I can't speak to tacking with hot glue, I don't know if epoxy will adhere to it.

I have used CA Glue with Activator and it works well.  CA Glue is 'instant' when used with Activator.

Regards, Mike

It might work, but I would recommend against it. You know that epoxy is strong enough to tack the hull together, and epoxy will stick to it. I would bet anything that there wouldn't be a good bond between epoxy and the hot melt glue. It may end up encapsulated in epoxy and not cause any real harm, but I would feel better knowing there weren't these little pockets of something embedded in the fillets that the epoxy wouldn't bond to.

Keith

You make a good point Keith. Guess I'm looking to avoid the messy process of loading up syringes with epoxy. Maybe it isn't as bad as I think!

I bought a bunch of very cheep ketchup and mustard bottles from the Christmas Tree shop.  I think the were about $1.50 each.  made up the smutz, dumped it in the bottle and used it to dispense where needed.  worked like a charm. when done I just tossed it.

the 1" wide opening was easy to fill.

Ed

Also, check your local pharmacy. I was able to buy 100 syringes that are just like the West Systems ones, for about $10.

sean

Fair question, but definately DON'T tack it with hot glue; I agree with Keith. It might not be strong enough when you pop the wires, but that's not really the biggest problem. The glue would stop the fillet getting properly in the joint, and wouldn't bond very strongly with the epoxy anyway, so you would have a very much weaker joint.

Medical supplies websites are really good here. Order loads of plastic syringes really cheap, and many boxes of disposable gloves, and disposable sleeves. Also wooden tounge depressors (like fat lolly sticks) in boxes of 500 make it easy to stir your mix, then spoon it into the fat end of the syringe.

I would play it safe and use the thickened epoxy. Some of these pieces are under enough stress that I would be afraid of them coming apart with hot glue after the wires were removed.I tacked the inside of my Shearwater Sport Hybrid today and it was a neat and easy process. I used 3 small batches of epoxy and one syringe. Wipe the tip of the syringe after you fill it and apply the bead carefully for zero mess.

I would not use Hot Glue for the Fillets. Tacking the pieces together is to only hold the seams in place until the "glue" (epoxy and wood flour) binds them together. Hot Glue is very brittle and is easily chipped off, so there is very little structural strength. CA is brittle and can be broken, but it is a much stronger bound than hot glue. You can tape the area fro the fillets and use a Zip lock bag like a pastry pipe to apply the fillets.

About those syringes? I've never used 'em. Too much fuss. I have always brushed small amounts of thickened epoxy into the joint with a disposable plumbers' flux brush, then smoothed the stuff into a preliminary mini-fillet with a "craft stick," identical to a tongue depressor, but not sterile and not individually packaged. Works great for tack-gluing. You can get the flux brushes at Harbor Freight for dirt cheap and the craft sticks at A.C. Moore, also dirt cheap.

Jim

1 vote against the hot glue.

how ever many votes as allowed for the ketchup squirters. Cheap, easy to load, just the right size opening and can handle a full batch of epoxy at a time.

Hot glue not strong enough. Also, if you are finishing the hull bright, it won't look right under the varnish. CA glue with the activator/accelerater works well. I wish I had known about it for my WD12 build. I snapped a bunch of wires getting the ends to close. Also, CA glue good for keeping the bristles on chip and flux brushes from shedding.

Now if it could just make sanding easier . . . .

Hot glue not strong enough. Also, if you are finishing the hull bright, it won't look right under the varnish. CA glue with the activator/accelerater works well. I wish I had known about it for my WD12 build. I snapped a bunch of wires getting the ends to close. Also, CA glue good for keeping the bristles on chip and flux brushes from shedding.

Now if it could just make sanding easier . . . .

Sorry about that.

Syringes, ketchup bottles, etc. not necessary. Just mix up a glob of putty and smear it on with a gloved finger.

Laszlo

As far as pouring into the syrenges, why not use these?

http://www.amazon.com/SOLO%C2%AE-Cup-Company-Water-Ounces/dp/B002XK2L4S/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1377908784&sr=8-6&keywords=paper+funnels

just snip the end off with sxissors and pour... ~$5 for 200 of them, thats a lot of funnels...

Question about CA glue-tacking from a first-timer (i.e., never tacked before).  I am making the Shearwater 17 S&G:

I understand that tacking actually creates the final shape of the kayak - any flaws in truing cannot be easily undone after tacking.

If that is the case, shouldn't I plastic-wrap the hull and deck together while the tack sets, to make sure they fit perfectly later on?

And, if that is the case, wouldn't CA glue and accelerator undermine this process, since it will be set before I can get the hull and deck together and plastic-wrapped?

Second, if I tack with epoxy, should I wrap the boat and let the tacking set before filleting?  Or do the fillet right away then wrap it all up?

I know this is a S&G question, not hybrid, but look forward to some guidance nevertheless!

Alec

See Lazlo above.  open hull, tacks, works great.

The back of plastic spoons also works for smoothing, then use the front to scoop up any overfill.

Jim,

Tacking my Shearwater together witht he suplied syrings was one of the least messy steps. I mixed up epoxy with wood four to mustard like thinkness - the actual fillets I used a peanut butter thickness - and just sucked it into the syring from the mixing cup. Walked over to the boat and started applying. No mess really great.

For the filleting - pastry frosting bags are really great, but a little messy to load. Not bad.

I'm doing a handful of Ch's with some folks here. We're fairing the hulls/adjusting the wires/shimming the gaps/setting the twist while they're upside down, then tacking the outside gap between wires, with either a small putty blade or snipped freezer bag. Works swell.

I agree with Laszlo. I don't get the syringe thing, the pastry bag thing, the corner-cut baggie thing... I just scoop a little thickened epoxy out of a yogurt cup with a tongue-depressor sized craft stick and have at it. And, by the way, for most of the final fillets, tongue depressors work great for that, too.

Jim

...and better than tongue depressors, is a putty spreader with one side clipped to about a 60 degree angle, and the acute corner rounded to your desired fillet radius. Transfer your non-sag fillet mixture to a cardboard square pallet, and trowel it on, then drag the acute angle along your fillet, leaning the spreader forward and bracing it with your fingers so that the 60 degree sides scrape the plywood clean and push the material toward the center of the fillet.

on the spreader's obtuse corner, you can cut a bigger radius for the flatter joins, and use it the same way. 

I just tacked with the epoxy in syringe for first time last night and it wasn't messy at all.

Way less messy than the mile long spider web stringers that come off hot glue. I used one pump resin and one pump hardener and some wood filler to slightly less than ketchup thickness and just poured it in the syringe from my very small cup after mixing for 2 minutes. Turned the Wood Duck on it's side and slowly squeezed it in the gap I created by planing the 45 degree angle on the plywood edges.  It didn't run out of the groove at all and saturated the wood. Very happy with the results.  Hot glue wood be a total mess. Stick to the instructions.