Thursday, July 19, 2012

Two Centerboard Halves, Both Alike in Dignity

I had two centerboard halves that were very close to being done.   They do need a bit more sanding, but I wanted them glued together for the final shaping. 

 Which meant one thing:  IT'S FINALLY TIME TO PLAY WITH EPOXY!!  

So I stacked my boards together as perfectly as I could, clamped them down, then drilled three holes through the top board, halfway into the bottom board.   I pulled the boards apart, then inserted three dowels into the board that was on the bottom.

At this point, I sanded the boards lightly to clean them up, then I mixed some epoxy, and applied two coats on both of the boards.   I sandwiched the halves together, aligned the dowels and the holes, tapped them in place, and clamped them together. 

It feels great to work with epoxy again. It's really fantastic stuff.   Speaking of which, I'm using AeroMarine Epoxy.  It's sold for an attractive price point, and those who have used it seem to like it.  I'm intrigued to know how it turns out!  And if it doesn't, well, I guess I'll have to switch brands when I build the next boat. 

In other boat related news: 

My hatches showed up yesterday. Do these look white to you?  Note the envelope used as a color reference.

Yeeeah.  They were returned.  The seller was very sympathetic, and next-day-aired the replacement hatches.  No complaints here!

4 comments:

  1. Making progress now! Do you have to add lead weight to the centerboard?

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    1. I have 18lbs of sheet lead that's destined to be incorporated somehow. I was planning on routing a nice little area for it before gluing the two halves together, but I opted to glue it together and then cut out a spot for the lead, just so I can avoid any more time with that router. We'll see how it goes. :)

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  2. That's pretty cool. I hope the right colour comes in soon. Were you given an ETA?

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    1. Nope, I wasn't given an ETA, but they did just arrive. Yay! Only one thing- they sent THREE of them. I returned 2 and now have 3. Now I'm trying to figure out how to get the extra one back to its proper owner.

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