Sassafras 12 by ccoyle - Chesapeake Light Craft - FINISHED - 1:1 scale canoe - you read that right

[ccoyle]

3 hours ago, ccoyle said:

amine blush

 

Just found out that according to CLC's website, regarding MAS LV epoxy:

 

• no "amine blush"

"Amine blush" will defeat all attempts to adhere subsequent coats of epoxy or varnish. Appied in anything less than about 98% humidity, MAS will not blush."

[Bedford]

Ah, so you are using an epoxy more like what I used, this being the case just go ahead, steady as she goes. I'd be coating as thin as possible and recoating while the previous coat is still just tacky

 

Edited February 13, 2021 by Bedford

[Ian_Grant]

Chris,

 

That's great that it doesn't blush!  Saves you some hassle. I see they have three different hardeners with different working times; you mentioned waiting seven hours for a coat to dry - you could get away with a faster hardener especially now the glass is saturated.

 

Epoxies sure have changed in the last 30 years!  When my canoe was completed, a friend of my father-in-law "borrowed" my strongback and forms to make one too (I was glad to get them out of the garage!). Unfortunately when he got around to epoxying his exterior it was in the fall and it (the epoxy) got cloudy as it dried so he ended up painting it red 😞 .

 

I still use west system to repair my 1:1 dinghy and they now have different hardeners guaranteed not to cloud over.

 

Speaking of which, would my recent mast step replacement in my dinghy be of interest at all in this categorised section?

[Keith Black]

9 hours ago, Ian_Grant said:

would my recent mast step replacement in my dinghy be of interest

 I'd be interested. 

[ccoyle]

It was really cold in my garage today, so I only got a few little things done. First I rounded off the ends and rub rails...

 

 

...then filled in the gaps in the bulkheads around the rails...

 

 

...and applied the second coat of epoxy to the deck undersides.

 

 

Next up will be massive amounts of interior and exterior epoxy work.  😬

 

[MEDDO]

On 2/7/2021 at 3:50 PM, ccoyle said:

"Painting" with unthickened epoxy is time-consuming and not particularly fun, but it has to be done.

 

Now, I have a question for you experienced builders out there, like @Bedford. The instructions don't say anything about sanding in-between epoxy coats. Is it a good idea? Optional? Or wait until the second coat is done and sand before varnishing?

When I was building my kayak I thought that doing the epoxy was the easiest part. I was using 1/8 inch lint free rollers which I bought and cut in half and used a small rolling frame for. This was very easy to apply went on very quickly and I would do approximately 1/4 of the hull at a time. I then used a wide foam brush very very lightly dragged across the surface to break up any small bubbles which showed up. This was very easy to do. I did not sand in between coats. I let it dry for approximately one day and then apply the second coat directly on top of it. Overall I believe the bottom of the boat has seven layers and the top only has five layers of epoxy. In the end I didn’t have any retained bubbles in the finish. And then use the random orbital sander and spent quite some time I’ll bring it all down to a very nice smooth finish. After that I use the water reducible linear polyethylene for UV protection which was very easy to roll on as well. I do have pictures of this process in my build log of the Murrelet.

[EricWilliamMarshall]

On 2/9/2021 at 5:06 PM, ccoyle said:

Not a problem. I neither duck hunt nor own any expensive shotguns

Don’t worry! You still have time to start on both!

[ccoyle]

1 hour ago, EricWilliamMarshall said:

You still have time to start on both!

 

Unlikely. Duck hunting has never appealed to me. Doves are another matter.

[bruce d]

4 minutes ago, ccoyle said:

Duck hunting has never appealed to me.

Me neither, but ... I seldom hear of duck hunting without thinking of a Dornier Libelle, the ultimate 'duck blind'. This 1920's aircraft actually included in it's sales blurb that the well-heeled owner could land it on his favorite lake, taxi to a shore and fold the wings: then, using the wings as shelter take up position on the sponsons and wait for the ducks to arrive.

 

http://www.histaviation.com/Dornier_Do_Libelle.html

 

I always imagine rich German arms dealers having a boozy lunch from a wicker hamper with their shotguns while sitting either side of the cockpit.

 

BTW, I am enjoying your canoe build 😁

[ccoyle]

18 minutes ago, bruce d said:

BTW, I am enjoying your canoe build 😁

 

Thanks! Didn't do much this past weekend thanks to the garage being too cold.

[EricWilliamMarshall]

5 hours ago, ccoyle said:

Unlikely. Duck hunting has never appealed to me.

I'm sure the ducks appreciate that.  Despite the bumps in the road, she's looking good!

