Cleanup your mess

Cured epoxy has an amine blush. A coating of amines that new epoxy doesn't bond very well to.

Every time something is epoxied those amines need to come off. I sand, or abrade the surface in any way possible

Putting it all Together

Megan assisted me in the next step of the restoration, in which we glued up the pieces under the mast step.

There were multiple pieces of both plywood and fiberglass that were numbered to aid in installing them in the correct order.

Layers of plywood and fiberglass were stuck together with epoxy and the wood was fitted around the three through bolts and then the layers of plywood and fiberglass were clamped together around the through bolts.

The area under and around the mast step was prepared to lessen the mess from the wet fiberglass and plywood as it was applied layer up layer. You want to do as many layers as possible together at the same time as you can save time by not having to repeat steps of the preparation process.

To the right the attempt to keep clothes as free from epoxy as possible...unfortunately the epoxy won out and the long sleeve shirt now has some very stiff arms.

Below the finished product with the clamp holding it all together while it cured. The clamp had to be fashioned just for this job as a regular clamp wouldn't fit.

Jig Saw Puzzle

The pieces are made. Layers of 3/8" and 3/4" marine plywood. The wood came from the dumpster.

I started with making a pattern from a piece of cardboard. Trace it and cut it out with the bandsaw. Take the piece back and trim material away until it fits.

All need to be labeled and the order they are going to be put back.





































Below you can see the two main methods of wood removal; belt sander and jig saw.

Fencing, not with an épée.

The great thing about a foot plus of snow on the ground is that it keeps you mostly confined to the areas you have shoveled, the shortest distances between two points. Car, house and garage were the options and so statistics would show that I would then have a greater concentration of effort on the garage and there within Whoopee. Now with the sun out longer other things are taking a little attention.

The snow banks in the parking lot next door prohibited Megan and I from finishing the section of fence we wanted to build in the Fall. With its melting and the soon to be blossoming leaves it seemed a good time to get some of it done (the bushes/trees are very close to the fence, leaves blossoming would add an additional challenge).

Very Puzzle Like

Marine grade plywood will be fashioning the area under Whoopee's mast step. Around the bolts and then layered outboard. A big plywood, thickened epoxy and fiberglass mat sandwich. All pulled together, for eternity, with SS screws.

work progresses

Work progresses with fiberglass prep. Epoxy and fiberglass are really hard, so sanding them in a little area is a bit of a challenge.

In the midst of it.

Coveralls and a hooded sweatshirt mean I can get dirty while wearing pajamas.

Work progresses with the cleaning up of the top layer of new fiberglass work, below and forward of the mast step I would love to use the Festool, but there is a bit of a size restriction. I have my chisel on a stick and sander on a stick. Chisel on a stick is a 12" oak handle on an old chisel. The sander on a stick is a 3/4" drum sander on a 3/8" metal dowel.

I really like this thing. The thing, is a festool sander and a festool vacuum. The sander is very much like an angle grinder, but it has velcro sanding disks of different grits and attach to a soft or hard pad. The pièce de résistance is that when you rotate the handle a dust shield rotates and captures most particulates. Even though I wear a respirator, it is nice to greatly minimize all of that pesky fiberglass dust. I have stated to Megan that if there was a tool I would marry it would be this thing.