flexibility of fibreglassed joints

I am about to filet and fibreglass the hull and deck on my Wood Duck 12.  It takes some time to complete both before wedding them back together again.  After tacking when I released the shrink wrap the deck rebounded quite a bit, and when I took out the curved temp brace ahead of the cockpit on the deck there was lot of tension and there was some more spreading.  I am concerned that I will be taping in this released shape, and if it takes me some time to complete the taping on both the top and bottom that the joints will cure and the flexibility I will need to bring the deck back into conformity to the bottom may be a problem.  I am thinking probably ok, but best to check in with experience. Thoughts, advice?


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RE: flexibility of fibreglassed joints

Hi, Ross,

I am a first-timer, working on a Shearwater 17 S&G, but I worried about similar problems, mainly losing some of the curve on the front deck when taking out the temporary deck form in front of the cockpit.  I decided not to!  Here is a description of what I did.  I cannot say if it would work for the Wood Duck.  http://www.clcboats.com/forum/clcforum/thread/26920.html

Another thing I did was to re-attach the hull and deck with stretch wrap (masking the shear seams first) after each and every step.  I actually missed one, after I thought the shape was already set in stone, but it wasn't.  Just this morning, after glassing the interior of the deck two days ago, I found about a 1/2-inch misalignment on each side with the deck sticking out beyond the hull.  Some elbow grease, a sharp knife for prying, and lots and lots of stretch wrap later, the shear is almost aligned.  I will leave it for a few days, in the hope that there is still some give in the epoxy and it will take on the right shape for the hull and deck to line up.  Next time, I will reattach at every stage without fail.  I know this seems like a lot of work, but I think it is much easier than having to plane or sand down the overhang on the deck.

Hope this helps a little.

Alec

RE: flexibility of fibreglassed joints

Ross,

It's not a problem. There's plenty of flexibility in the wood to let you re-align it for final assembly without any herioc measures needed. On the worst spot I just wrapped it with shrink wrap, but when all was said and done, I probably didn't need to to do even that (but it was cheap, quick and didn't hurt). Just go with what the manual says and you'll be fine.

Laszlo

Building a Wood Duck 12

RE: flexibility of fibreglassed joints

   Thanks Alec and Lazlo.  Probably what I will do after I finish the hull and before starting on the deck, is do a dry fit and see how much of a challenge it will be to bring the two together with the temp braces out. Lazlo, as your picture describes, the place of most tension is right in front of the cockpit.  Thinking thru things the flexibility should be there, it is just dealing with the amount of tension that may be involved to align them. I have just been using shrinkwrap, but can always add some wiring in this area if really needed. Looking forward to the marriage. 

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