cutting shearwater sport hatches?

It's time for me to cut the hatches, I'm not sure how to determine how far up the bow to cut these in. The book also says the spacer should be a triangle on the sides, not sure what they mean. I apear to have an extra doubler too. Should I? I thought one panel glued under the cut out hatch was the doubler, I have two panels for the bow and for the stearn.  Thanks for the help {my first boat build}


12 replies:

« Previous Post       List of Posts       Next Post »

RE: cutting shearwater sport hatches?

Hi jsmo,

No need to sand between coats if the time between coats is 24 hours or so. Some info I've read suggests 36-72 hour gap is okay but the Epoxy Genius from "a leading name in epoxy" says 24 hours is better.

The idea is, you want the next coat to go on prior to a full cure of the underling layer. This forms a chemical bond between the two (or three) layers. If you wait for a full cure you'll need to sand which provides a mechanical bond between layers.

When I'm putting down layers I shoot for a second layer to go on just after the first gets stiff enough to not move around as the next layer goes on. The amount of time it takes to get to this "green" stage varies with ambient temperature and speed of hardener you are using. Getting layers on in the "green" stage also keeps you from having to worry about amine blush, which I won't even go into here ;-)

Good luck and have fun,

ev

RE: cutting shearwater sport hatches?

   That's odd, this was intended for the Sanding Between Coats question.

RE: cutting shearwater sport hatches?

   Any help would be great

RE: cutting shearwater sport hatches?

This is one of the more fiddely parts of the build. Front and back follow the same procedure, although the back is much larger. Line up your spacers with the panel lines between the deck and shear panels. The sides of the spacer should line up with the panels lines at the right place. Then trace the front and back, this area should be flat. Cut out the hatch following the lines. Sand the opening smooth. Glue on your doublers and glue the spacers to the rims/sills. Make sure that they are glued up symetrically, equal space on all sides. To fit the spacers and sills to the deck, plane and sand them until the sides are triangle shaped, spacers pointy at the top and the rims/sills fatter on the bottom. It will take a few tries, and it is tricky getting them in and out if your deck is already glued on. There is not alot of the spacers left on the sides of the hatches. The back is easier to get in and out, so might be a good place to start. Good luck, JRC

RE: cutting shearwater sport hatches?

Forgot, should have one spacer, one rim/sill, one doubler for each hatch. Back is alot bigger than the front one.

RE: cutting shearwater sport hatches?

   Thank you for the help

RE: cutting shearwater sport hatches?

Good luck, this is one of my favorite boats. If we don't have the kids with us, my wife steals the SWS. I have only gotten to paddle it once or twice. JRC  

RE: cutting shearwater sport hatches?

   I cut and glued up the hatches, epoxy seeped out around the inside and spacer slid a bit. Looks like a pain to clean up, hard to sand. I think the weather stripping isn't going to allow the cover to fit flush, it looks to thick. I'm beginning to think I shouldn't have put them in.

RE: cutting shearwater sport hatches?

Get in there with a sharp razor blade. This time of the year the epoxy will still be green for a few days. Cleaning up will save alot of sanding later. Also don't forget that most woodworking tools work well on epoxy, Files/rasps, scrapers, dremel tools, etc. One of the favorites is the "Sureform" rasp, it looks like a cheese grater. I haven't had much luck with the CLC gasket material sitting flush. There are a few alternatives, minicell foam, regular weatherstripping. Don't get discouraged. JRC

RE: cutting shearwater sport hatches?

Thank you jnj, since you've built one can you tell me how you glassed the underside of the deck? Did you you use one FULL sheat for the first layer? Or did you cut it up first before laying around hatches and cockpit? I have the 3 pieces cut for behind the cockpit but was wondering about the full piece, i wonder if i could use tape around the areas that are smaller. Do the sills get glassed? Thanks...Jim

RE: cutting shearwater sport hatches?

Deck is now clued onto boat, fits good, I hope i'm half done LOL. It looks cool.   

RE: cutting shearwater sport hatches?

I filleted and taped the seams and painted 2 coats of epoxy to the undersides of the deck and inside hatch areas. You are done with the fiddly stuff. Now, you just have to time your epoxy coats right to avoid waiting for it to cure long enough to sand between coats. A few things that I have learned the hard way,  cover the coaming in a layer of glass, and spend the money for good varnish. JRC

« Previous Post     List of Posts     Next Post »


Please login or register to post a reply.