covid 19 ...boat projects time?

[inveratta]

Hi Guys..

been preparing a bit in the last weeks for the prospect of being shut home with a reduced workload and income ...but looking on the brighter side..I thought ..what a great opportunity to spend some time on boat projects and maintenance and the thing that needs changing.We all have them...unless you have a Cootacraft...ok just joking.

So at this stage I have identified and started on some stuff and actually have developed a long list of could bees and must do's...what I wanted to do is say that in three months ..I have developed enough skills in fibreglassing to do basic repairs and more with some confidence....

1.Make a mount for the leccy motor....well in hand...basic laminating ok so far ..but fairing skills...lacking.
2.transducer box ..yep I lose signal at speed so something to make when there is spare resin etc...pretty simple but hoping for a result.
3.Make fibreglass tandem mudguards ..have built formwork for the basic channel and have the ends off single axle tinka guards..ongoing learning about making plugs and bending plywood.
4.Colour matching gelcoat ....utter noob......when you add the catalyst it after all the matching...changes ...no hope of matching in reality..thats one for the lifetime skilled glassers.
5..Take the deck off the trailer. remove and .reweld the back with a new frame and take to the galvanisers..in time.Last did this 15 years ago..so cant complain .
6.There are a lot of nicks and dings in the hull of an old glass boat.....
7.I need to move the fuel tank further forward for improving balance..the boatbuilder did a lovely job years ago and its only undoing bolts and making a new non structural bulkhead...

so any one else planning or doing stuff.....whats Giddy Up doing?

[Dignity]

I've found the gelcoat appears to change colour once the MEKP is added but once it hardens it should be pretty close to what you want. An old painters trick is to get a piece of clear glass and drop your mixture onto it (this is before the days of automatic matching) and look at ot from the other side and it would give you the finished product. It might work for gelcoat also although I usually just use a toothpick and spread it onto the surface I'm trying to match as I add tint, easily wiped away with some thinners/acetone.

[scottar]

I watched the boatworks video on colour matching and got it close enough that Arnold asked who I used to do it. Didn't have any issues with colour change after catalyst added as such. Main drama Ive had is the original gelcoat ging back to white when I wet sand (even when I have buffed prior) leaving a lovely halo around the chip repair 😕

[brett62]

Hi inveratta. I have been laid off due to the covid 19 and yesterday started making a new improved console for the tinny and started back with projects on the big boat. Off down to get some glass supplies tomorrow to keep me going if they shut everyone down. I have a few jobs to do on my F truck also. The wife has a rather large list, so I won't run out of projects.

Stick at colour matching the gelcoat as you will get it. I struggled also getting it right but have had a lot of practise now.

[gazza2006au]

Inveratta what u may be seeing is the indicator in the resin as it goes off it changes colour

My polyester comes out blue, mixes green with hardener, goes brown when its nearly going off than goes a really lightish brown than it goes green

For the plywood to bend it if your using 12mm plywood cut it to 10mm deep where u want it to bend cut 5-8mm apart the plywood should still have one sheet of vernier to hold it together

If u are glassing the top of the mudguards have the cut slices on the underside and vise versa if your glassing the underside saves all that time bending the ply and filling the cuts than sanding

Sent from my SM-G900I using Ausfish mobile app

[Dignity]

I watched the boatworks video on colour matching and got it close enough that Arnold asked who I used to do it. Didn't have any issues with colour change after catalyst added as such. Main drama Ive had is the original gelcoat ging back to white when I wet sand (even when I have buffed prior) leaving a lovely halo around the chip repair 😕

Lol, I had to buff the whole hull back but it was worth it in the end.

[Dignity]

Just to add to my last post I did have to cut it back and repolish then wax it.

[stevej]

https://imgur.com/a/Y8zLug3
90167287_10157562217419091_3074076787177684992_n.jpg

i added a hatch to store my fire extinguisher a bit closer to hand

[Out-Station]

Yep, expenditure has started here as well, finally got around measuring up and working out the finer points on a custom fishbox by Bob Dunn up at Gympie. Should have it in 10 days or so complete with deck brackets and nutserts glassed into each corner. Seems like its the only fishing thing i can look forward to at present living in Toowoomba.

[blacklab]

https://imgur.com/a/Y8zLug3
90167287_10157562217419091_3074076787177684992_n.jpg

i added a hatch to store my fire extinguisher a bit closer to hand

Steve, that looks schmick, great job.
I've been contemplating the same, putting one in the side of my seat box, but I hesitated, as the back has a door and I wasn't sure if putting one of those in the side would just weaken the seat box to much,,, but I do like the look of them... I suppose it offers strength as it's screwed all the way round. For my doors, I put 3mm aluminium bar around all sides to screw the door in, for strength and something for the screws to bite in, do you recon my seat box would be strong enough for both ???

Col

[stevej]

I think they would be strong enough
Could do the same and make a support ring to go on the inside

And yes but instead of screws inside I used bolts and large washers and lots of duralac

[blacklab]

Sorry, I used bolts as well, don't know why I said screws.
I might look at what size I need.

Cheers
Col

[ben475]

Sanding back and repainting the bubbled paint around fittings on my quintrex.
Have a new lowrance sounder to fit up aswell.

Im still working and with my over active 6 year old son home 24/7 i have less time than ever.
Bit of a bugger not being able to get out on weekends after 6 months of long work hours including wkends.

[EdBerg]

Wouldn't stress about using screws, I have always used screws whenever adding a hatch door and even to screw down the pods to the floor, even once a 350l fuel tank to the fuel compartment base, never had anything move on me. When ever I made a pod for a seat or a console I would some extra glass strips around the edge for the cut out as well as the base flange so that where the screws would go through they would have some extra glass to bite into. It is only if the glass is very thin that you would need some small bolts and washers. Most seat pods like those, if they are properly laminated, should probably have 3-4 layers of glass and most likely over lapped in the corners and you would have a very hard time trying to break them even with those cut outs in the sides.

[Dignity]

Screws work but if its a place where my hands could be going, bolts and nuts only, too many experiences with sharp projections. I'd also think those pods would have a few more layers of glass, 3 yo 4 where no severe loads are ok but a lot of leverage on those beasties.