In the course of being part of several sailing and boat forums I've picked up a lot of learning these past couple of years. A lot of insurance info has been on the boards lately. Since eventually this is something I am gong to check out for my self I decided to put a page dedicated to just marine insurance. It occurred to me to open this up for others to post providers they know for all to have handy in one place by using comments. As I was posting that page it occurred to me adding a page for other products those who have already been there and done that have used satisfactorily. I decided to open up the page of products I have used to others to post their favorite BOAT RELATED items, using the comments section.
Revenues. We all need to eat. I am opening this site up to advertising. If this offends please forgive. I figure it is not going to put a huge amount of money into the sailing kitty, but every little bit helps.
PLEASE DO NOT just start clicking thu thinking your helping me if you have no interest in a product. It hurts the site marketability. If however you are interested in a particular product, please do so. The site only pays if you actually buy something from a link. Also please be advised that google does collect information when you click thru.
Showing posts with label cheap. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cheap. Show all posts
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Rude and Crude but it works danged it
Murphy's Law
Some where in this house I am about 99.9999 % certain I have a 1/2 inch notched trowel for ceramic tile work. Murphy's law says if something can go wrong it will. I'm betting some where there is a law that says after you go out and replace something you cannot find, it will show up. Serendipity comes to mind. You know, the one that says when you stop looking for something it will show up. I did some checking. One of the local hardware stores offered me a 5.00 discount off of a new notched trowel. That's not a bad discount. Money is tight and spending 11.95 on a tool for one small job like the wood stove surround, if I don't have to, aint happening if I can figure this out. I can get the plumbing stuff for the sink or a new trowel.
Time for the Dremel to earn it's keep again.
It's rude and crude and did not cost me one red cent, unless your including the electricity to cut it out with the Dremel. It was fall off from all the plexiglass we used to replace windows recently
Bath room lavatory pre cut
I put the sink on top of the counter upside down and traced the sink outline. ( Outer marks)
Then I measured the under side of the sink and marked inside the tracing to know where I wanted to cut it.
After cutting it out with circular saw on main lines and using a hand saw to get the corners it's ready to put the sink in.
Now all we have to do is go get the plumbing and we are done with it!
This week has been busy. We are finishing up the bathroom,. Have been installing trim, painting and all that good stuff. We are sanding the bath room floor to get it good and clean for vinyl tile to go down. I do not want any thing making the adhesive on the tile to not stick. I'm cheating.We are using the self adhesive tiles. I had bought these to use in the kitchen. On a whim, becasue I really want to get this bathroom finished, I took them in there, They match the tan commode, sink and counter my son picked out perfectly, so it's a done deal.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Logic of a group
I posted a question about cells and providers on one of my groups. It has a rather lively discussion going on. That's the god thing about yahoo groups . You ask a question and learn more then you ever thought you would know. Some really good ideas came out of it for sailing and getting things done on the cheap. This is one of those make it work type of ideas that make me glad I found this group. Thanks Andrew
"LMAO you reminded me about the log. On my last sharpie i had rigged a copper toilet float with an eye screw and i could pull a string and drop it at the bow and time when it passed the stern to calculate my speed. Crude but it worked well. Especially Nice if you have a boat of even length like 25 or 30 feet."
"LMAO you reminded me about the log. On my last sharpie i had rigged a copper toilet float with an eye screw and i could pull a string and drop it at the bow and time when it passed the stern to calculate my speed. Crude but it worked well. Especially Nice if you have a boat of even length like 25 or 30 feet."
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Living good in bad times
This was posted on one of my yahoo groups, Its some seriously good advice. The only thing I would add is if you can do it use wood heat. You can live on less then 700.00 a month and use these tips as well .
"The last few years with the economy depressed we as a family have lived on less than 30,000 a year. The Government calls us below the poverty line. However due to what I think is just common sense financial management we eat better than a lot of family or friends. Mostly own our home, own a 38 ft sail boat and since we needed a 4 door car with the new baby I went out and bought a used Honda for cash. I also try and keep enough cash in the bank to pay 3 or 4 months of bills.
I know so many people that make more than me that always seem to be strapped for cash and barely making it. But they are financing new cars, very expensive houses, eating out every day, smoking, drinking etc..
