Beowulf lives!
Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 10:18 pm
Beowulf: 13' 2" total length. 28" maximum width.
Well,
I got the last coat of resin on the outside of the boat, got the boat off the stations, and outside so I can actually look at it. Its been in a workroom I built that is barely bigger than the boat. I put colored resin on it just to get an idea what these boats will look like when I start getting them out of the mold I will build with this prototype. It is NOT perfect, but its *$!@(*& good enough for now. Man, have I learned some hard lessons building this. As I have progressed, I have come to the conclusion that I took a difficult process and then made n-10th-factor harder. The glass I bought online was simply listed as '6-oz cloth' so I bought 25 yards of it to do the boat. What I didn't read in the fine print is this stuff is 45 thread count. Its like canvas. It is an absolute @&$%$*&, **((#*@@, @@@****!! to work with. But I bought it, so I used it. Won't do that again. My only hope is; now that I've beaten this stuff into submission, and hopefully my boat will be quite strong. If I'm delusional on this point, feel free to leave me in that state.
I don't want to know. Some folks on here already heard about my experiences using lacquer to prime the wood (thanks to an old cedar-stripping manual) that was fun to sand off. Won't do that again, either. I bought some bondo to shape some parts that was apparantly past its due date, it never really went off right. Scraping all that off with a razor-blade was AWESOME! Next time the bondo doesn't turn bright red, it doesn't go on the boat.
My playlist on my ipod now includes 'Don't worry, be happy' 'It's alright' '5-dollar fine for whining' and most importantly a little tune by Guns N Roses called: 'Patience'. I advise anyone else with aspirations to get into boat-building to add these songs to thier own playlist.
On the upside, I have some wooden gunnels already bent, shaped, sanded, and stained to go on this beast. They're doug-fir, but that's OK, they don't have to last...though I've built doug-fir gunnels for a boat before and they lasted for several years. Plus, total investment on the gunnels? $7.68 US dollars. I'll take it. I've also ordered some glass with a much lower thread-count for when I'm ready to do the inside. I'm not messing with this canvas-ish stuff again. The next pictures I post will be when I have the inside finished and the gunnels and thwarts installed. Thanks again to Roy, John Kaz, and everyone else who shelled out advice and encouragement! I took a lot of each for me to make it this far. I am in your debt....a long, looonnng, way.
-Rob
Well,
I got the last coat of resin on the outside of the boat, got the boat off the stations, and outside so I can actually look at it. Its been in a workroom I built that is barely bigger than the boat. I put colored resin on it just to get an idea what these boats will look like when I start getting them out of the mold I will build with this prototype. It is NOT perfect, but its *$!@(*& good enough for now. Man, have I learned some hard lessons building this. As I have progressed, I have come to the conclusion that I took a difficult process and then made n-10th-factor harder. The glass I bought online was simply listed as '6-oz cloth' so I bought 25 yards of it to do the boat. What I didn't read in the fine print is this stuff is 45 thread count. Its like canvas. It is an absolute @&$%$*&, **((#*@@, @@@****!! to work with. But I bought it, so I used it. Won't do that again. My only hope is; now that I've beaten this stuff into submission, and hopefully my boat will be quite strong. If I'm delusional on this point, feel free to leave me in that state.
I don't want to know. Some folks on here already heard about my experiences using lacquer to prime the wood (thanks to an old cedar-stripping manual) that was fun to sand off. Won't do that again, either. I bought some bondo to shape some parts that was apparantly past its due date, it never really went off right. Scraping all that off with a razor-blade was AWESOME! Next time the bondo doesn't turn bright red, it doesn't go on the boat.My playlist on my ipod now includes 'Don't worry, be happy' 'It's alright' '5-dollar fine for whining' and most importantly a little tune by Guns N Roses called: 'Patience'. I advise anyone else with aspirations to get into boat-building to add these songs to thier own playlist.
On the upside, I have some wooden gunnels already bent, shaped, sanded, and stained to go on this beast. They're doug-fir, but that's OK, they don't have to last...though I've built doug-fir gunnels for a boat before and they lasted for several years. Plus, total investment on the gunnels? $7.68 US dollars. I'll take it. I've also ordered some glass with a much lower thread-count for when I'm ready to do the inside. I'm not messing with this canvas-ish stuff again. The next pictures I post will be when I have the inside finished and the gunnels and thwarts installed. Thanks again to Roy, John Kaz, and everyone else who shelled out advice and encouragement! I took a lot of each for me to make it this far. I am in your debt....a long, looonnng, way.
-Rob
