Sabalo build finally underway!

[goanywhere]

I've got to say that I'm pretty proud of my achievement so far. Apart from the little hickup above, the results are very nice. The hull is perfectly square, the bow is straight, the stern is well shaped and the CP and TW frames sit nicely in contact with the hull almost at every point. Still lots of opportunity to make booboos but so far, so good.

My neighbour came over tonight and drooled all over it, then went and brought his partner over to have a look. I have the feeling that they might be looking at building one themselves. Hey, do I ge a commission on referrals? (Joke!)

[goanywhere]

Another question (what is the record for the most questions on one build Matt?), if I'm going to glass the inside of the hull, do I need to tape the fillets on the seams as well? It seems to be a bit of overkill to me, and the instructions seem to propose either taping or full glassing, but not both.

[jem]

No need to tape the seams and then glass over. Since you're using the thinner ply, I say glassing the entire interior is best.

As for the questions... believe me, you're not even close to "the record". I had a high school student that never picked up a hammer before try to build a SOT. I got him half way through it before he handed it off to a wood shop teacher and he finished it. I bet we swapped 50 emails and spent at least a couple hours on the phone.

But questions are a good thing! It helps me develop me plans and assembly instructions so that they are clearer. That translates into a better quality product and easier builds for everyone else. So keep the questions coming!

[goanywhere]

Oh good, so I don't need to hold back like I have been

I was planning to do the following:

• Fillet the inside of the hull 'empty'
  Glass the entire hull inside
  Stitch the frames back
  Fillet and tape the frames (I might leave the stitches in place and trim and sand off the outside bit, nobody will see anything and it will save time.)
  Glass the outside etc. etc.

I will probably do the inside hull in 4 or more sections, overlapping on the bottom seam to make it easier, and tackle the bow and stern area separately. I will also tackle the outside in 2 halves, overlapping the glass to cover panels D twice. That should be strong enough, what do you think? I will also be using 3 coats of epoxy/graphite on the bottom of the hull to the waterline, or probably in line with the top of panels C. (I think thick black stuff will cover over alot of blemishes).

Yes, as someone who has written procedure manuals for work I know what you mean about fine tuning. There are a thousand things you do without realising it and you don't think to include them in writing because they are 'obvious' to you - but not to a newcomer. But they are still excellent instructions and plans and have heaps of great tips and guidelines .

[jem]

your plan sounds good. You probably won't need to restitch frames. Straps on the outside of the hull and maybe some weights on the inside should hold it all in place.

[goanywhere]

I'll try that and see how it goes. It would save time for sure.

[goanywhere]

Well.... I finished off the filleting inside the hull tonight. Unfortunately It is a bit of a mess. I don't know but maybe the consistency of the first batch of filleting material was not right, probably a bit dry. I tried using the curved spatulas I have, but in the end I just used my fingers. I think that they will be find as far as strength goes, and they are nice and smooth, just that they aren't as neat as I would have liked. Fortunately with the Sabalo, the inside isn't visible to the casual observer

The second batch was better and I did manage to smooth it off with a spoon, but it's still not a perfectionist's job. I might have to sand them a bit before glassing the inside, but not too much I think.

The bow area. To get a smooth surface I mixed some straight epoxy and smoothed it over the fillets. They came out nice and smooth, if not neat.


As you can see, some of the fillets are more neat than others


Toward the stern.

[ayjay]

This all looks so familiar to me...



Good work! Yeah, the hull sags before you get the frames/stringers permanently in place. That's not anything to worry about. Once you have the inside work done, you might have to round off the frame corners due to the fillets and make minor adjustments to the edges with a sander to get them to fit in place properly due to the inside glass work, but they can be stiched back in place well enough to fillet them in and then glass them in.

[ayjay]

Also, if you can, it is really easier to do the outside of the hull in 1 giant piece of glass. Lay it out and trim it around the edges, with a little overlap that you can grind off later. Then you have no seam to feather and fair out. Just plan for an afternoon of mixing epoxy and wetting glass. It goes pretty quickly, really. You can massage the glass into conforming nicely to the hull, with the most effort at the bow and stern. I double layered the bow and stern with an extra layer of glass tape on top for toughness.

[goanywhere]

Thanks Ajay. I want a double layer on the bottom panels and the lower bow/stern areas. That's why I was thinking of overlapping the glass on the bottom. With my ROS it doesn't take long to feather the edges, particulary if I get them in line with the seams. The other alternative is glassing in one sheet then applying a second layer, but I don't know if I will have enough glass to do that without having to use multiple strips, which I definitely don't want to have to do.

Also, Matt suggests doing the hull bottom in two sections because glassing the tumble-home panels upside down can be a pain. That allows you to tilt the hull and get a better access to that panel if you do it in two halves.

You are right about the sanding of the seams. I had to fill 'proud' on a couple of the external seam that just would not sit flat so I could sand them down without risking a weak seam. I was very careful to cut the panels to size but it seems that it still requires a bit of 'tweaking' to get everything fitting together properly. I guess a millimeter here plus another bit there etc. all adds up. That's what makes building one of thes such a satisfying exercise I guess.

I know I could have taped off the seams when filleting the inside, but I didn't have enough blue masking tape and couldn't be bothered buying another roll, it's not cheap, and I don't mind the look anyway, it gives it more of that 'rustic' appeal