Brush or rag on a stick?

On your next boat you can do what I did on my schooner - before assembling the trunk, put a sheet of glass cloth on each future inside face, mask where the pieces will make contact with each other, fill the weave, paint it with epoxy/graphite and glue it all together.

Good luck,

Laszlo

   Hey Sawdust.....like you I used paint stirrers for various things and to paint (and epoxy and vanish the top half) the inside of the DB trunk I blue taped foam brushes to the longer paint sticks (the ones for 5 gallon buckets.  I let the stick go down onto the foam just a little and applied paint to the SIDE off the foam brush along the tip, then worked from the top.  I also flipped the boat on its side in its rope cradle so I could look down the slot better from both sides and work it from both sides.  I also put paint on the corners of the foam brushes and angled the stick to get the corners of the slot.  Another idea I had AFTER it was all done was to cut a slot in the end of the paint stir stick the length of the foam brush handle and the width of the foam brush handle then blue tape around so the brush was more in the middle of the stick....dont know if it would have worked though

Curt

   Curt, 

The idea of the slot is worth a try, I think. I might slot the foam brush handle and slide it together that way for more secure fixturing.

If I were to build another one, I would definitely consider more finishing before assembly.

There are very thin long-handled rollers for painting behind radiators and the like -- if the centerboard trunk opening is an inch wide (as it is on the NE Dory) that should work.  That's what I'm planning to do with varnishing my trunk on the dory..

Dave M. 

   "There are very thin long-handled rollers for painting behind radiators and the like..."

In the south the painters would call them "cigar rollers". 

   Spray paint,like you say its hard to see 

This sounds kind of crazy, but I've been using it throughout my build and it works well for spreading unthickened epoxy into small areas, ie - inside the "scuppers" on the inwales.  I just used it to touch up inside the daggerboard trunk and it worked well for that also.

 I have not tried it yet, with paint or varnish but I plan to.  It should work well for that also: Buy a box of disposable foam earplugs at Walmart - the kind made from tight foam that holds it's shape for awhile when you squeeze it.  Buy a package of bamboo skewers from any grocery store.  The skewers can be left long or easily cut to any length with a pair of "nippers."  Impale a foam earplug all the way through along it's lengthwise axis.  After the earplug regains it's original shape, it makes a pretty good roller/applicator for small areas.  It takes a few minutes after mounting on the skewer for the plug to regain it's original shape, so I prepare several before I mix epoxy.  I haven't made any pictures of these homemade mini-applicaters, but I could if you need a better idea.  

The skewers are great to have around a build.  I use them to mix epoxy - especially inside a squeeze bottle,  to apply 1 or 2 drops of epoxy in a tiny area, and to push thickened epoxy in a ziplock bag into correct position from the outside of the bag.  They're also good to peel up the edge of a stubborn piece of tape from pretty wood.

Hooper Williams - Brevard, NC     

   One of the cool things about discussions like these is the way that different folks can come up with different ways of solving similar challenges.  The "earplug on a stick" is not one I would have ever come up with myself, but it gives one furiously to think about all the things that could be done with otherwise unrelated tools and objects.  Along the lines of skewers, here is one for putting out there:  I save disposable chop sticks from take out Chinese places.  Clean them and reuse them for all kinds of "small stick" things.  Small stakes for potted plants.  Sharpened to a point with a pencil sharpener to poke holes or pick things free.  Hang a couple of paint brushes by the handle holes in a can of cleaner.  And I saved the soup containers from the same take out joint for small batches of epoxy or a small paint container.  

That's funny sawdust.  A major reason my boat is not finished is that we went to China in July (2015) and adopted a 7 year old boy.  For the first several weeks after we got him home I cut the sharp ends off the skewers and let him use them as disposable chop sticks.

Hooper  

  Just testing.  If this works, you will know that I have finally figured out how to post pictures here:

 https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1626/26049612601_f124800372_b.jpg

   Nope, still working on it.

Hooper

Ha!  I did it!

Hooper

   I'll definitely file the ear-plug-on-a-stick trick for future use.  I got a couple of the "cigar roller" short nap rollers and I think that'll work.  The Skerry daggerboard slot is too narrow for it to roll, but it still spreads the paint fairly evenly as I shove it through.  I taped the top and bottom to mask the squeeze-out from the outside surface.  It'll do ok.  

OK, Hooper. You did that. Now what about your boat?   

You're sounding like my family Jeff.  There are very few things in life that you can have exactly the way you want them.  Building a boat from scratch is a rare opportunity to have something exactly the way I want it and I'm taking full advantage of that opportunity.  I will say that seeing pictures of you sailing has inspired me to stay up later and work a little longer on recent evenings.  My hull is finished.  The daggerboard is glued up and roughly shaped and the rudder head is glued up.  I should be ready to start painting/varnishing in a few days.

Hooper