My 1st experience filleting

I spot welded my Peeler this morning. It turned out ok ,,,,but the bags didn't behave. I tried 3 different type 1 gal plastic bags. I just had so much trouble getting the mix to empty out the corner snipped hole. Especially after the bag was half empty. I wasted too much mix because it wanted to migrate to other parts of the bag. At one point I used a rolling pin to push the mix toward the hole.

 

I looked online at pastery bags and I think they would work better if I could find the throwaway variety. They are triangular with the outlet at the tip of the triangle. Comments please. I want to come up with a smoother process before I do the final fillets.      Thanks, Ken.


11 replies:

« Previous Post       List of Posts       Next Post »

RE: My 1st experience filleting

I used them recently on my WD12 build, and they worked fine.

RE: My 1st experience filleting

 You're going to experience epoxy material migrating all over the bag no matter what you do.  I just decided the wasted product I couldn't get out of the bag was the cost of doing things and thereafter it ceased to be a problem for me.  One thing I did was to use clear packing tape over the corner and it seemed to make it more stable and I didn't have to worry about the bag splitting at the cut when I twisted the opposite corner to force the material to the "spout."

RE: My 1st experience filleting

How big of mixture batches are recommended for a 1 gal freezer bag? I had about 10 fluid oz total with wood flour. Looking at the Peeler building manual, they have a nice spout shaped bag. There must me a certain way the bag is twisted. ???

RE: My 1st experience filleting

I've built and helped build a lot of small craft using ONE-QUART freezer bags.  I shudder at the thought of trying to shoot out a gallon-bag mix of filleting epoxy before it kicks while I'm holding the bag in my 98.6-F hands.  The dreaded epoxy-squeezed-into-all-corners-of-the-bag problem is a bother.  Another builder showed me his technique:  flatten out the bag on a flat surface, use a tongue depressor edge against the bag to shift the epoxy mix toward the hole, twist up the bag without squirting epoxy out, repeat as needed.  You can get almost all the epoxy out without too much stress.  Make sure the edge of your push stick doesn't have any sharp knicks (don't ask).  Good luck with your Peeler.

RE: My 1st experience filleting

Your response rings a bell. Even though the manual calls for 1 gal bags,, I thought they were really too big, but I used them. The 1 qt I think would work just great!. Thank you for the wake up call. I'll buy some 1 qt for the final filleting. It's really not rocket science but a definite technique.   Thanks very much, Ken.

RE: My 1st experience filleting

I've only (nearly) completed one boat - a Wood Duck 12, so take this with a grain of salt. By no means am I an expert.

I didn't go the bag route as I just mixed up the splooge, in small amounts so it doesn't kick too quickly and create waste, and using a stick of some sorts just dropped globs of it in the area to be filleted every few inches then took my filleting tool and smoothed it out - running one glob into the next. As long as you work relatively quickly, you can add a little where needed to keep the fillet "full" and have no gaps, and it works easily. Then I took a squeegee of sorts, either a plastic bondo scraper or one of the multiple spare fake credit cards that you get in the mail, and scraped the extra that squeezed out of the side of the fillet, leaving a clean surface and a great looking fillet. The bit that I scraped was just put in the area to be filleted next so there would be no waste. 

I like the sound of the bag approach, I just found doing it this way really easy and thought I'd suggest it. 

Cheers, 

Rob

 

 

 

RE: My 1st experience filleting

I used sandwich bags which worked just fine.    They were very managaable.  Keep in mind that the heat from your hand/body will accelerate the chemical reaction of the epoxy and it will "go off"  More quickly.   You can per measure batches of epoxy and thickener and catalyze them as you use them. 

RE: My 1st experience filleting

I tried the bag approach some years back and it was a dismal failure. I tried it again and it worked better. The reason was the thickness of the mix. The first time it wasn't runny enough.

All that said, my favorite way is to skip the bag and use a rounded putty knife, sort of how Rob describes it. This is totally a personal preference, sort of like pumps vs. cups, Ginger or Marianne, big end of the egg or the small end, etc.

Also, I woke up feeling pedantic this morning. No intent to offend, apologies in advance, but I really have to say:

1. Welding is the process of heating 2 components until they melt, flow together, re-solidify and are permanently bonded. Try that with wood and you end up with a pile of ash.

2. Polyester resin is catalyzed, epoxy resin is mixed witha a hardener.

3. And yes, anal-retentive does have a hyphen :-)

Have fun,

Laszlo

 

 

RE: My 1st experience filleting

Hi,

I'm on my first CLC kit build, so I'm no expert.  I found the bags worked fine for tack welding joints --- not as well for filleting.  We ended up using Lazlo's rounded putty knife approach to doing the actual filleting.  Also, wetting out the glass tape before applying it to the fillet seemed easier and faster than wetting it in place.

I cannot say enough about the CLC Peeler Skiff kit.  It is exraordinarily well engineered.  We've got everything but the inner and outer wales glued up and it's solid as a rock (but much, much lighter).  The parts fit, the instructions are clear, and CLC support is very good.  If the boat handles as well as it looks, I'll be a happy camper.

Dick

RE: My 1st experience filleting

Laszlo, you are showing your age with the Ginger or Marianne reference.  But then it is probably the right age for many of us.

 

Ralph

RE: My 1st experience filleting

Had to look up pedantic. Don't be so hard on yourself. The Devil's in the details. (see 'sanding)

Not sure pre mixing thickener with resin a good idea. Might interfere with hardener.

I stuck the 1gal.freezer bags - one corner down - into a 24oz. yogurt tub and turned the top of the bag inside out over the tub - filled with about 12oz. of brown stuff and then pulled the bag upright. shook the bag to settle goop into corner and then twisted bag. My main problem is that I cut too much off the corner and my fillets were too big. I probably have the only 80lb. WD12.

I married a 'Marianne' 40 years ago and it seems to be working so far.

« Previous Post     List of Posts     Next Post »


Please login or register to post a reply.