If you are living a fairly normal life with steady income these rules will help you live beyond how most people in the same income bracket do and have cash in the bank.
1. don't finance anything. If you can't afford to pay cash then you don't really need it. I have broken this rule a few times in emergency's but then have busted my butt to pay it off as quick as I could by sacrificing any fun till it was paid off.
2. pay a car payment every month to yourself in a savings account. In 3 or 4 years you can go out and buy a car for cash.
3. don't purchase a new car. Buy one used. Take your time and wait till a good deal shows up. I start shopping for the next car 6 months before I actually think I will need it. This allows me to find the best deal and the vehicle I really want.
4. Get as high a gas mileage car as you can. I went from driving a 20 mile to the gallon vehicle to a 35 mile to a gallon vehicle and it put an extra 150 dollars a month into my pocket that I had been spending on gas. I swear by Honda civics. My 2 door that I'm getting ready to sell has gotten 34 to 39 mpg during the time I have owned it. The new 2002 4 door civic I just purchased is getting 35 miles to the gallon. My average annual maintenance on 3 different Honda civics has averaged about 500 a year on cars with between 110,000 to 184,000 miles on them. About 40 dollars a month average. Parts are cheap for them. If I did the work myself it would probably be less than half that. (for those that start foaming at the mouth about buying American.. well my Honda's were built in Ohio.) all three cars were bought for between 1700 and 3000 dollars. Cars eat a huge chunk of our money between financing, gas, purchase price, maintenance, registration and taxes,
and insurance. Be smart about it. New is pretty and rides super smooth :) but cost 4x a older used car.
5. Go over your monthly bills with a microscope. In 2008 when stuff went south for our finances we saved 1200 dollars a year by cancelling the two land lines to my business and home and just using cell phones. We saved 400 dollars a year cancelling cable service and didn't miss it. We kept the Internet and if we want to see something you can stream almost any show over the Internet. We did netflix for a while but cancelled that also as we ended up not using it much after a while. another 130 dollars a year savings. We went to an unlimited plan on the cell phones. This actually averaged out 200 dollars cheaper than the past 2 years cell phone bills. We quit eating out as much, this saved about 2400 a year. We still go out a few times a month but not every other day just because it is convenient. Work on reducing your power bill. Insulate your water heater, find and seal air leaks in the house, turn off lights behind you, don't leave computers running all
the time, turn the thermostat up or down a few more degrees depending if your heating or cooling. For us this saved about 500 a year. We don't economise much on food for the house. We like speciality teas and indulge ourselves. We do shop for good deals between the grocery stores and costco, sams etc.. and save a lot of money. We buy in bulk and have learned how to store stuff so it doesn't go bad. We eat 90% of all left overs before cooking anything else. We cook many things in bulk and freeze meal sized portions for eating later.
roughly for this list it added up to 4830 dollars a year we cut from our budget in 2008. I can't say that we missed the stuff or hurt doing it.
6. When purchasing "things" always shop around for the best deal both for quality and price both locally and online. Price matching is your friend. Coupons or coupon codes online are your friend. I purchase locally if I can get a good deal or the vendor will price match. I think I average about 30% off on retail by working at this.
7. always save save save every last dollar you can for an emergency fund. I have lost most of my income twice in the last 12 years. Both times I survived because I had saved enough money to pay the minimal bills until I could get a job or start a business that replaced that income.
8. if you have to go into debt, never have payments that you couldn't pay if you lost 50% of your normal income. This rule has saved me in both the above referenced instances where I lost major income during the dot com crash and in the recent recession.
By following all this fairly reliably I have been able to put many thousands in the bank and save to buy my current boat for cash, my last three cars for cash, have 3 to 5 months bills in the bank.
I have to admit that it helps tremendously that neither my wife or I are addicted to cigarettes or alcohol. those seem to be major expenses in a lot of peoples lives. I would hate to not be able to afford my book addiction though.
anyways.. I grew up poor and learned how to be happy with less I guess. I don't need new or newest. something that is reliable and functional seems to work fine for me. It's certainly much less expensive than trying to keep up with the neighbours.
interesting topic. I was just thinking about this the other day.
sadly because I still owe on my house I am still tied down financially. I will never finance a house again. I will purchase outright or buy land and build a small house on it myself. I cringe when I look at the 10's of thousands of dollars in interest I have paid over the last decade, and I only financed for 20 years not the 30 that a lot of people do.
