Sunday, April 11, 2010

Buckets of Goop

After dealing with a bunch of real life stuff Saturday and Sunday morning, I finally managed to get a few hours Sunday to work on the boat.

With temps in the 60's, it seemed like the perfect time to install the cabin sole that I have been talking about incessantly for months. I know everyone, including me, is just thinking, 'hurry up and put that thing in there would yah?".

First though, the tabbing holding the undersole was thick enough to raise the bamboo plywood sole up over an eighth of an inch which left a gap between the undersole and sole around the bilge access holes and would make fitting the hatch lids a pain. The solution was provided by a blog reader who suggested filling in the low spots with more tabbing which would provide a level surface for the sole to rest upon. So that is what I did.



I didn't get too picky with the fitting. Then I started pumping out resin with West System pumps; and I pumped and pumped and pumped. I have an excuse, perhaps, because it was the first epoxy job of the season but I underestimated the amount I needed by about half and had to go back and do it again. I was using slow speed hardener so I had the time though it was still getting warm in the bucket before I could get it all applied. All told, about 90 pumps of resin and hardener were used plus nearly a full gallon container of thickener. I also applied unthickened epoxy to the underside of the plyboo sole and the topside of the plywood undersole.



It was a bit tricky manhandling the sole into the boat as the epoxy was still sticky on the bottom side. Somehow I managed not to spread epoxy over everything as I squeezed the sole into position. When placed in its final resting place, the plyboo sole settled with a satisfying squish. I used buckets filled with water to weight the sole down.



There was some squish out around the edges but not complete so I had to go back and fill the edges a bit more.



Then I gave everything a wipe down with acetone and pulled the tape.



With a three quarter inch plywood undersole and another three quarter inch bamboo plywood sole I am pretty confident that my sole won't sag and squeak like it used to.

I didn't really plan on this much material. I installed the undersole back when I was planning on using a teak and holly veneered plywood as a cosmetic finish. The idea for the plyboo came after the undersole was tabbed into place. Headroom is a little bit tighter than planned but I, personally, have standing headroom and that is really all that matters after all.

So not a lot got done but an important step was accomplished and I can move on. I still have some filling in and cleaning up to do. The sole isn't finished yet but a big part of it is at least.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

...and the boat should be a bit less tender now as well! ;)

-Mike