Bit more boat cloth and centreboard work

Glad Kelly is lending a hand. She is a great at fibreglassing. We added another layer of 200gm boat cloth thus making 400 gms on the floor. Hopefully will last the distance. Boat shed full of other boats. Finn, 2 Opti's and a P-Class.

Drilled out half the pivot hole in centreboard oversize. Then reinserted pivot tube (coated in mold release) back into hole. Epoxy and colodial silica added to make a bush. Tomorrow will bang out tube and do other side the same. Once done I'll then drill hole oversize by about 1mm. All this is so the centreboard can pivot on a 2-3mm epoxy/colodial silica bush. Hopefully this will help stop water getting into the centreboard, swelling and falling apart.

Tiller Handle

Kelly helped with tiller handle. I reckon if she at least builds something she will have 'ownership' of the project too! Kel is a great epoxy and glue mixer. We are using Kahikatea and I think Kwila for the handle. We screwed some wood to MDF to get the right curvature for the handle.

Lammels ready to epoxy

Wetting out with raw epoxy

Epoxy glue going on with notched trowel.

Look what I made. A big gluey mess.

Rudder loosely hanging

Managed to sneak out of the house on mothers day and work on boat for a bit. Rudder cheek blocks mocked up at the moment. Will decide what profile shape tomorrow. 

Centreboard continued - Kevlar/Glass leading edge

More foil work today. Leading edge strengthened and sealed. The Lower 3rd and bottom of centreboard have two layers of 400 -600gm (Can't remember what thickness) of Kevlar and two layers of 200gm glass all cut on the bias. Cutting 45 degrees to the weave helps around corners. The Kevlar needs sharp serrated scissors to cut. I am sure the board will last a few hits now. It also is supporting about 35kgs of lead.

Made some stands for board to allow work on both sides. The other table is for wetting out cloth.

1st Kevlar strip went along bottom and 1/3 up leading edge.

When cut across the bias (45 degrees to the weave) it is easier to get around corners with out having to cut and use overlapping joints.

Rolled up Kevlar and glass was easier to apply when cut across the bias

Rolling peel ply on.

Centreboard Kevlar/Glass

Here is the centreboard being coated in one layer of 400gm Kevlar and two layers of 200gm glass. I want lots of torsional rigitiy incase I hit something. I had to sharpen my scissors to cut kevlar. One edge has fine serration's and the other is straight. Made a big difference to being able to cut kevlar. I used two layers of glass as it is easier to sand the glass than kevlar. Kevlar just goes all fuzzy.

You can see the fairing compound over the lead.

Wetting out wood and Kevlar

All done and coated in peel ply.

Rudder leading edge work

Here are the pics of the leading edge. I used two layers of 200gm glass cut diagonally across the bias. This should cover any of the raw cedar along the leading edge and bottom of the rudder.

Raw epoxy

Is my shop getting messy enough?

Happy face time...

Peel Ply

Strength testing...

Carbon/Cedar/Glass Rudder Blade

Trimming and rollering excess epoxy. Peel Ply added later
Rolling on glass
Wetting out unicloth
Wetting out cedar and also unicloth.
Yesterdays effort.

Hi. Bit of an update. Carbon 400 or 600gm Unicloth, and 2 layers of 200 glass over a laminated cedar core. It is shaped to Finn Class dimensions and looks good. We wet layuped one side yesterday and this is todays effort. Will make cheeks out of Fijian Kauri next week

Rudder build

Seats and floorboards rough cut.

Kelly and Jack check out rough cut seats and floors. Will glue hardwood edge in cockpit area. Was easier to cut and dry fit with top planks off.

Seats getting built.

Now I have the 3rd row of planks on I have decided to mock up and fit seats. They are made of 18mm Gaboon which will be glassed over.

Pat tries out the seating arrangement. Making progress.

Days getting shorter... Finn hasn't been used much this summer
Template with joggle stick.

3rd row of planking going on.

Kel and Pat helped with 3rd row. We dry fitted and trimmed planks 3rd row. Then glued, screwed and fitted stbd side planks. Unfortunately Mate came around and distracted me with 6 pack. Watched NZ lose to Aussie again in cricket! Should have fitted port side instead of watching cricket...

Any way a few pics. We make our dog, Jack, sleep on pillow so he doesn't walk around and cover his paws in epoxy drips!

Front floor boards cut out

Hi. Busy summer with kids sailing. Have managed to cut out front floor boards. These were easier to cut out and trim to size before the sides go on. Kids try out mum and dads foredeck sleeping area.