After several long evenings on dates with the jigsaw. I'm confronted with an emotional twist. This sticky new character is about to get fully intertwined in my life. Like, in my clothes, hat and hair. There won't be a moment where I'm not reminded just how attached I've become. This appears to be the beginning of a long term relationship. Things are getting serious. 6 gallons is not a commitment to be taken lightly.
The epoxy is a little different than what I'm used to. I purchased a "non-blushing" variety which doesn't produce the waxy film after curing. Because of this I can avoid a lot of time consuming sanding between coats. Papa gives me a digital scale which can zero itself, making the 2:1 mixing very simple. There's some terminology I have to learn since the epoxy is used for so many different functions.
"Epoxy" proper is unthickened. It is a little thinner than honey and will flow and drip out of everything. It is a pipe dream to believe that you can catch all of the drips, the stuff seems to just keep moving until it hardens.
Today we'll be gluing the edge pieces onto the bulkheads. "Glue" is usually thickened with a very strong filler like Colloidal Silica. The consistency is about that of peanut butter(think the natural kind, not the hydrogenated oil kind). The surfaces are well coated on both sides and when compressed, a small amount should squeeze out. It is absurd how strong this bond is and absurd how hard it is to sand. Again, the idea being that we could pull all of the fasteners later if we wanted.
 |
| Cake Frosting |
"Fillets" are joints made from epoxy mixed with a softer filler like Phenolic Microballoons(fun to say too). This filler is easy to sand and when mixed up right looks like cake frosting. It doesn't help that you squeeze the filleting blend out of a plastic bag just like a cake decorater. That part always make me hungry.
 |
| Bulkhead 11 ready for limber holes |
 |
| Limber hole |
Most of the bulkheads are designed with limber holes cut out of the bilge corners to allow water to pass between bulkheads and pool in the lowest part of the boat.
In the event of a capsize, this facilitates pumping out the accumulated water and drying the inside of the boat. Using a pint sized paint can, I trace the shape and cut it out of the corner to make the space.
 |
| Bevel Board |
Each bulkhead, including the transom and stem has some sort of bevel cut along its outside edges to accommodate the curve of the sides of the boat. Papa offered some professional advice at this point and explained that a professional boat builder would make a bevel board to show each angle to be cut at a glance and using a bevel square/angle finder each bevel can be marked and checked.
 |
| Bulkhead 2 with a finished bevel |
Most of the bevels are very slight for this boat design, a few barely noticeable, but others would make for a dramatic effect if cut too deep or too shallow. I cut the stem with the table saw and used power and hand planers to work the bulkhead bevels out.
 |
| Finished Stem |
The boat is getting dangerously close to taking a vague boat-like shape. I'll need friends for this next part and then the dreams can begin to really rattle around in my head as I imagine myself in this space we are creating.
Today we'll be gluing the edge pieces onto the bulkheads. "Glue" is usually thickened with a very strong filler like Colloidal Silica. The consistency is about that of peanut butter(think the natural kind, not the hydrogenated oil kind). The surfaces are well coated on both sides and when compressed, a small amount should squeeze out. It is absurd how strong this bond is and absurd how hard it is to sand. Again, the idea being that we could pull all of the fasteners later if we wanted.
