Tips and Tricks
  1. Do not let a lack of space be a show stopper! It is nice to have a 16 X 4 foot table to work on but not necessary. All of that width allows you to do 6 butt joints at a time. If you have a narrow space you may only be able to do 1 or 2 butt joints at a time, but that is fine. The butt joints could even be done on the floor with no table at all.
  2. When you first start you will feel that you have to take the directions step by step. However, if you have the space, study the entire project and determine what steps you might do in parallel. For example, the cockpit combing is done near the end but it will need several coats of epoxy. If you have it out and ready to go, you can use the remaining epoxy from one step to put on the combing rather than throwing it away.
  3. When doing the butt joints don't forget to cover the work surface with plastic wrap or waxed paper or your panel will be quite difficult to pick up after the epoxy cures. All in all, I found that waxed paper was much easier to deal with. Lightly sand the butt joint area first so that the wood surface matches the surface of the rest of the panel which you will likely sand prior to doing the saturation coat.
  4. Learn early how the epoxy is curing in your environment so you can more easily work with the epoxy through the rest of the project. In my environment, I found that epoxy applied in the evening was about perfect for smoothing with the shaving hook the next morning. If you are using a shaving hook or similar tool, it is much easier to work with the epoxy before it gets real hard. Epoxy is much more forgiving before it cures. In fact, get the big drips and runs with a paper towel before the epoxy sets up at all. Wiping up wet epoxy is much easier than scraping or sanding.
  5. I found the stitching to be fun. I cut a plastic cup to match the length of the stitching wires. I put the end of the wire down to the bottom of the cup and cut it at the top of the cup. I repeated until I had a cup full of wires of the correct length. If you cut the wires with a wire stripper (adjust it so you can cut at the notch where you would normally strip) you will get a flat end on the wires. Otherwise, you will find yourself perforated by the sharp points that are sticking out everywhere. I found it best to loosely twist the stitches until I was sure everything was coming together just right. I would then gradually tighten the twists while confirming perfect alignment. Don't tighten too much or you will begin to tear the wood and enlarge the holes.
  6. Be very careful when sanding the bare mahogany plywood. The outer layer of veneer is very thin and you can easily sand through it and expose a darker or lighter under layer of wood or glue. Spend time getting the panels flush with each other during the stitching phase so that you are removing very little material when sanding.
  7. When draping fiberglass cloth over a shape like a hull you are going to have to make cuts. At the bow and stern cuts are required to allow the cloth to follow the sharp lines. Overlapping glass is fine and will sand out very well. What you do not want are wrinkles or puckers in the cloth.
  8. The keel tape can be a bit annoying but remember it is sacrificial. Make cuts in the tape as needed to allow it to drape over the tight corners. Any overlaps will sand out nicely as will the rough edge of the tape. Remember that this tape is not providing structural strength but abrasion resistance.
  9. The temporary frames do not need much hot glue to keep them in place. You just need enough to keep them from moving around after the stitch wires are removed. I put a bead along the entire edge and had a terrible time removing the forms.
  10. When doing the end pours, use the stirring stick to make sure no air is trapped in the pour. I found a large air space in one of my pours when I drilled the hole which had to be filled with some difficulty.
  11. Don't be afraid to use some stitches when temporarily attaching the deck to the hull. If you do not have the deck shaped correctly when you epoxy the deck panel seams it will hold that incorrect shape when the epoxy cures.
  12. After the saturation coats you may find that some of the stitch holes are dimples because the epoxy ran through the hole. Filling these dimples now with a drop of epoxy can save some grief later when you are preparing the epoxy for varnish.
  13. You can purchase 5 minute epoxy at a hardware store. I shaped the hip panel so that it fit very nicely and then held it in place with some masking tape. I then mixed a small amount of the 5 minute epoxy and put a drop at the four corners of the plate. In 5 minutes it was set. It makes it much easier to work with the real epoxy and tape when the panel does not move around.
  14. The dust produced by sanding epoxy really likes to stick to itself. I discovered that I had to take my sander apart and clean the impeller several times because it became completely clogged with the epoxy dust. Wood dust seems to move right through to the dust collector but the epoxy dust just builds up until the passages are clogged.
  15. After transporting the boat a few times, I discovered that the rack was really scraping up the boat. I finally got some neoprene and used contact cement to make padding at points of contact. Also make sure that it is strapped down snuggly so that it does not vibrate around on the rack surfaces.
  16. (Note: This tip originates with Tom Whalen, Cohoes, NY.) What you are looking for is Schedule 40 drain pipe with a 4 inch diameter. I experimented with differing widths and settled on 1 1/2 inches. It is rather wonderful because you can cut it wider or narrower to fit your needs. If you find it a bit too tight for the application, you can also enlarge the gap.
  17. I could not find the 7 inch 1/8 inch foam nap roller pads in any store (you can order them from Pygmy). I purchased a 4 inch roller frame and bought 9 inch foam roller pads and cut them in half. The ones I used were FoamPro No. 19P 3/16" Foam Nap . It is yellow and marked for Super Smooth Surfaces.
  18. I purchased the rigging kit from Pygmy. Review the drawings very closely and use a magnifying glass to verify details. The strap eyes behind the cockpit and for the paddle park are mounted on panel 5 and the ones in front of the cockpit are mounted on panel 6. I located the rear rigging 28 inches from the butt joint and the front rigging 17 inches from the butt joint. I located the paddle park 30 inches rear of where the points of the number 6 panels meet. When installing the shock cord, cut the paddle park segment first. Then cut the remaining segment in half for the deck rigging. Be careful when crimping the hog tie that keeps the clip from coming off. It is easy to make it so flat that it passes through the clip under tension. I have been surprised how much I like having the paddle park.
  19. I purchased the Keeper toggles from Pygmy. They are very nice and easy to attach. However, I found that I did not like the noise they made in rough water as they constantly clunked against the hull. I finally followed the directions on page A1 for making a closed loop of rope. I purchased a 6 foot length of 3/8 inch, three strand nylon rope and unwound 5 feet of it and cut off one of the strands. (I left the remaining foot of rope intact so that I could use it as an example when I was trying to make my loop look like a complete piece of rope again.) I melted the ends of the strand with a match to keep it together and then followed the directions for making the loop. After I completed the loop and had the strands looking like a rope again, I cut the hard melted ends off so the ends overlapped about an inch. I then tied a whip knot with some nylon cord to hold it together. I then tucked the whip knot inside the hole in the hull. You can then repeat the steps for the other loop. Check out Knots at the end of a rope for a good example of whipping.