combing on chesepeake 16

I am wondering if there is any harm in putting the combing and the spacers together before attatching it to the deck.  Seems it would be easier to sand. Thanks.


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RE: combing on chesepeake 16

unless you have a mold for the deck to pre-bend it if you do it off the deck, if you pre-assemble it, you will not be able to bend the final product to properly attach it/glue it to the deck.

if you are concerned about sanding and getting a perfect lay-up, you are really only focusing on the outside perimeter (the inside perimeter is easy to sand because the final layer of the coaming only overhangs the outside ...not the inside).  to address this outside perimeter, instead of glueing all the layers of the coaming at one time, do one layer at a time.   this way, prior to putting the final top layer on which creates the overhang, you can easily sand and fillet the prior layers.   this adds a bit of time....but is easier to manage and handle than glueing multiple layers in one glueing session.

RE: combing on chesepeake 16

It is also possible to put plastic over the deck, then glue up the spacers and the coaming.  then take the assembly off to sand the underside and the spacers smooth.  Since it is now preformed. There is no problem later gluing it back onto the deck.  I have seen this suggested in earlier threads but have not tried this myself and it may be hard to get the spacers to stay in place over the slipery plastic, but then epoxy is slipery too so it may not be any more difficult than gluing directly to the deck.  

Pardon the run on sentence.

Ed

RE: combing on chesepeake 16

"I am wondering if there is any harm in putting the combing and the spacers together before attatching it to the deck.  Seems it would be easier to sand. Thanks."

Hi Paul,

First of all, forgive me a quick rant: It's a coaming, not a combing, although I see "combing" so often that I'm afraid if I don't say something, I'm going to start using it myself! Anyway ...

I've heard of people covering the deck opening with plastic or packing tape, and clamping the spacers and rim together on top of that. As you say, that supposedly makes smoothing the outside of the spacers an easier task because the glued-up assembly can be removed from the boat, sanded, and then permanently glued back on. If you are determined to completely remove the slight "stair step" edge between the spacers, that might be worthwhile. 

My approach is to sand the outside edges of spacers nice and smooth before assembly, and heavily rounding the edge that will account for the stair step. When the coaming and spacers are glued to the deck, the clamps are in the inside of the opening, so they don't get in the way of thoroughly cleaning up the epoxy squeeze-out on the final surfaces before it hardens. If a slight stair step is left, it is very smoothly rounded, and causes no problems with a skirt.

Old Yeller 

RE: combing on chesepeake 16

That's how I did it on my WD12 - plastic & clamps. I did it the way the manual said for my wife's CH16. The plastic and clamps method was very much easier and produced better results. No problem with slipping as long as you use enough clamps. Details and larger pictures at:

http://www.morocz.com/BoatBuilding/DuckBuild7.htm

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