Live debt free!!!!!!!
Scott"
"The last few years with the economy depressed we as a family have lived on less than 30,000 a year. The Government calls us below the poverty line. However due to what I think is just common sense financial management we eat better than a lot of family or friends. Mostly own our home, own a 38 ft sail boat and since we needed a 4 door car with the new baby I went out and bought a used Honda for cash. I also try and keep enough cash in the bank to pay 3 or 4 months of bills.
I know so many people that make more than me that always seem to be strapped for cash and barely making it. But they are financing new cars, very expensive houses, eating out every day, smoking, drinking etc..
If you are living a fairly normal life with steady income these rules will help you live beyond how most people in the same income bracket do and have cash in the bank.
1. don't finance anything. If you can't afford to pay cash then you don't really need it. I have broken this rule a few times in emergency's but then have busted my butt to pay it off as quick as I could by sacrificing any fun till it was paid off.
2. pay a car payment every month to yourself in a savings account. In 3 or 4 years you can go out and buy a car for cash.
3. don't purchase a new car. Buy one used. Take your time and wait till a good deal shows up. I start shopping for the next car 6 months before I actually think I will need it. This allows me to find the best deal and the vehicle I really want.
4. Get as high a gas mileage car as you can. I went from driving a 20 mile to the gallon vehicle to a 35 mile to a gallon vehicle and it put an extra 150 dollars a month into my pocket that I had been spending on gas. I swear by Honda civics. My 2 door that I'm getting ready to sell has gotten 34 to 39 mpg during the time I have owned it. The new 2002 4 door civic I just purchased is getting 35 miles to the gallon. My average annual maintenance on 3 different Honda civics has averaged about 500 a year on cars with between 110,000 to 184,000 miles on them. About 40 dollars a month average. Parts are cheap for them. If I did the work myself it would probably be less than half that. (for those that start foaming at the mouth about buying American.. well my Honda's were built in Ohio.) all three cars were bought for between 1700 and 3000 dollars. Cars eat a huge chunk of our money between financing, gas, purchase price, maintenance, registration and taxes,
and insurance. Be smart about it. New is pretty and rides super smooth :) but cost 4x a older used car.
5. Go over your monthly bills with a microscope. In 2008 when stuff went south for our finances we saved 1200 dollars a year by cancelling the two land lines to my business and home and just using cell phones. We saved 400 dollars a year cancelling cable service and didn't miss it. We kept the Internet and if we want to see something you can stream almost any show over the Internet. We did netflix for a while but cancelled that also as we ended up not using it much after a while. another 130 dollars a year savings. We went to an unlimited plan on the cell phones. This actually averaged out 200 dollars cheaper than the past 2 years cell phone bills. We quit eating out as much, this saved about 2400 a year. We still go out a few times a month but not every other day just because it is convenient. Work on reducing your power bill. Insulate your water heater, find and seal air leaks in the house, turn off lights behind you, don't leave computers running all
the time, turn the thermostat up or down a few more degrees depending if your heating or cooling. For us this saved about 500 a year. We don't economise much on food for the house. We like speciality teas and indulge ourselves. We do shop for good deals between the grocery stores and costco, sams etc.. and save a lot of money. We buy in bulk and have learned how to store stuff so it doesn't go bad. We eat 90% of all left overs before cooking anything else. We cook many things in bulk and freeze meal sized portions for eating later.
roughly for this list it added up to 4830 dollars a year we cut from our budget in 2008. I can't say that we missed the stuff or hurt doing it.
6. When purchasing "things" always shop around for the best deal both for quality and price both locally and online. Price matching is your friend. Coupons or coupon codes online are your friend. I purchase locally if I can get a good deal or the vendor will price match. I think I average about 30% off on retail by working at this.
7. always save save save every last dollar you can for an emergency fund. I have lost most of my income twice in the last 12 years. Both times I survived because I had saved enough money to pay the minimal bills until I could get a job or start a business that replaced that income.
