Polyester and Wood

All over the Internet I see people really putting down using polyester resin for different projects.  Now granted the expensive epoxy may be better, I would not know, I have never used it.  If I ever build my own wooden boat, Id probably use the 2 part epoxy just because it is supposed to be better wetting . What I do know is after a LOT of research I found something that I'm really happy with for the current application. 


It started out with the platform under the porta pottie being in really UGLY condition.  I took it out  ( previous post) and put  cloth and  one straight coat of  poly on the bottom side. It looks terrible.  NO one but me is ever going to see it , so for a newbie project where I'm experimenting I think it will be OK. It not like it is going to be intentionally immersed.  What was there originally only had paint on it so anything is an improvement.

  include photo here of pottie support

 
Rearranging the flotation foam in the v berth  and turning part of that space into storage meant taking  the wood off of the V berth.   I used the original wood to make my pattern . Again since I'm just learning this,  I started with the under side of the tip of the wood. 

All things considered, it does not look to terribly bad for a rank beginner.  It has a spot that  I honestly have no idea why but it points up like a pin. I have this notion that a bug flew onto  it and left that point when it flew off. The poly must have been really close to dry since it is still here and the bug or what ever it was did not stick. You can't see any of the cloth in it except for a few spots around the edge so I think I must have done alright.  Much better then not pre-coating it,. That has places all over you can see the weave of the cloth.


I diluted the poly down with acetone. I used a 4:1 mix, then a 2:1 mix then a 1.5: 1 mix. My hand slipped on the last one.  Then I did the straight poly coat. They say when you have enough layers of the dilutes  on it won't change color from absorption any more. That is how you tell you are done.
How you do it is you pour your resin into your measure bowl, add whatever proportion of acetone into it then add enough hardener for the total amount.  In the 4: 1 I added 35 drops of hardener just like i would have on a straight 5 ounces of resin. Add acetone to resin , stir to mix it up good, them add the appropriate amount of hardener and mix REALLY  WELL. If you don't mix it good enough you will  have a mess, Your cured project will have spots that are going to be tacky and you have to clean up the mess with acetone and redo those areas..  
 By the time I  got done mixing the first batch it was a no brainer I was going to need more hardener. I called Bondo. Come to find out they are now owned by 3 M. ( so what else is new?) I asked the guy could I use the hardeners I can get locally with this water proof resin. Remember the stuff that was donated way back in the beginning?  While there is NO WAY  I would  trust simply "water proof"  on a rudder or any thing that is under the water line, this seem like a great application. Its water proof so it should  not be negatively affected being in a boat. 
The tech looked it up. As long as it is a BONDO  OR 3 M LIQUID HARDENER or a MEK LIQUID Hardener I was good to go , so off I went down to Oreilly's to get some more.  The tech made a BIG DEAL out of making absolutely sure I DID NOT get creme hardener.  A small 1 point something ounce bottle was 6 dollars USD and some change.  It broke seven dollars by the time tax was added.


 insert photo of resin and hardeners here.

If you notice on the pic the edges look REALLY raged. That was my fault.

 

I have this old table I use that believe it or not was once a really expensive dining room set. I put some cheap plastic drop cloth over it and the plastic  moved like a California earth quake.  It was all over the place. That fringe is where the resin hardened/ cured  to  the plastic. 




Some close up shots of the edge . It's a REALLY good thing polyester resin does not stick to plastic or I would be in big trouble.

  As you can see in these pics, the resin got under the plastic.  The formula I have got figured out OK. My technique  needs serious improvement.

If I was trying to make a   3 d fiberglass seascape or a  grass scape with little fingers of the glass pointing up one layer in front of another, I think the "do it on plastic"  would do a great job.

The good news is except for needing to be sanded thinner to fit in the spot. I may have a perfect seal along the edges in most places except for the flat edge on the bottom . 


Time to use the Dremel!!!!!!!

Mobile Users.

I was cruising through settings and noticed that I can set things to make it presumably easier for mobile users to see the site. Hopefully I did it right. If any one is using a mobile phone I would appreciate some feed back to make sure I got it right since my cell is presently off.

IT IS A GREAT DAY!!!!! YIPPEEEEEE!!!!!!

I have come to the conclusion that this blog is about life. You know, that thing that happens while you are working on other goals. 

