Dingy Pt 4

 This starts the application of 6 ounce fiberglass cloth to the bottom. It will provide strength and abrasion resistance.  The exterior of the hull has been given a coat of epoxy to seal the wood.  I put masking tape 2 inches below the chines as a guide for the cloth.  The cloth is quite flexible and will conform to the shape of the hull with a little persuasion.

Straight, un-thickened epoxy is applied to saturate the cloth.  I started at the transom (back end) and worked my way forward, eliminating wrinkles as I go. I used a squeegee to smooth out the epoxy and reduce excess.  Too much epoxy will add weight, but not strength.  You can determine total saturation by the transparency of the cloth after it is wetted out.    Areas without enough epoxy will appear white.

 Jana was a huge help in the process, keeping me supplied with mixed epoxy.  I'm using WEST system products.  They use a 5:1 resin to hardener ratio.  A nice feature of this product is the calibrated pumps that go right in the cans of resin and hardener.  One shot of each produces the correct ratio every time.  You only mix what you need, helping to reduce waste.

 After an equal number of pumps, the mixture must be thoroughly mixed for about 2 minutes, but not so aggressively that bubbles are introduced into the mix.  With her cooking skills, Jana was a natural. Depending on temperature, each batch is workable for about 20 minutes.

 The cloth has been completely wetted out and is starting to set up.  Thanks to the flexibility of the cloth, I was able to work it around the corners without wrinkles.

After about an hour or so, the cloth is considered "green", partially set up, but still workable.  I used a razor knife to trim the excess cloth, following the edge of the tape for an even line.

The cloth and tape peel off cleanly, leaving a straight edge to dress out later.

After letting the epoxy set up overnight, a second coat of straight epoxy was applied with the squeegee to fill the weave of the cloth.  Then, thickened epoxy was used to fair the edge of the cloth smoothly with the sides of the hull.  A good sanding prepared to hull for painting.  A hand held orbital sander made the job manageable, but tedious.  Here I am applying the first coat of primer to the hull.

The primer I'm using is quite thick to fill any irregularities before the finish coat goes on.  More sanding in my future.

With the primer coats finished, I flipped the boat over to finish the interior before final painting on the hull.  Grandson Miles dropped by to provide some quality control.  Here he has determined that the height is just right for "his" seat.