8. if you have to go into debt, never have payments that you couldn't pay if you lost 50% of your normal income. This rule has saved me in both the above referenced instances where I lost major income during the dot com crash and in the recent recession.
By following all this fairly reliably I have been able to put many thousands in the bank and save to buy my current boat for cash, my last three cars for cash, have 3 to 5 months bills in the bank.
I have to admit that it helps tremendously that neither my wife or I are addicted to cigarettes or alcohol. those seem to be major expenses in a lot of peoples lives. I would hate to not be able to afford my book addiction though.
anyways.. I grew up poor and learned how to be happy with less I guess. I don't need new or newest. something that is reliable and functional seems to work fine for me. It's certainly much less expensive than trying to keep up with the neighbours.
interesting topic. I was just thinking about this the other day.
sadly because I still owe on my house I am still tied down financially. I will never finance a house again. I will purchase outright or buy land and build a small house on it myself. I cringe when I look at the 10's of thousands of dollars in interest I have paid over the last decade, and I only financed for 20 years not the 30 that a lot of people do.
Live debt free!!!!!!!
Scott"
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
A Little Bit of this, A Little BIt of That
Wow I can't believe it has been so long since the last post.
If you have been following this blog the last post was about getting my bedroom floor finished.
I'm in there on my knees sanding and realized we had not refinished the window.. What was supposed to be a fast refinish it and put it back, turned into a full fledged OY!!!!
As it turns out some where between it getting out of the window and into the work area, the window fell apart in our hands, literally. The only thing that was holding it together was the frame around it. Rebuilding a window was not what I had in mind for this week but......
The choices are:
1.buy a new window that fits exactly. Have you ever been able to match a window in a 90 year old house? Neither have I.
2. Get one as close as is possible and have to rework the siding. We just yesterday finished he exterior of all that tiny little details with only one small item left to do, once payday gets here. I AM NOT, I repeat NOT redoing an entire side of this house just to match the siding in the window area.
3. Rebuild the existing window.
Let us not go into that except to say it is getting done.
My bedroom turned into the work room while all this is getting done. Hence the floor awaits. HOPEFULLY this the week we get my bed room cleared of all side projects and I can actually continue on refinishing the floor.
The good news is the shelf is finally up in my closet, a LOT of stuff is packed and loaded into the boat ready to go. the tiles have been bought for the kitchen floor, the lower cabinets are almost finished, the door to the corner cabinet in the living room are waiting to be installed and a LOT of stuff has been disposed of. Craigslist is a great place to put a curb alert on things you don't want to waste time taking to the good will. My closet is almost empty and my bath room is darned near empty of all that stuff that has been taking up space.
All things considered a lot has been getting done.
For those of you just joining us, the question might be occurring, what does all this have to do with sailing much less building a home made catamaran? It is simple , it has to be done so I can sell the house to pay for a blue water boat I can live on.
I have decided what I am going to do with The Toy. I will strap it on to the V 22 and take it with me.
Fair winds to all
If you have been following this blog the last post was about getting my bedroom floor finished.
I'm in there on my knees sanding and realized we had not refinished the window.. What was supposed to be a fast refinish it and put it back, turned into a full fledged OY!!!!
As it turns out some where between it getting out of the window and into the work area, the window fell apart in our hands, literally. The only thing that was holding it together was the frame around it. Rebuilding a window was not what I had in mind for this week but......
The choices are:
1.buy a new window that fits exactly. Have you ever been able to match a window in a 90 year old house? Neither have I.
2. Get one as close as is possible and have to rework the siding. We just yesterday finished he exterior of all that tiny little details with only one small item left to do, once payday gets here. I AM NOT, I repeat NOT redoing an entire side of this house just to match the siding in the window area.
3. Rebuild the existing window.
Let us not go into that except to say it is getting done.
My bedroom turned into the work room while all this is getting done. Hence the floor awaits. HOPEFULLY this the week we get my bed room cleared of all side projects and I can actually continue on refinishing the floor.
The good news is the shelf is finally up in my closet, a LOT of stuff is packed and loaded into the boat ready to go. the tiles have been bought for the kitchen floor, the lower cabinets are almost finished, the door to the corner cabinet in the living room are waiting to be installed and a LOT of stuff has been disposed of. Craigslist is a great place to put a curb alert on things you don't want to waste time taking to the good will. My closet is almost empty and my bath room is darned near empty of all that stuff that has been taking up space.
