy, then use fillet material to 'encapsulate' the bracket and make the mounting smooth and without any ridges etc. then glassing over that. Otherwise the glass may not fit right down into the little 3mm ridge from the alumin bracket.

Your thoughts?

[OnkaBob]

You've probably described what you want to do very well but words are never as good as a photo for this type of thing and I can't just picture it.

From what you've said my thoughts are :

- The aluminium is a problem. Epoxy will stick to it but not well enough for my liking, especially in a structural situation. Over time with expansion and contraction it will become more prone to failure. It should be possible to design skegs that can be made entirely from ply/epoxy/glass.
- I gather these skegs are going onto a plastic hull. If so then screw/bolts are probably the best fixing method. Again it is a matter of adhesion for structural performance and plastic is difficult to glue things to. There are specialist glues for this but cosidering that skegs are likely to be damaged and need replacement occasionally mechanical fasteners are a good option.
- For a non stick working surface put some plastic wrap on a board and tape it around on the back side. Same principle as the baking paper but I suspect the paper will stick whereas I know the plastic will come off OK ('cos that's what I use!).

My thoughts may not make sense due to me not understanding the task - photos of a cardboard mock up might be a way to explain what you are doing more clearly. You mentioned earlier that this will be your first ever experience with glassing something - are you going to try to wrap the glass over the edge of the skeg or do each side flat? I ask because you will find it difficult to make the glass conform and stay in place around the edges. Again, a picture will enable us to give specific advice on the pitfalls of this project and improve the odds of success.