Today started out as mediocre. I woke up, started writing a much needed letter that I was not really sure how I was going to word. My saw man and I spent a couple of hours trying different configuration  of the cinder blocks for around my wood stove which is sitting out side waiting to be steel brushed to get the rust off of it and painted.  I wasted hours cruising the internet looking a new toys for my Dremel. I'm not even sure how that happened. I did find some very nice toy for it though. Found a you tube videos / instructable.com on a DIY router / shaper/ table saw to build for it.
While all of this was going on, my youngest son, who is the resident mechanic, got my van running. Now all we are waiting on is minor glitch in the lights wiring and it is good to go, with the exception of a tune up and cleaning out the rear gas tank.
 I did not get one single thing that is actually hands on work done today. The Pop top is still sitting drying. I want to let the  first coat of paint I put on it the other day have a few days to dry before I put the second coat on. That small strip waiting to be sanded off of the slider to the companion way did not get touched. It is still a good day.  The van runs. That means I can pull  the boat over away from the fence to strip the starboard side. It also means we can theoretically take the boat out to the lake once I get the trailer lights hooked up.  Assuming of course the keel don't mess that up. I still have not gotten around to dealing with taking a serious look at that. Maybe I better wait on that part.

It also means I can go to Walmart and get the stain and stove paint with out someone having to walk  or ride a bike 5 miles to do it or pay the higher price for the closest hardware store. 


On top of everything else I  THINK I have found the overflow reservoir to the radiator  I need to go get the VIN to add to the order to confirm. Yes, I cheated outrageously!!!! . I posted a question on yahoo answers. It has been a night mare to find that tank.  I called the local dealer and they said it was discontinued, so had been looking for a universal to fit or modify. OK,  so after being told that I never bothered to look at the GM places.  If it is discontinued why bother? The really great news is between the cash I have in hand and the bank, I can actually afford to get it all and get those things off the non boat bucket list!!!! Tomorrow when the bank opens I transfer some money and we are off and running on that issue.
This old woman is definitely doing the HAPPY DANCE!!!!!
 It is time to celebrate!


Sail safe but sail!!!!!

Little Thngs

Thought I'd pop in a say hi and let you all know whats up with the V 222. Was way to hot to be out side all summer but cooler weather has me busy. Slow but sure we are getting things done.  Nothing fancy or major just a LOT of little stuff. 

 Have the old name sanded off on the port  and stern sides. Can't quite get to the starboard side until we get the van finished to move the boat away from the fence. Got the van titled and insured.

 We THINK we have isolated the FINAL issue on the van. Got the part. Seems the column ignition switch is the final problem. It must have been borderline becasue when the steering column went back in it has not started since. Everything else in the ignition system checks out. Hopefully tomorrow she runs again. Except for the lights she was running fine.

Finally discovered what the problem with the lights were. It turns out the equivalent of the electrician from H E double hockey sticks  must have been the maintenance man on this van, becasue he sure missed his calling as a electrical ax murderer.  The wiring harness for trailer light literally fell apart in my hand when I checked it. Can you say MAJOR CORROSION? Had to run all new wiring for just the van. Have not begum to wire for trailer . I don't know who put the fuses in but almost every single one  was either burnt, cracked or foggy. The corrosion in the fuse panel was so thick if you could have gotten a knife in it you could have cut off chunks.   

Put in a new turning signal harness . Ordered the one for an E 150. You would think it would work After all my title says I have an E 150. Not so . By shear accident my son noticed that an F150 harness was the perfect match to the one we had. Once we ordered that, it fit in just great.  The E150 was not only the wrong configuration  for the turn signal hole but for the 4 way notch as well. Now minor modifying  would have worked except the danged thing was about 1 mm to wide.  We both  tried every way possible to get it to go in, but it was just not going to happen. Other then that all we have had to do was the fuel pump. It was leaking gas all the way home. 


 Other then that we replaced a lot of the interior lights. One switch on the panel for inside lights does not seem to work but at this point I'm not going to worry about it. I'm thinking it is for an accessory that is no longer installed as everything works inside. There is a blue wire under the hood that looks like a CB or stereo amp was attached to it so I'm thinking that is what the extra is for. 



Got the pop top off and the interior sanded and final coat of primer on. Plan on putting the first coat of paint on her tomorrow and getting the companion way slider sanded and primed. I hate having her sitting out naked in the drive way like that, with only a tarp over her,  but it really needed to be done. Once I get the interior finished I'll put her back on and do the exterior in place.