[ccoyle]

Today I applied the second coat of epoxy to all the interior surfaces using a roller. I also applied the first coat of epoxy to the rails (except for the exterior underside -- the reason for that should be apparent) and epoxied the decks in place. Tomorrow I will give the rails their second coat, along with the decks' first coat. I'll give the decks their second coat during the week sometime and then be ready for exterior epoxy next weekend.

 

[Bedford]

Mate, you'll be splashing it in no time!

[Jim Lad]

Looking absolutely first class, Chris.  Looks like you'll be set for a summer of paddling.

 

John

[ccoyle]

Forgot I needed to add the coamings. These were about 3 mm too long, so I used a sanding drum in my Dremel tool to take off the extra length and to round off the edges.

 

[ccoyle]

Second coat of epoxy on the decks and first on the coamings.

 

[Javlin]

Sasweeett!! 

[ccoyle]

So I just now finished putting the second coat of epoxy on the coamings. This was such a small amount of epoxy (one squirt each of resin and hardener) that I announced to the womenfolk that I wasn't going to change into my grubbies for the job. Doubt was expressed about whether I could do this without making a mess. Ten minutes later, upon coming in from the garage, the following conversation was had:

 

Me: "I'm done."

Wife: "Did you get any on you?"

Me: "No."

Daughter: "Then I owe Mom five bucks."

 

😆😆😆

[Bedford]

So your dear wife is more supportive and has more faith in you than your daughter eh?

 

[ccoyle]

Now we're cookin' ... first coat of external epoxy done.

 

[ccoyle]

I put the 2nd coat of epoxy on today -- I have it almost down to a science now. Today's work took only 45 minutes. I won't add a picture today, because the boat looks exactly the same as in the previous post. Once this coat cures, it will be time to do the major sanding, i.e. taking down all the lumps and bumps, smoothing the seams, etc., after which will come a final finish coat of epoxy. Time to start thinking about finishes, but still a bit of work before then.

[bruce d]

13 minutes ago, ccoyle said:

now that I'm almost done with epoxy work, I have it almost down to a science. ... Time to start thinking about finishes,

... and what to do with your new-found skills as a 1 - 1 boatbuilder. 👍

[ccoyle]

53 minutes ago, bruce d said:

and what to do with your new-found skills as a 1 - 1 boatbuilder

 

If I had money, space, a trailer & hitch, and a way to hide my activities from the admiral, I would love to add a daysailer and maybe a skiff to the fleet, but don't look for those any time soon.

[Keith Black]

6 hours ago, ccoyle said:

a way to hide my activities from the admiral

 You could tell her you were building a 7 & 1/2 foot schooner.........on the longish side 

Edited February 28, 2021 by Keith Black

[Egilman]

3 hours ago, ccoyle said:

If I had money, space, a trailer & hitch, and a way to hide my activities from the admiral,

You could always promote her to Fleet Admiral, give her a solid gold brooch with five stars to make it official....

Edited February 27, 2021 by Egilman

[ccoyle]

4 minutes ago, Egilman said:

give her a solid gold brooch

 

You missed the part about money. 😆

[Bedford]

With all this climate change you could tell her you're just planning for her safety in the event of massive flooding.

[ccoyle]

Quick update:

 

Once I realized that I still had a coat of epoxy to do, both inside and out, I became alarmed at my dwindling supplies of resin and hardener. Interestingly, when I contacted CLC, they told me that approximately 1/3 of the builders for this kit would have epoxy left over, 1/3 would have "just enough," and 1/3 would run short. Now pardon me for being naive, but I'm thinking that if a company knows that 1/3 of its customers are going to run short of a material needed to complete a kit, then that means the company isn't including enough of that material in the kit to begin with! But apparently not. I couldn't convince the company to comp me an extra bit of resin and hardener, but they did agree to send some to me sans shipping charge.

 

I haven't gotten any sanding done since last weekend because the admiral decided to clean a large area rug in the garage, and it was suggested that very fine epoxy dust and rug cleaning were not compatible. 🤔  This weekend I will have the garage to myself again.

[RichardG]

10 minutes ago, ccoyle said:

Now pardon me for being naive, but I'm thinking that if a company knows that 1/3 of its customers are going to run short of a material needed to complete a kit, then that means the company isn't including enough of that material in the kit to begin with! But apparently not. 

Maybe they think 66% satisfied customers is ok, after all it's more than 1/2. I've met people like that.

 

I wonder how many of the 1/3 that had epoxy left over are still satisfied when the canoe doesn't last because they didn't put enough on?

[ccoyle]

34 minutes ago, RichardG said:

Maybe they think 66% satisfied customers is ok, after all it's more than 1/2.

 

I don't wish to speak ill of the company, because they are a site sponsor (for which I'm grateful), and I am otherwise satisfied with the product so far. But, ya know -- c'mon, people! 😉