All things considered a lot has been getting done.
For those of you just joining us, the question might be occurring, what does all this have to do with sailing much less building a home made catamaran? It is simple , it has to be done so I can sell the house to pay for a blue water boat I can live on.
I have decided what I am going to do with The Toy. I will strap it on to the V 22 and take it with me.
Fair winds to all
Friday, November 18, 2011
Such is Life
Some days things just do not go as planned. The idea for this month was to get tires on van and trailers. It ain't happening. Choice was get two new tires and let very thing else go or get materials and wait on tires. Who know it would be so hard to find 11 lousy tires in decent condition.
The good news is almost all materials have w been bought to complete the house. Still looking at counter top laminate for kitchen counters, a few bits of dry wall, tiling the surround for the wood stove etc. Little stuff like that.
One day at at time.
The good news is almost all materials have w been bought to complete the house. Still looking at counter top laminate for kitchen counters, a few bits of dry wall, tiling the surround for the wood stove etc. Little stuff like that.
One day at at time.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
EZ Kitchen Cabinets
If you really need kitchen cabinets but cannot afford them or do not know how to make them , here is a simple, cheap and effective way to accomplish that goal.
When I removed the original cabinets in the kitchen I was shocked. It was nothing more then a bunch of supports nailed into the walls that supported the drawers and shelves attached to the walls then a facer board put over it . Simple yet served purpose for many years. Here is what we did to duplicate this simple , cheap and effective cabinet making.
As you can see form the photos it is basically stained and polyed board fastened to the studs with metal brackets. Then a facer board and doors put in place. It works well
Tyhe upright s support the top. This side is til in process of being completed..
This side we already have facer board and doors on
Saturday, January 29, 2011
UPDATE on The Toy
Folks have commented on why am I not focusing on The Toy. Mostly it is because I am focused on The Venture, I really want her in the water ASAP!
Also I have been reading all the books I have been getting.
I've been debating on do I cut The Toy down in length or leave it as she is. I'm fairly close to the Texas border and in Texas a boat smaller then 14 ft does not need to be tagged. Since my first choice for closest possible sailing spot is Lake Texhoma, I'm thinking it would save me money.
Either way I can tie it down to the Ventures deck and go . In the back of my mind assuming the guys will want to come with, I figure we can take both and they can go do their thing while I'm doing my thing.
Since I'm going to learn how to fiber glass with the rudder, I'm seriously thinking to just fiberglass her hulls with polyester. That way I could conceivably have her in the water soon after it warms up enough to get it done.
I bought a small trailer from a neighbor cheap enough, I need it get it new tires. Putting a floor on it is a thought I have been playing with . It needs the tongue extended but that is not a big problem. The idea is use that to pull the Toy until I have a roof rack for her made to fit the Lumina or get a tow vehicle for the Venture and use that. I have a light weight hitch for the lumina.. Most of this is outside work and let's face it , winter just not conducive to out door work, even in Oklahoma.
So for all you folks out there that have been wondering whats up with The Toy, that's the latest on her.
Also I have been reading all the books I have been getting.
I've been debating on do I cut The Toy down in length or leave it as she is. I'm fairly close to the Texas border and in Texas a boat smaller then 14 ft does not need to be tagged. Since my first choice for closest possible sailing spot is Lake Texhoma, I'm thinking it would save me money.
Either way I can tie it down to the Ventures deck and go . In the back of my mind assuming the guys will want to come with, I figure we can take both and they can go do their thing while I'm doing my thing.
Since I'm going to learn how to fiber glass with the rudder, I'm seriously thinking to just fiberglass her hulls with polyester. That way I could conceivably have her in the water soon after it warms up enough to get it done.
I bought a small trailer from a neighbor cheap enough, I need it get it new tires. Putting a floor on it is a thought I have been playing with . It needs the tongue extended but that is not a big problem. The idea is use that to pull the Toy until I have a roof rack for her made to fit the Lumina or get a tow vehicle for the Venture and use that. I have a light weight hitch for the lumina.. Most of this is outside work and let's face it , winter just not conducive to out door work, even in Oklahoma.