Got the v berth tore out and the flotation foam all put together into one really big chunk. If you notice the bottom portion of the pic you can see I have TONS of extra storage in the aft part of the area under the v berth. I think when I am finished it will be a whopping 2 foot wide all the way across the widest part, which is a LOT of extra storage on a 22 ft boat.  Not sure how wide my back side is sitting down, but I can literally sit in it with at least a good hand width on each side so I did good on that.  I have been trying to decide what to do with the extra space. Part of the time I think it would be a great spot for water storage. But then who wants to hear water sloshing right under you  when your trying to sleep? Part of me thinks it is the perfect place to put groceries. I'm seriously thinking 5 gallon buckets would fit side ways real nice. I just have not taken the time to check it out. Time will decide.  Am planning on putting a bulkhead between the new storage area and the flotation material.  It will also serve the purpose of supporting the v berth. 


I actually got around to measuring the length of the v berth. It is 6 ft. It sure does not look like 6 ft. I can actually lay down in it if I don't mind my feet being a bit cramped. 

Got the bow area above the berth inside sanded, primed and ready to paint except for the area right where the fiberglassing will be at.  Once I get that done I am installing my clothes storage on the port wall.  I have those hanging closet shelves I got from Walmart for my house closet and I think with some industrial strength velcro  hung sideways they will make great wall storage. I am thinking about fastening one to the head roof along side the pot. I beats selling them and buying something else.

Have been playing with the idea of glassing the new wood for v berth. Since I'm using poly, I think I'm just going to make a sheet of glass a couple or three layers thick across the top, ( maybe thicker) poly that into place for water proofing  and paint the wood on both sides and put it on top.  I'm thinking covering an old sheet of foam I have laying around with wax paper should work. I have the old pieces to make the pattern with so I am good to go on that part. 
Have the new pieces cut out for the V berth,.

Have the first coat of paint on  the see-able portion of the head area. Installed a battery operated LED for light. 

Tore out the stand for the porta potti. It was in really sad shape. It took a wonder bar to get it out. The wood supports under the flat board were so wet and rotted I did not have to put much effort into removing them from the horizontal board with my bare hands. The horizontal board was warped so I cut a new board out of 1/2 inch. That faint smell of mildew that I could never quite pinpoint has left. 

Got busy with some poly and cloth. Was wanting to try my hand at it and this seemed like a nice safe project. Plus I needed to find a use for that water proof Bondo I got. I'm just NOT ready to try something that is NOT specifically rated for under water use on my rudder. Got the bottom part of the horizontal board done.  I am seriously debating if I should go ahead and glass the top of the board or just feather out the edges of the glass and paint it.

Did not know I was supposed to pre-coat the wood with thinned out poly first but it is more or less passable considering it is not ever going to actually be in water ( knock on wood) and no one will ever see it. Considering I'm flying by the seat of my pants on it, I think I did OK for a first try all by myself. It is not perfect by a long shot. Purely an amateur job at best. If it won fourth place in a contest it would be becasue there were only three other contestants. LOL!!! That is why I decided to do the multiple layers of glass as a water proofing for the wood in the v berth instead of glassing the wood. 

 I am thinking of going a head and play with the thinned poly coat then a coat of not thinned poly, then  cloth and more resin on the under sides of the wood  for the v berth. It is more of a "play with it on something no one will see if it comes out looking really bad" thing then truly functional, since to be safe, I'm going to do that layer of glass between the hull and the wood,  to water proof the bow hull section from the rest of the boat area.  

Got a gallon of Rustoleum top coat paint for the above water outside of the hull. Figured out what I am going to do to repair the top of the rudder.  Have been slowly sanding out the hair line cracks in the gel coat one area at a time on the port side. .

 Have finally got the broken bolt holes in the deck / hull joint filled, sanded and pre-drilled to reinstall bolts and rub rail.  Have the hair line crack in the companion way almost finished. It was cracked all the way through the glass, almost all the way across. I finally decided to cut it out completely and fill it all in. I used the stick  boat epoxy from Wal-mart to do that.  13 USD a tube but I was to chicken to try the resin yet. Its really solid and now I'm not afraid to let any one step on it. ( once I get it finished of course).  I used that same stick epoxy to fill in all those tiny little holes from previous things attached to the hull. The crack turned out to be almost all the way across the companion way. I took out a good 4/5th of that part of the boat.


