Re: glue globs in cockpit

Posted by Laszlo on Sep 11, 2006

Plastic painter's dropcloth is a safer alternative. The heat from the curing epoxy can melt the wax causing contamination, sticky paper, etc. Also, you can peel the epoxy off a sheet of plastic and use it again and again.

Jim,

Hang in there, man! A Dremel with a #60 sanding drum will quickly eat all your epoxy globs and ask for more. On my 1st S&G boat I got rid of a glob the size of my thumb (both joints) in under a minute. They do make a lot of dust, though, so don't forget your dust mask.

As far as that second boat, it'll be so much easier now that you've built the first one. You know how to do each step, so instead of being hung on how much wood flour to mix into the epoxy, how to wet out the glass, etc., you can now concentrate on working cleanly, scraping blobs and drips before they harden and so on.

First boats can have discouraging moments because of all the new things you have to learn. You expect the neat 1-2-3 build process described and pictured in the manuals and videos and get frayed glass cloth with wisps of glass snot and epoxy hardening in the cup, instead. And so on.

But with a second boat, the skills are no longer mysterious and you know exactly what to expect. You know what matters and where you can cut corners. In fact, the expectation problem is usually the other way round on a second boat. It gets done faster and easier than you expect, with leftover epoxy and woodflour.

So don't give up. The tools are out there to help you finish your first boat. You don't have to finish it all at once. It's OK to sand for just a little bit and then go do something else. It's also OK to decide that you've done enough sanding, make sure that it's completely covered in epoxy and go off paddling before painting or varnishing it. Get to learn & love your boat and finish the sanding next year. And believe it or not, you'll probably start getting the itch to build a second one, one day.

Chin up,

Laszlo

In Response to: Re: glue globs in cockpit by Jim Stillman on Sep 10, 2006

Replies:

• Re: glue globs in cockpit by Jim Stillman on Sep 11, 2006