Tea Count 1
Injuries 1 See Below
Time Spent 2 Hours
Stickiness Factor 6/10
Well once again I am behind schedule. An inpromtu trip up to the frozen north during half term meant no progress was made during the week. It was a nice break though with lots of yummy food, a few pints of the dark stuff and good catch up with Zenas family. A welcome break indeed, (other motorway service stations are available) which was finished off on Friday night with a trip to the footy. One nil doesn't sound very exciting but it was.
So to day 14. I was undecided as to what to do next and as much of Saturday was spent working so I only had a couple of hours. I opted for the thrilling task of filleting and taping. The inside seams of one half were are still to do so it seemed a logical place to carry on. Following on from my first taping experience I was determined to get it right and so avoid the unesessary joys of more sanding than is required. You know how much I enjoy sanding!
So after masking off along all the joints to avoid over spill (another lesson learned - less sanding!) I was set. Incidentally my estimating skills have improved vastly. I was four inches short of masking tape after using all five rolls. I improvised with electrical tape for four inches. I won't be doing that again!. My fillets were a work of art, smooth neat and a good depth. Masking and electrical tape removed and I started applying the glass tape. Now for those who want to know a bit about the technique of applying the tape here goes. The tapes applied on the first half of the canoe were applied to a dry surface and I got a lot of bubbles and wrinkles which were difficult if not impossible to work out. This time I applied some resin to the seams first and applied the tape to the wet surface. Also note that by letting the fillets go off a bit first and to start skinning over, I was able to brush out the edges where there was a slight ridge where the masking tape had been. Bored yet? OK, come back to me non boating people, the next bit is amusing and slightly painful.
To keep my garage at the optimum eighteen degrees I have a fan heater on my bench. The heater has a thermostat which kicks the fan in and out maintaining the perfect temperature in which to apply poxy resin. Applying the tape is a critical process and once started it's nigh on impossible to stop until you have laid the whole length. Can you see where this is going? Bending over with my head pretty much in the bottom of the canoe I started to apply the first tape. Tape in one hand, brush in the other, the process started well. Then a small but significant wrinkle formed. Not a disaster, just needs working out slowly.
Sub consciously I hear the heater start up behind me and my rear starts to feel pleasantly warm, then warmer still and then too warm, far too warm. I can't go anywhere due to tape, resin, brush wrinkle etc. The only thing to do was to grin and bear it, work as quickly as possible and move along the boat. Just in the nick of time as the smell of burning overalls was beginning to become a little too strong for comfort my wrinkle released itself from the grip of poxy and I could continue along the seam, albeit with what must have looked like a slightly alarming posture as I tried to keep hot material away from sensitive bottom skin by forcing my pelvis forward whilst still bent over a canoe. Hmm nice!
The final upshot was a collection beautiful smooth seams, a lovely glossy resin coat for the inside of half number two and a slightly sore arse.
No images today but tomorrow I have a special treat for you all by way of video. Ooh how exciting!
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