Fairing the Hull

[Bob Donaldson]

From my Blog: https://house-doc.net/Oonagh/?p=655

All of the exterior construction on the hull is complete. The bottom of the boat is much easier to work on while it is on the mold, so I plan to fair the hull and add one or two coats of primer before taking it off the mold.

The first step is to mix a fairly stiff batch of 105 resin, 207 hardener, and 410 microlight fairing filler. It needs to be very stiff so it won’t run or sag when applied to vertical services.

You have to keep adding the 410 until it is stiff enough to not sag.

The first target for the fairing filler is the space next to the keel. When I planed the centerline area flat to install the keel, I planed an area much wider than necessary, so now the bottom plank does not have a smooth line to meet the keel. The filler will fix that.

The next area to fill is where the Dynel fabric meets the bow and transom. The process of fairing this is much like finishing drywall.

Tomorrow I will start sanding.

3/23/21 – Sanded around the keel.

Also sanded some of the bottom planks.

Sanding is going to take a lot more time than I realized. You can see some of the low spots (darker areas) that will require some fairing compound and time to cure before sanding again.

I ordered some Pettit Easy Prime today and it should be here by Thursday or Friday.

3/24/21 – Sanded the entire boat today. Marked some low spots for fairing. I may apply another filler coat tomorrow.

Took out the screws that hold the boat on the mold and broke it loose. Should be easy to lift off after the prime coat.

3/25/21 – Although the boat will be painted, it seems like a good idea to seal the wooden surfaces with epoxy before applying the primer.

The mahogany really looks good with a clear coat of epoxy. It’s tempting to leave it natural, but not very practical for long-term maintenance.

I am supposed to get my delivery from Jamestown Distributors this evening, so hopefully, I will be able to start the primer coat tomorrow.

3/27/21 – Primed the exterior hull today.

With the bottom construction complete and the first coat of primer applied, it was time to take the boat off the mold and start on the inside. I got some help to lift the boat off the mold. We set it aside and disassembled the ladder frame and repositioned double 2×4’s on the sawhorses.

Tomorrow I can level the boat and start on the next step.

[Steve Stone]

That’s really something Bob.  Well done.  And thanks for sharing your process and the photos. It’s another thing entirely to see a first time builder go at it, make a small error, and fix it with epoxy.  And see what looks to be a near-perfect boat coming along.

[THOMAS HATCH]

Thanks Bob I’m just now at this point in the process. Reading your post, I now plan to fair the hull and do a lot more sanding before I prime. Here’s where I am as of today, 6/1/21:

 

[Bob Donaldson]

Thomas, your boat looks great. Keep up the good work.

[ROBERT HANIS]

Thanks for all the info. Nice work.

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