So for all you folks out there that have been wondering whats up with The Toy, that's the latest on her.
Saw Dust Factory : Rudder page 4 The Fiberglass Jig Continued
Last pic was one side of the rudder boards being in place in the jig for the first dry fit. I need to mention that I used two pieces of paper on this to intentionally have a lot of over lap between the jig and the adhesive, as well as over lap on top. Also note, I put the shiny side up.
If you are using most types of polyester you HAVE TO BLOCK AIR OR IT WILL NOT CURE!!!!!
MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE YOU RESEARCH , READ AND UNDERSTAND THE INSTRUCTIONS WITH ANY PRODUCT YOU PURCHASE BEFORE YOU START YOUR PROJECT. Online tutorials, youtube how to videos, any other how to video I could find online and calling the manufacturer of the product are how I learned what I needed to know. Look at as many sources as you can find. You will get differing opinions and methods. That is good thing. It will help you figure out what will work best for you and what your comfortable with. What one video don't cover many times is covered in a different one.
When you can visualize the steps involved of what your going to do and how you are going to do it, and don't have any worries of doing it the way you have in mind because you have done your home work, you are probably ready to make your materials list and start collecting what you need.
I have been doing my own honey do's for over 20 years. Even those of us who have experience can make mistakes that, if not corrected in time, can waste materials. Now I did not intentionally mess this up, but its probably a good thing I did. It gives me a real good way to show how incredibly important dry fitting EVERY THING is.
Ladies, I don't care what it is your working on. If you are trying to put two or more pieces of ANY THING together permanently whether or not you think you may want the option to reuse those materials for something else later voluntarily DRY FIT IT before you add the adhesive!!!
This applies to any thing from wood, metal, pipe, stone etc. Had I not dry fitted this gig to the rudder, the entire project would have become land fill material.
Moral of this? NEVER , EVER, NEGLECT THE DRY FIT STEP OF ANY PROJECT!!!!!!!
Now back to progress.
This is a dry run but the instructions are for what I will do after I apply the polyester to the boards. The reason for the paper is so it will NOT stick to the jig. When I do it for real with the polyester in place I will use some cheap tape to tape the seams close.
.
Take the freezer paper or what ever you are using from under neath and fold it around the ends and over the top side of the boards. Remember to use something that will NOT stick to the adhesive. Plain old fashioned wax paper is good. Ladies this is one of those things where skills you know you have come in real handy. Just do not waste time trying to get it picture perfect. You cannot reasonably expect it to look as nice as a regular box that you wrap. Your paper will have wrinkles from the jig you normally would not have to deal with. Sloppy is not going to hurt it one bit, as long as you have the air blocked when using polyester.
If you are using most types of polyester you HAVE TO BLOCK AIR OR IT WILL NOT CURE!!!!!
MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE YOU RESEARCH , READ AND UNDERSTAND THE INSTRUCTIONS WITH ANY PRODUCT YOU PURCHASE BEFORE YOU START YOUR PROJECT. Online tutorials, youtube how to videos, any other how to video I could find online and calling the manufacturer of the product are how I learned what I needed to know. Look at as many sources as you can find. You will get differing opinions and methods. That is good thing. It will help you figure out what will work best for you and what your comfortable with. What one video don't cover many times is covered in a different one.
When you can visualize the steps involved of what your going to do and how you are going to do it, and don't have any worries of doing it the way you have in mind because you have done your home work, you are probably ready to make your materials list and start collecting what you need.
I have been doing my own honey do's for over 20 years. Even those of us who have experience can make mistakes that, if not corrected in time, can waste materials. Now I did not intentionally mess this up, but its probably a good thing I did. It gives me a real good way to show how incredibly important dry fitting EVERY THING is.
Ladies, I don't care what it is your working on. If you are trying to put two or more pieces of ANY THING together permanently whether or not you think you may want the option to reuse those materials for something else later voluntarily DRY FIT IT before you add the adhesive!!!
This applies to any thing from wood, metal, pipe, stone etc. Had I not dry fitted this gig to the rudder, the entire project would have become land fill material.
 |
| I had to put a piece of the freezer paper, shiny side up, under it to show the gap we had at the first fit. |
 |
| As you can see, it was a significant gap that had the potential to throw the alignment of the entire project off . |
 |
| That one gap spread several inches down the rudder. |
Moral of this? NEVER , EVER, NEGLECT THE DRY FIT STEP OF ANY PROJECT!!!!!!!
