Smurfwarrior wrote:Nice tips Tenn, the boat in your profile pic looks awesome.
After a good couple days paddling mine, I really think I want it dinkier and sinkier. The K squirt I used to paddle was a Hellbender and it was super easy to sink the ends and toss around, I miss that. Looking at reducing the length to around 9' but keeping a wider,more rounded, profile at the tips. I've been lurking on Sweet Composites site looking for material and its got me eager to experiment. Here are some questions I've got, for someone like Adam.
Smurfwarrior wrote:
1. Reprofiling ends- Due to the increased width at the area I plan on making the 'new tip', will I need to cut the seam further back and trim top half to taper to the bottom half? This seems logical but want to make sure. Opinions on end profiles.. pointy like original or wider to accept more influence from the current further from the center?
The seams should be even. This will be easier, or harder, than you think, depending on whether you think it will be hard, or easy
If you are shortening it that much (and I would aim for just under 10' BTW) you are going to very likely have a round profile (shred cut). I like pointy on front and round on back personally for a cruiser, but for what you are doing they should match. I would leave the center seamed and cut and trim the bow and stern - it will be easier to work this way as you won't have to worry about things shifting around as much, and it should help you keep that central volume and room for your knees (OR redo that cockpit too and cut the whole thing down).
Smurfwarrior wrote:
2. End pours- what type and how much epoxy do you use?
I use vinylester, as it matches my builds and is cheaper, and significantly lighter, than epoxy. I mix in some aerosil or cabosil (glass microspheres) to make it lighter too. I use as little as possible to make sure my seam tape ends are in the end pour - that said, the Maven is ridiculous to try and seam, so there is a quart in each end
. Thankfully the Mentor is much better!
Smurfwarrior wrote:
3. Seam taping- the current width of the seam tape is 3" and its not in the best of shape around the entire boat. Whats the best type of tape to use and what epoxy are you using to wet it out? How much resin would be required to tape the whole boat vs just the ends?
My personal preference is the bias-ply tape - you can widen it where need be and it is MUCH easier to work on sharp seams. 1 1/2 will do nicely I suspect. It is more expensive. I'd use glass and not kevlar for various reasons, most of them having to do with repair or cutting down further (and cosmetic for the exterior). I would use epoxy... more on that at the end of this post.
Smurfwarrior wrote:
4. For the chopping/floating process... do you guys just duck tape it together to test it?
Use vinyl tape, not duct tape. It will stick just as well short term, and not leave that aweful residue that is almost impossible to get off (that you NEED to get off before glassing...). I tape right along the seam with one piece, then perpendicular (top of bow to near bottom of hull). You'd be surprised how well this holds the boat together! When you get it right do your inside seam, THEN take the tape off and do the outside.
Smurfwarrior wrote:
5. Is there a way to raise the knee area of the cockpit (just a smidge) without anything drastic? Would attempting to expand the area by shoving foam in there be a bad idea, or even work? A half inch increase would be perfect and I just need it right at the lip.
Cut the boat, shove the foam in, and reseam. You might even be able to put a bigger piece of foam in NOW. You'd be surprised how "flexible" glass can be.... but realize you are stressing it a bit (hence cutting the seams first, even if they aren't directly to the sides of where you are placing the foam it will loosen the boat up.)
Smurfwarrior wrote:
I've got a skirtworks custom skirt on the way, I was impressed with how nice they were to deal with.
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