I just received a piece of spam that I had to open - when you see the subject line you will know why !
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Subject : Stock Maven Newsletter
Date : Thu, 02 Mar 2006 07:55:28 +0000
We'd like to give a high five to our research team.
Our portfolio is up 70% so far in 2006 and looking
stronger every day! We hope our members have been
keeping up with these incredible picks. Let's take
a look at this next winner:
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First off, let me say, nice boat Maven. However I'm an oc'er and my interest lies in that sweet looking wood stripper. What is it and did you build it? I would like to hear about it if you don't mind.
The boat shop I'm using space in is someone elses...though they didn't build it either-it was built by a shop class downstate who needed the glasswork done.
For a shop class boat it's decent work, but otherwise, well, a bit more time would have made a really nice boat. The woodworking and trimming aspect looks pretty sharp. That said, running your hand over it you can feel (and see if you look) a lot of ridges and valleys. Its been sanded "smooth" but is not "level" if that makes sense. Mind you, I'm not saying the Maven is perfectly level either-I KNOW it isn't, but it is more difficult to spot. I suspect using a long board (and some sweat) would have have produced a more level finish rather than a random orbit sander. I got a lot of "you'll be doing a lot of sanding" advice from folks while I was working the Maven (and some, after seeing the boat in person will likely say "well, you could have done a bit more here..."), so that may bias my opinion a bit...though I suspect others who know more than I do would agree.
I hope to try a wood strip canoe of my own design (flat water tripping boat) once my garage and house addition are finished down here (hopefully by August 1st..at least we have the garage enclosed and they're about to start framing the second floor next week..).
Adam, could you explain how the graphics are done? It's something I've wondered about for a while, and have never seen written up how to do them. what did you use to mask off the mold, and when did you remove the masking?
In light of the comment about carbon fiber being $100/yard, it wouldn't surprise me if we see it go up a lot in the very near future, since it's in short supply...
Ahh. Asking about our top secret graphis process! We made it up as we went a long, so I'm sure there are MUCH better ways of doing it (like using a gelcoat...).
But, since I'm not into heavy boats, after the S glass was down we mixed up a batch of resin to cure slowly and mixed in some metalflake for AdkSara to write "Maven" on the hull, which she did free hand (we had previously agreed on the style she had worked up on her Mac, and she had reversed it so "all" she had to do was paint what she saw in the print out. Needless to say she is a much better graphic artist than I! (yes, I did the deck...and perhaps got a little to carried away with my big streak of metalflake. Next time around I'll have her do the deck too:) Yes, I am very lucky.... .
Regarding the "right" way to do things, I highly suspect it involves putting a clearcoat down, then spraying metalflake in the reverse order you want it, and masking the masking tape (which really works well, unless your resin layer is too thick...). But that type of artistry (and that's what it is!) is whay the PS Composites and Murky boats are worth every cent. That said, they're not that light either, which is why my layups, except for the metal flake, probably have more in common with Kaz's layups.
Cool. The free hand work is impressive! I'll have to mess around with the masking tape a little more- I tried it once and it didn't seem to work well for me.
Keep in mind that the PS and Murky boats are heavier for a reason- They're squirtboats, not race boats, and when they're under 8 or 10 feet of water, they're under a lot of stress...
Adam,
You are correct that most builders working with metal flake spray a clear gelcoat into the mold, then spray the metal flake and let it set.
Then they layup the boat.
I'm sure you have seen older metal flake boats where the gelcoat has flaked off of the fabric, leaving bare kevlar or glass.
For a skin coat boat like your maven, you did it right. - layer of glass then graphics, then the rest of the layup.
As for carbon fiber, there are generally a couple of grades available - Carbon Fiber is a little less expensive than pure graphite and for boats it really makes no difference. For a supersonic aircraft, the additional tensile strength makes a difference.
If you are purchasing Carbon Fiber cloth, look for seconds (John Sweet and now Davey Hearn) - generally seconds have a bad selvage edge or a missed weave. These are both big no-nos for Airospace prepregs, but make no difference in a canoe or kayak.
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