Now back to progress.
This is a dry run but the instructions are for what I will do after I apply the polyester to the boards. The reason for the paper is so it will NOT stick to the jig. When I do it for real with the polyester in place I will use some cheap tape to tape the seams close.
 |
| Put a piece of your per SHINY SIDE DOWN on the area not already covered. Over lap is a GOOD THING! |
.
Take the freezer paper or what ever you are using from under neath and fold it around the ends and over the top side of the boards. Remember to use something that will NOT stick to the adhesive. Plain old fashioned wax paper is good. Ladies this is one of those things where skills you know you have come in real handy. Just do not waste time trying to get it picture perfect. You cannot reasonably expect it to look as nice as a regular box that you wrap. Your paper will have wrinkles from the jig you normally would not have to deal with. Sloppy is not going to hurt it one bit, as long as you have the air blocked when using polyester.
 |
| Make sure it covers the ends if you have any joints so air does not get in and prevent cure. |
 |
| Finish it up like a present |
 |
| I added another layer of paper on top for extra security. I don't want the paper under neath to slip. |
 |
| Add the end piece to the jig and repeat on other end. |
 |
| All boards ready to be screwed into place to let it cure. Remember if you use Polyester, it needs to not have air on it to cure properly. |
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
CONSUMER ALERT!!!!!
CONSUMER ALERT!!!!! READ THE MSDS on any product if someone tells you it is the same as another product BEFORE YOU BUY!
Well I thought I was good to go on the rudder for doing the fiberglass this week or as soon as the weather warmed up. It turns out there is some sort of mix up with the bondo samples that were sent so it appears that completing this part is going to have to wait until payday. I have an email sent to the tech I have been talking to so will see what happens. People make mistakes. It's not a big earth shaking deal. If I sound ungrateful it is because THIS IS SO frustrating!
As stated through out this blog, I have WAY to much Scot in me to waste the samples sent. I have been thinking on this. What I am going to do is use the NON marine stuff sent on the inside to laminate the boards together where water will not touch them and use the BOAT YARD on the out side. If I do it right the inner NON marine grade bondo will never see water, so it will be fine.
I am still going to use the Boat yard product line since it is a lot cheaper then the other fiber glassing epoxies. If it was not for price difference I'd go with the west or systems 3. I'm going to test it and see if the rudder holds up. Why am I being so hard headed on this? It is MY BOAT we are talking about here. I'm not expecting that every one I deal with have the sailing bug but sheesh!
I did the research. The end user sources online ALL agree, the NON MARINE grades of bondo are TEMPORARY for marine use, same as using duck tape and a piece of cardboard wrapped in a zip lock bag or a piece of ply wood with a water proof 5 minute epoxy to get you to shore are temporary fixes.
I asked about using the tempera paint as a substitute since finding marine grade materials is not so easy in this land locked location. According to the same gentleman who told me the samples sent are identical in nature as the boat yard line, TEMPERA is not a good idea since there is no way to know what fillers etc they put into the tempera. Some additives will prevent bondo products from curing! According to this same tech support person, I can use 3 ounces of the strongest universal paint tint they have at any place that tints paint such as HD or Lowe's (for white) and it will color one gallon of Bondo to opaque. If he is correct on this issue we have a source for cheap custom colors. The question is do I want to trust him on this after the mix up on the other or not. I HATE being put in this kind of a position!
Cold hard facts time. We are talking about a rudder, not a hull. Do I want to take the time to rebuild a new rudder if he is WRONG on this as well? I did a search for bondo colorants, I went to their site. That site is NOT user friendly. I got tagged for a survey and I actually did it. I gave the web site related questions 1 on everything,. If I could have given zeros I would have. After going through the process of adding a - minus sign to all the various NON relevant terms and items that came up I found NO link to colorant so I guess they are not making marine colorant any more.
Bottom line, I have entirely to much Scot in me to waste time on a product the I have reason to believe might let me down later when I need it the most. I'm putting a lot of work and materials into this rudder and I'm not going to risk bad advice for false economy over the cost difference of proven colorant vs non marine paint colorant..
