Re: Endpour Issues...

Posted by CLC on Oct 26, 2005

>>>>>>>>>I think the rational was that it would make access to the tight ends easier for taping and eliminate a long hand cut.


:>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Some interesting speculation on Lee Gardner's part but the explanation is straightforward. From about 1991 to about 1997, all CLC boats had sheerclamps that ran out to the ends, as Lee describes. The #1 tech call of those years---hundreds and hundreds of them---concerned the difficulty of cutting a compound bevel in the sheerclamps where they meet at the ends. If that tricky bevel wasn't just right, you really didn't get any of the strength advantages of running the sheerclamps to the ends.

A number of enterprising CLC kit customers (Keith Marks is one name that comes to mind) started cutting the sheerclamps short of the ends to eliminate the compound bevel. We switched over and the tech calls regarding sheerclamps dropped away to near zero, and of all the thousands of builders since 1997 we've had very little trouble with endpours. A substantially proven system.

Not incidentally, doing the endpours horizontally as we generally advocate means you can make sure you get the right amount of epoxy into the ends. The boats are stronger and easier to build the way we do it.

(Noting the exceptions, of course: only the Chesapeakes and the West Rivers use the short-sheerclamp process. All the other models either run the sheerclamps to the end or use some other process.)

Builders with a lot of experience---like Lee or Kurt or Joey or myself---can run the sheerclamps out to the ends at their leisure. Part of the pleasure of building your own boat is doing it the way you feel like doing it. If you're new to boatbuilding we hope you'll stick with proven processes.

http://www.clcboats.com/images/shoptips/clcclamp.jpg

In Response to: Re: Endpour Issues... by LeeG on Oct 26, 2005

Replies: