Inner Bow area done!

 

Good weather is kicking in ( so I hope!) . Forecast points to increasing temperatures. 30’s are expected in some regions in the south. Oh boy is it gonna get hot! Resin will flow like olive oil and exotherms will speed up faster than you can spell it! Time to put on some shorts and stock up adequate hydration. Before have to make room for it.

Use a old freezer as a tool box. Very handy and keeps moisture out if properly ventilated. Most of those rolls are unusable for lamination. They came out in a promotional multi roll pack which made the price of the 4 out of 12 I needed cheaper than just the price the composite lamination rolls. At the time must have bought about 10 packs ( 50 useful rolls). Never saw the promotion again! Luckily just found a great place where I buy them at little more than €0,80 a roll. These rolls are just perfect for hand lay-up. I can’t remember when I had to use the brush other than very small and intricate situations.    

A snapshot of the tool “section”. Got to keep things decently organized. No need to waist precious time wondering around looking for the simplest of the tools.

Yes, the inner bow area is done ( well , curing)!

Now can work on setting in the from berth starboard half.

No paint here. No paint , no weight! No need! 

 Another two steps in the project. In this case to climb aboard the "vessel"

 

When I look at what I have ahead I ask myself: How am I gonna get in there? Working in the Bow area is by all means a test to body contortionism. Thinking that working at the fore beam mounts area is far from being a walk in the park, there’s no comparison in terms o space clearance. In the bow are in can only work with one arm not to mention the fact that all your body stability is everything but stable.

So far been working on preparations (filleting, glass cutting,etc)  as next weather window is just around next Monday and should old 3-4 days. Snow on the heart of a typical Mediterranean Atlantic climate region at the door step of summer is just not for spiritual believers!

I would be very happy if had both fore beam mount areas laminated by next Wednesday.

Before temps and moisture get back up to decent levels I´ll be busy making the anchor well support strips mold.

Rough footage

 Port aft beam detail with some putty on and some pre sanding, to get the hang of it. Rebates and exterior hull overlays can be seen.  Rough and ugly but a good way to give good use to putty left overs from other works. No need to throw away epoxy putty when you can use it to start filling major lows. With time you should be left mostly with general fairing putty. Got to find a practical way to get that shiny waxy stuff out without hurting the fibre. Don´t simple washing and scrubbing will get there.

 

Other than the rebated areas it looks like I may walkway with minimum fairing compound, so I hope.

This is an idea I’ve been working on to solve the anchor door supports. I could pre-mold this profile (actually 4x250) and bond them around the anchor well cut out . The alternative of glassing straight on the well edges without vacuum doesn’t please a bit. On the other end, given the weather it´s a good task to take on.

Angles

Not a bad day today. Thought would do a lot less. Knowing that tomorrow and the day after will be rainy I needed the fore beam mount fillets to be ready for the next good weather window which should run from Friday through Monday. With the beam mounts almost complete I can start thinking about working on the aft bunks, passageway and anchor well ( plus a million things in between!).

If I tell you I may end up building a carbon mast then you know I’m in for the long one.

Right now this is nothing more than a somewhat meaningful composite architecture, and although far from being a sailing boat, it’s getting there a step at a time.

Slow but steady

The plan that I had set for myself to have all 4 beam mounts finished by Tuesday is not going to happen. It´s not the sort of detail one would want to rush. These are critical structural details that need special attention. It should be done correctly and flawlessly. Laminates should be clean and strong and there shouldn’t be no allowance for flaws that could cause premature delamination or structural failure even considering long term stress fatigue. So I take my time and try to laminate by stages making sure that glass is laid down with minimal discontinuities and distortions (especially Unidirectionals). I’m also using peel-ply over the first stage putty filling to allow the following putty fillets to bond well and avoid sanding. So far all has been done by hand lay up ( no vacuum or infusion). I believe laminates are reasonably strong and lean. There are no signs of bubbles,  voids or starved glass. There´s some rainy weather ahead (mainly showers) but should be resuming by Thursday.
Notice that I braced the aft beam bridge with some plywood. I was just getting tired of bumping ( actually fell down once) against the  existing cross beam. Since I have the cabin floor proped underneath there shouldn´t be any problem with this option. Besides it makes going in and out a lot easier now.

Still a long way

 

For as much as I'm determined to reach the goal of having the boat at least painted before the end of this summer, there's still a long way to go, and I'll need all the time I can get to really push the project forward. Rain has come back but next 4 days should be dry again.

Got to have all 4 mounts finished by then. Right now ( earlier photo) fore beam mount molds are in place and ready for primary putting ( gap filling). This time will try to apply fillets as soon as the primary putty is stable and hard enough so it won't sqaush out . This should allow me to have time to cut all the necessary glass and laminate the next day.

 

Still have to finnish interior bow details before UD's can be applied across the front cabin top. May go this way first and then laminate fore beam mounts in a single sequence.Will think about it tomorrow.

 

 

Paddling on dry

 

 

Aft beam mounts are now ready for lamination. Glass and peel ply are precut. Tomorrow is lamination day! Intended to do it tonight but temps just got a bit lower which means gooey epoxy and there’s no need to make things harder than they need to be.  Tomorrow then.Used a couple of extra boards in the slots to stop resin from getting into the UFS slot. Stuff that's capable of gluing a car to the garage ceiling has no business in getting in the wrong places. Putty is much easier to deal with and if necessary I can always cut the whole thing nice and clean. Will see ....

Wasted precious time ( many hours!) preparing molds according to plan. Just couldn´t get the jig to sit straight in place and needed to do some circus tricks to get all parts in place. Took a different approach and am pretty happy with the outcome.

 MVT (most valuable tool) of the day . On the left the old faithfull B&D Scorpion. Never tought this "toy" could stand so much abuse. The blade is a misery but it keeps saving my ass on many situations.
On the right another incredible cutting blade. This is a carbide grit blade. This is a new one, but the old one was still cutting just like new. I guess just one blade is enough for the whole project, and I used it for 90% of the cuts ! Just incredible , thinking that I went through a few other "special" blades that gave their souls ( and teeth) to the creator after a couple of hours. Cutting composites isn't just for any blade. Carbide grit is the way to go!
I think there's a supplier  in the UK who sells carbide grit blades for the Scorpion. Maybe I will buy one.