I have looked up universal marine colorants in bulk. I found nothing that was specifically mentioned as for marine use so I'm back to getting something probably from jamestown. Granted I did not search through all the zillions of links but then I'm not into spending hours upon hours looking for this type of item.
If I can find a cheaper source of MARINE grade tint that works with bondo I'll let you know. If bad comes to worse and I POSITIVELY HATE this idea. I'll forgo the colorant and just paint it with marine grade paint. Chips I'll just have to keep on top of so it does not look shabby.
Repeat after me. It's about getting in the water!
I decided to submit this question to yahoo answers.
Will see what happens.
Well I thought I was good to go on the rudder for doing the fiberglass this week or as soon as the weather warmed up. It turns out there is some sort of mix up with the bondo samples that were sent so it appears that completing this part is going to have to wait until payday. I have an email sent to the tech I have been talking to so will see what happens. People make mistakes. It's not a big earth shaking deal. If I sound ungrateful it is because THIS IS SO frustrating!
As stated through out this blog, I have WAY to much Scot in me to waste the samples sent. I have been thinking on this. What I am going to do is use the NON marine stuff sent on the inside to laminate the boards together where water will not touch them and use the BOAT YARD on the out side. If I do it right the inner NON marine grade bondo will never see water, so it will be fine.
I am still going to use the Boat yard product line since it is a lot cheaper then the other fiber glassing epoxies. If it was not for price difference I'd go with the west or systems 3. I'm going to test it and see if the rudder holds up. Why am I being so hard headed on this? It is MY BOAT we are talking about here. I'm not expecting that every one I deal with have the sailing bug but sheesh!
I did the research. The end user sources online ALL agree, the NON MARINE grades of bondo are TEMPORARY for marine use, same as using duck tape and a piece of cardboard wrapped in a zip lock bag or a piece of ply wood with a water proof 5 minute epoxy to get you to shore are temporary fixes.
I asked about using the tempera paint as a substitute since finding marine grade materials is not so easy in this land locked location. According to the same gentleman who told me the samples sent are identical in nature as the boat yard line, TEMPERA is not a good idea since there is no way to know what fillers etc they put into the tempera. Some additives will prevent bondo products from curing! According to this same tech support person, I can use 3 ounces of the strongest universal paint tint they have at any place that tints paint such as HD or Lowe's (for white) and it will color one gallon of Bondo to opaque. If he is correct on this issue we have a source for cheap custom colors. The question is do I want to trust him on this after the mix up on the other or not. I HATE being put in this kind of a position!
Cold hard facts time. We are talking about a rudder, not a hull. Do I want to take the time to rebuild a new rudder if he is WRONG on this as well? I did a search for bondo colorants, I went to their site. That site is NOT user friendly. I got tagged for a survey and I actually did it. I gave the web site related questions 1 on everything,. If I could have given zeros I would have. After going through the process of adding a - minus sign to all the various NON relevant terms and items that came up I found NO link to colorant so I guess they are not making marine colorant any more.
Bottom line, I have entirely to much Scot in me to waste time on a product the I have reason to believe might let me down later when I need it the most. I'm putting a lot of work and materials into this rudder and I'm not going to risk bad advice for false economy over the cost difference of proven colorant vs non marine paint colorant..
I have looked up universal marine colorants in bulk. I found nothing that was specifically mentioned as for marine use so I'm back to getting something probably from jamestown. Granted I did not search through all the zillions of links but then I'm not into spending hours upon hours looking for this type of item.
If I can find a cheaper source of MARINE grade tint that works with bondo I'll let you know. If bad comes to worse and I POSITIVELY HATE this idea. I'll forgo the colorant and just paint it with marine grade paint. Chips I'll just have to keep on top of so it does not look shabby.
Repeat after me. It's about getting in the water!
I decided to submit this question to yahoo answers.
Will see what happens.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
To all who would rain on my parade
I have debated doing this page for a while, It's not going to stop eating at me until I do so here goes......
Please click on this you tube presentation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt_NjJk9gM4.
Happy Sailing
Please click on this you tube presentation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt_NjJk9gM4.
Happy Sailing
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