Bridges of cloth at the chine - Ganymede 13'

I am builiding a a 13' Ganymede from a kit and I had some issues on fibeglassing the inside.

I was not able to eliminate all the bridges of cloth at the chine. I've tried to introduce a small amount of cloth back down into the seam by sliding it down from the top, but at this point the sides were hard to slide back.

Is this a big problem? Is it possible to fix it?

 

I've also had a problem that the fiberglass was not wide enough to cover completly on the sides. Is a good idea to patch the uncovered area?

See the picyures below for more details.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B4Kc3X6MwMdHN3pXRFBfcnR3dlU?usp=sharing

I am following the instructions that are also available online:

https://www.instructables.com/id/Making-a-Plywood-Kayak

Thanks,
Alex

 


6 replies:

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RE: Bridges of cloth at the chine - Ganymede 13'

Hi Alex,

I'm on my first boat build myself. Just did the fiberglass. I don't think you should leave it like it is: for aesthetic reasons, for structural reasons, and because the wood may not be properly protected.

I don't have enough experience to advise you on how to fix this, but I strongly encourage you to phone the CLC and talk to one of their very helpful staff members, as many people on this forum have done.

Good luck,

John

RE: Bridges of cloth at the chine - Ganymede 13'

  Dear Alex,

It looks like your fillets are not big enough. The fillets have two purposes. One. to add strength to the joint. Two - to make a nice radius for the glass fo follow. You can read many posts on the forum about how to make good fillets.

OK, what to do now. All certainly is not lost, but those bubbles of air under the glass make the glass very weak. There will be many different ideas on how to proceed and fix this. They all will probable work.

I would use a razor knife and cut out any glass with a air bubble behind it. I would then sand the area very well with a 80 grit sand paper. then I would add new fillets right on top of the existing glass. If the glass is well bonded to the wood (no air bubbles) this is no problem. Smooth the fillets with a plastic spoon (or some other tool)to get a nice radius. Then I would glass over the new fillets with 2" or 3" inch fiberglass tape. This reinforces the joint and will make your boat like the CLC folks intended.

Smile, we have all made all sorts of mistakes, and are enjoying our boats today! Welcome to boat biulding. You should also check out some videos or posts on how to lay and wet out the glass.

Good Luck,

Joel

 

 

RE: Bridges of cloth at the chine - Ganymede 13'

That's great info Joel. In my NE Dory build the manual said to do the fillets and then apply the fiberglass while the fillet was still tacky.

Doing all of the fillets and all of the glass on the inside of the dory made a very long day's work, even for two of us. I wondered why at the time, but now I can see it's to help fit the glass into that awkward spot. 

Any thoughts on the places where the fiberglass came up a little short? Can Alex simply sand it smooth (being careful not to remove wood) and apply patches to the bare spots? The way fiberglass disappears under the resin, the seams might even be invisible?

RE: Bridges of cloth at the chine - Ganymede 13'

Thanks John for the advice.

Thanks Joel for the help and encouragement :)

I used a plastic spoon (smaller than a soup spoon) to smooth the fillets. Should I have used a soup spoon?

I've cut air bubbles with cutter and now I've started sanding it. I've found particularly diffcult to sand the area close to the the stems (too narrow). Any recommendation on how to sand that part of the boat?

Thanks,

Alex

RE: Bridges of cloth at the chine - Ganymede 13'

Alex check this: http://www.clcboats.com/shoptips/stitch_glue/fillets.html. When I did mine I scrounged an extra-large paint stir stick from my local shop. It was wider than two of my fingers. Then I made a one-inch radius on the end. Take a look at the pic at the bottom of the page in the link, the fillet is rather wide.

RE: Bridges of cloth at the chine - Ganymede 13'

Thanks John for link. I've done my own tools to smooth the fillets and I've got a better result. The chine looks better now.

I've tried also to fix the bubbles on the edges of the sides by breaking the bubbles with a cutter, sanding and then using a fiberglass tape on these places. I've only used epoxy mix, no wood flour mix. Few places the fiberglass tape did not glued well on the part where there was a bubble before. Another bubble formed again. 

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B4Kc3X6MwMdHSEZ4WkVhNDNGNEU?usp=sharing

Maybe I haven't sanded enough? Any suggestion or tips?
Thanks,

Alex

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