I decided to make the deck right on top of the floats using them as a support surface for tracing, joining and lamination. Actually I made each deck on the opposite float ( upside down) since they are simetrical. I left the chainplate HD insert for last in order to make moving around easier.It worked very well and could be a good solution for other builders.
Here I decided to make round holes for the colloidal silica HD inserts. It's much easier and cleaner.
Double layer laminations applied on specified areas and peel plied.
View of the bow. I think it looks pretty good.Shaping the bow can be a bit challenging at first but it turns out to be pretty easy once you get the hang of it. A power planer comes in very handy! Just down start plowing too much! At the end elbow grease will bring down to the right shape.
View of the two bows. Note the rebate that was made to compensate for the thickness of the extra layers. I decided to set them parallel to the bow line so I could use a straight piece of fabric and make lamination easier. It worked out very well.
Exterior lamination.
This close-up shows the foam before lamination. Here I applied a coat of resin and glass ballons to fill in the pores and create a substrate to improve epoxy bonding and avoid those typical white patches that frequently show up in the laminate. These patches can be extensive and ruin the laminate.
I used a roller to spread the coat around. I found it very difficult to spread a uniform coat along the float. This wasn't a problem since the idea is to create a grid like distribution to serve as anckoring points just in case conditions arise for the development of "no-bond" patches.
The float's surface was also very carefully dust vaccumed. It took a good 45 minutes ( 2-3 passes) using a heavy dutty vaccum cleaner .
As you can see the laminate came out with a very high quality for hand lay-up (I'm using two 280gr/m2 fabrics for A laminate). No bubbles, no white patches at all and a very thin laminate.
What you see below the glass is the pattern of the pre-coat distribution and some foam joints.
After applying the resin-putty coat the surface must be thouroughly sanded which takes a lot of time but it's well worth the extra work.
Here is a wider view of the laminate.
Here is a wider view of the laminate.It came out perfect!
I couldn't find a single flaw in the lamination except for some minor spots with some extra resin.
I was a bit aprehensive about those damned white patches that kept on showing up on previous laminations.
This time I decided to put some extra work on surface preparation and it really paid off!
Luis -- looks good. Check out Jay's site. He had significant difficulty with bubbles (variant of WNBP?). His solution was a layer of bog then glass while still wet. Solved his problem, and no sanding in between. My guess is that its increase in viscosity helps hold things in place. If you place glass down under tension (or with small fold) it seems at first like it lays down with resin, but that tension usually wins before the cure and glass rises.
ResponderEliminarI clean all surfaces with compressed air after vacuuming which helps clean out open cells. I believe that even though the foam seems to 'absorb' an inordinate amount of resin, it is this intricate interface that allows a strong bond. Open cells without resin are the enemy. I appreciate how your problems seem less, but . . . bog doesn't enter the small cells very well = less surface area for bonding (this is a mechanical, not chemical bond), maybe theoretical but micoballoons decrease strength of resin, and now you have another bond layer which unless you're quick is mechanical again, not chemical.
How does any of this jive with your experiences or thoughts?
Andrew