The bad news is the wood we had all cut for the new lower rudder is trashed. It got wet somehow and is warped and I definitely smelt mold. We are starting form scratch on most of the pieces. The really long part was tightly in the jig I made and had wrapped in the freezer paper stayed perfect. 


Other then that she is still a work in progress.



 The house is coming along. My saw man and I finally figured out how the corner cabinet was fastened in, so that is out, sanded and ready to  re- stain. The hole in the ceiling is fixed. Unless you know where to look you can't tell where it was.  The medallions for around the ceiling fans are almost ready to install. And if I ever stop trying to stay focused on the boat long enough I will get the one short wall textured in the living room and painted. Then off the top of my head I'm wanting to say all we have left in living room is the floor. 


Take care

Sail safe but sail!!!!

It is FINALLY About THE BOAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Original as delivered

Tore out wood, removed flotation foam. It was just big blocks of foam thrown any which way that had a LOT of empty space in between the chunks. I reinstalled it  more into one  solid block. Made an extra foot or so of storage room all the way across the aft end of the v berth. Yes, I used canned expanding foam to lock it into place. The experiment I did several months back says this particular brand of foam does not soak up water after several week in a glass of water on the sealed , non cut side. Since there are no cuts in the expanding foam and since this is a coastal cruiser at best and WILL NOT be out in blue water,  there should not be a problem. Since I have reinstalled all of the origami foam and and more, the flotation level should be greater. .

Good shot showing the new storage space I will have under the v berth. The thought occurs this would be a great place to put a couple of small water tanks

                




In no particular order here are a lot of the photos I've taken since she was delivered last winter. Sorry about possible duplicates from previous post.
.

 

definitely need to rebuild sink

        

Lots of sandiug left to do.  Under side of deck plate  hull area needs to be sanded and  painted. Lots of tiny spaces.  I am really glad I found a set of various sized sanding drums that should fit quite nicely.

I soo wish I could remember what that board goes to!!!!

Bow hatch still needs sanding, painting and two new hinges

The one spot that is actually done. Port around sink. as long as you don't look up past the shot, LOL. 





Original shot of inside
 

 

  Current inside as of 10/01/11

 

 Did I mention don't look UP?

Pop top is off and in the yard being sanded for repainting.

 Slow but sure she is starting to look better inside, one spot at at time.

Close up of  all the fun I am having getting into the tight spots to   sand. Port side window area.

Porta potti goes here. Talk about a tight fit, but you can actually sit down as long as your careful to make sure you have your self balanced.

The Pop Top

 It looks so much nicer from a distance.

 getting an orbital sander in the curves is no piece of cake but slowly she is getting done. Planning on getting as much as I can with the orbital then using drum sanders for big curves and corners to tight for orbital. Once that is done have the dremel  for really tight spots.. That Dremel is turning out to be the best tool investment I ever made.

 Trying to get some of these screws loose is a real headache, I'll get it done but I will sure be glad when this part is over,.About an hour or two of pushing that sander around  and I'm ready to call it a day.

I have no idea what the big bolt is to. They run along both sides of the pop top.,My thought is it is in place for handrails since nothing else makes sense. They are just there .Nothing is attached,. The two small holes above the bolt are where we had to take the poles that hold up the pop top out. Went to local stores trying to find a screw driver that big. It's not happening  locally. Ended up buying a very small wonder bar. Figure if nothing else I'll have one of the guys hold it tight while I pout a large socket wrench on  the nut side to break them loose.

Starboard bow wall

 Port bow wall

Sanding out stress cracks in gelcoat . Have 4 quarts of white Rustoleum marine paint at Ace Hardware I need to pick up. The sticker shock was not to bad. Only 17.00 a quart USD. Was cheaper then I expected considering the price of any thing remotely considered to be a specialty item around here puts it through the roof. No shipping charges since I had it delivered to the store. Cant say the same for the bottom paint though. Rustoleum makes a bottom paint .It comes in  Black or blue.,Trouble is I have to go to el reno store to get it.  DO not remember if it was Ace or the true value. Either way the customer service lady was really sweet and mentioned pettit does more colors. When I get time Ill check them out.

 Starboard area between head and v berth partially done.

That's all for now.  Next boat related focus as planned is me continuing to sand and paint  the pop top and interior of boat while the guys are finishing interior of house. Once we finish the big jobs still left to do on the house, it is all hands on deck so we can lift the boat to drop the  keel..