More Weight details

Today I sanded the inner hull to remove some of the excess epoxy and epoxy wrinkles from the vacuum bagging process. I then mixed up some west epoxy (1 pump each) and squeegeed this inside the hull to cover any pinholes that may be left from the original fiberglass. After squeegeeing the epoxy I then donned some rubber gloves and rubbed the epoxy all over the inside, along the stem and the stern joint to ensure a good coverage. This extra layer of epoxy is to prevent any water ingress to the balsa planks, which was discovered to be a problem on both Hew's Vanquish and Al's Noux. This extra epoxy only increased the weight of the hull by 19 grams; the total weight of the hull is now up to 347 grams.

Weight

The hull, planked with balsa and with 4 ounce S fiberglass on the inside and 4 ounces of S fiberglass on the outside of the hull = 328 grams. no sanding or filling done yet.

Epoxy and Fiberglass

It took four (4) 'pumps' of from the West Epoxy system cans to wet the fiberglass on the outside of the hull and four (4) more 'pumps' to wet the interior fiberglass. It was noted that on Hew's Vanquish it took three (3) 'pumps' to wet the outside and three (3) 'pumps' to wet the inside. Al's Noux also required three (3) and three (3). Both the Vanquish and the Noux have less beam the the Vektor. I am not sure the fiberglass that Al & Hew used on their builds, but i am using 4 ounce S-Fiberglass on both the inside and outside of my hull.

Putting hull in vacuum bag

Putting the hull in the vacuum bag









In order to prevent the vacuum from crushing the sides of the hull, we put some foam shadows in the hull to help the hull keep its shape.

Preparing to vacuum bag the hull

Wetting the fiberglass

Laying the diaper in the hull. This material will absorb the excess epoxy.

Removed hull from building board

The hull off the shadows
Fiberglass dry fitted to the inside of the hull.

Fin Keel

Poured some more epoxy on the keel fin to fill out some shallow spots. Will have plenty of sanding to do in the next week or so.

Glassed the outer hull!

Laid the fiberglass and trimmed it to fit the hull, with about a 1/2 inch overhang. Then poured over the West Epoxy and wetted it out. Had lots of help tonight, as you can see all wanted to get their hands sticky!

Fiberglass arrived today!

The 4 ounce S-Fiberglass came in today from US Composites. Hope to be laying the glass on the outer hull soon.

Updated costs

I ordered some 4 ounce S-Fiberglass from U.S. Composites. I ordered 12 yards, 3 for my boat and enough for 3 other boats to built by others in our club. This way we will share the shipping costs. $4.90 per yard was the cost of the material and we gained a small discount by purchasing more than 10 yards. The cost listed is for my 3 yards and my portion of the shipping (UPS-ground)The fiberglass should be here for Monday and then the fiberglassing starts!

Here is a link to this supplier: http://www.uscomposites.com/cloth.html#sglass

The expert is lured into picking up some sandpaper and using some elbow grease.

Pictures of sanded hull

Here I am sanding away on the planks to get a smooth finish and a fair shape to the hull.

Sanding of planks completed!

Completed the sanding and fairing of the balsa planks on the hull this evening. What a chore! I will post some photos in the next few days to show the sanded hull.

Ordered fiberglass cloth today. I will use 4 oz S-Glass on both sides of the hull. The glass should be here in a week or better. Hope so, because Hew will be ready to glass his new hull by then!

The plan is to glass the outer hull with the 4oz S-Glass with West Epoxy System and then fill and fair with epoxy and micro balloons before taking the hull off the building board. Once the hull is off the building board and shadows removed, I will then glass the inside of the hull with the same 4 oz S-Glass. After this process is done will then 'paint' the inside of the hull with a thinned epoxy in order to completely waterproof the inside of the hull to prevent water ingess to the balsa planks.

In the mean time, I have a keel to fair, a keel box to build and a rudder to build.

Stay tuned!

COSTS up to 8 February 2008

A running total of the total costs as of February 8, 2008 ----->

I will update the costs as the build progresses. I will be ordering fiberglass soon. Right now lots of sanding is in order. When laying the planks apparently I did not do a great job butting the joints of the planks together. So look for the cost to reflect sandpaper!

CAREFULLY laying the planks on the foam shadows.

Looking at the starboard side, planked from the deck knuckle to the waterline.

Finishing planking the hull

Laying up planks on the hull. Laid up the keel planks 1st, then put 2 on each side at the waterline. Then worked from the deck knuckle towards the keel. Here is a shot of looking forward from the stern.

Planking the hull

Today I got most of the hull planked. My fingertips are sticky with crazy glue that is used to glue the planks together. I will have some photographs posted before the weekend is over. After the planking is finished I will sand the hull smooth and then fiberglass the hull inside and out. The total costs have increased by $6.00 as I had to get some pins to hold the planks to the foam shadows. Total cost so far is $32.41.

No progress

I haven't had time to work on the boat this week, and doesn't look like it will for another few days. Darn work getting in the way of progress on my boat!