Didn’t make it before the weekend was done, but I got the accent strip installed tonight.
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You know how sometimes you’re so focused on the current task, you don’t think about others?
Yesterday I realized that I could have been working on the rear deck while waiting for the glue to dry on the front deck strips.
So I started on the rear deck.
While waiting for glue to dry on front deck.
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That should speed things up!
It is looking fantastic so far, keep it up.
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Next up I need to glue up a test panel for the stain color. I’m wanting to do a non-traditional color. I’m thinking either a teal or shade of purple. I’m wondering how the red shades in the mahogany and cedar will tint the stains. It should be interesting.
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Use both, with a waterline. Then people can tell when you’re upside down. “Someone check on Dave, he’s purple again!”
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Bottom of the boat will be black/dark grey. Not the best color, but it’s because I plan on coating the bottom with graphite infused epoxy. The graphite helps keep rocks from digging in to the bottom of the boat and scratching/gouging it. Unfortunately, the graphite can’t be painted or it would defeat the purpose of having the graphite.
Have you considered a light layer of Kevlar on the bottom? Or maybe a carbon spun fabric with some Kevlar.
I get may materials from Aerospace Composites. Not the cheapest bu always the best quality and widest selection.
Mike
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I absolutely considered it, but not for the outside of the boat.
The problem with kevlar is the color. While I am putting the graphite under the waterline, most of the boat will be visible. I don’t want to have to try to cut the kevlar right at the waterline as that would be difficult. Much easier to use fiberglass on the bottom of the boat.
However! I really really really wanted to use a carbon/kevlar composite for the inside of the bottom of the boat. It would be 5.5oz vs the 4oz fiberglass I’m currently using, but way better stiffness. And with it on the inside, it would be less noticeable.
I was going to use this stuff.
But then I priced out how much it would take and I can’t justify the $32/yd vs the $7/yd of the fiberglass. I’d need almost 10 yards to do just the inside bottom of the boat. You can do the math on that.
If this build goes well, then I plan on using the carbon/kevlar on the inside of the next boat.
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Love this project. A boat build is absolutely on my to do list. I’ve built other little boats over the last few decades but now with a big cnc there are so many more possibilities.
It sounds like you already did a ton of sanding. IDK if you’re going to do any kind of resin sanding either. But Xyla Foxlin had a video recently where she said the RZ mask she used when sanding one of her boats was inadequate and she got really sick video.
That purple really pops. That will definitely be a looker.
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Good to know. I wasn’t sure how well it would work on anything other than dust. My understanding is epoxy and carbon dust are significantly smaller particles than saw dust. The nose piece on mine has worn out and I’m having to replace the inner filter pad already.
I have a 3M face mask I wear when spraying paint or sanding anything other than wood. It has the carbon filters (which reminds me, I need to order new plugins… thanks 
) for chemicals.
I run a shop vac on the RO and I have a 20" box fan set up with a 3M house filter that I run while sanding too.
Thanks. I like the way it came out too.
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I bought an RZ mask a while ago and it was horrible. I saw that video she shared and totally agree regarding that mask. Sorry she got so sick.
I use a 3M half mask and it’s always been great. Also a good air scrubber and open the shop doors whenever I can.
Also upgraded my dust collector bag to a Powertech 1 micron bag to replace the 2.5 or 5 that it came with. It truly smells different now when I run it compared to the stock bag that it came with.
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I wanted to do a pleated filter conversion on my dust collector. I just haven’t gotten around to that yet (4 years later…)
That powertech bag doesn’t look too bad. I may give that a try.
I did that decades ago and it made a massive difference, but when I ducted my setup and had the collector in a little lean-to outside it was a complete game changer.
Out of curiosity I took a peek at the RZ website and there are a lot of alarm bells ringing there for me.
- not NIOSH certified
- 0.01 micron (really?) given that N95/P1 filters are 0.1micron filters, it makes me wonder why no certification.
- 99.9% of all dust particles removed!
I don’t know the product, have never used it and on the basis of the above never will. On the other hand I can highly recommend The Trend Tools AIR STEALTH - it’s so light that it’s not an imposition to wear, and is a proper half mask. Replacement filters cost almost as much as the mask, but they are still somewhat less expensive than a lung transplant!
I got a new comfort fit 3m one. It’s way better than my older 3m one.
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