The Pigging Canoes & Stupid Idea

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If it still doesnt set....

Have a look at your ratios...

The usual problem is to add far too much hardener.

Make absolutely sure your mix is ok and try again.

If it still doesnt set, you may have some resin thats past the end of its shelf life.

This stuff doesnt last forever, and some people will sell it as the date arrives.

Have a look for dates on your container.

 

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Next, look to see that you have the correct hardener for the resin.

Im not absolutely sure, but I dont think that epoxy hardener will work with layup resin and vice versa.

 

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Ive just had a really good look at your pics.

I see a pair of trestles in the background.

Your side panels appear to be on a piece of wood. If its strong enough, I would see about putting that on top of the trestles, with the ply joint on top.

If you have a problem moving it, May I suggest you use some woodscrews and actually scre straight through the panels and into the piece of wood to make sure it doesnt move when you pick it up.

Find a sheet to drape over it - even poly tarp, like a 3x3 hammock cover, then stand a bedside lamp with a 60w bulb under it.

Get a book and stay with it for a couple of hours and see if it sets.

 

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Ps...Dont use an environmentally friendly bulb as they dont give out any heat, and wont help the fibreglass to cure.

 

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If it really wont set, then you will have to strip it all off.

To do that, have a really good go at it with the scraper.

Next scrub it down with accetone. Be extremely careful with this stuff. Its evil. Only use it outside and prefferably in a gale so the fumes dont get inhaled. Use gloves, and change them before they fall to bits. Ive had this stuff on my hands. It hasnt hurt me, but it worries me. I know people who have had dermititis from handling it. I would rather shove my hands in diesel than this stuff.

Acecetone is about the only stuff that will pull it out of the pores of the timber.

 

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You will need a roll of kitchen roll to help scrub it with the accetone. This isnt a nice job.

 

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If you do end up doing that joint again, and when you end up doing the rest...

 

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Temp above 10C, to start....

Make sure your area is clear. Make sure you have a pot of talcum powder to clear up spills. Thanks Gran!

Make sure you have gloves and goggles and you can actually see through the goggles - been there done that.

 

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Scrub the wood where you will be joining it + 1 cm bigger with 40 grit paper. That cardboard with small rocks on it.

You need to tear the grain open so the resin can get into the wood. Make sure you sand an area at least 1cm bigger than the joint on each side.

Sand the piece you intend to stick on too.

Make sure you have enough clamps to put along the edges of the joint, and consider screwing it in the middle if your clamps wont reach.

I do not understand why, but apparently, resin does not have any tensile strength. In other words, if you made a bolt out of resin and pulled it, it would snap easily.

However, I still dont understand why, but if you run glass threads or wood dust, or even talcumpowder into the resin, it gets a hell of a lot stronger. It seems the resin sticks to anything better than it does to itself - and water while it sets. lol

In practice, this means you want as little space between the bits connected by the resin as possible. The resin holds it all together - but only if there isnt too much of it.

 

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Next thing to know....

Wood is like a sponge - especially if you have prepared it properly and opened up the grain...

So...

If you mix up resin and microfibres, or glass tape or balls or whatever, to the right thickness, then stick it on dry wood, the wood sucks the resin out of the glass, balls or microfibres.

No Idea why, only that it does - and the joint falls apart.

So.....

You need to paint your newly sanded wood with the resin, THEN add microfibres in resin, or tape and then more resin...or whatever mix you are using.

So...I know this might sound stupid, but.....
You need to coat each piece of the joint with resin, then microfibres or tape then squeeze as much of it back out as you can lol.

 

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Right....

Having sanded the wood, resined the wood - and by resined, I mean resin with the correct amount of hardener in it, and coated it with microfibres and clamped and screwed it, you still have one more job left.....

Filletting it.

Fibreglass joints fail when one side is peeled off the other side. You can greatly reduce the chances of this happening by running a layer of microfibres along on the outside of those blocks of wood, and making a bevel.

Again, I know it cant really make that much difference to the strength of the joint - except some years ago I made 20 odd of each and tested them all to destruction. The fillet nearly doubles the peeling load.

Hang on...

I will go do an illustration as this is important....

 

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(PS...Fibreglass wont stick to oily wood like teak. It just slides off. Ive managed to get it to stick by coating it with varnish first, but its not ideal.)

 

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Hi Peter

How are you doing?

Have you got it to set yet?

some pictures


me cutting the sides, if you can't see there is actually a small trench, im not cutting through the floor!

coating either side with resin

applying the woodflour glue

blocks weighed down and left to cure overnight (or not)

i have no more pictures at the moment. the barn is not mine, it is at the yard owned by a bloke i work for.

pete

 

[Peter_t]

hi no idea,
iv been a bit busy this week, i stoped off at the barn yesterday and even with the warmer weather the floor still feels pretty cold. i have however aquired some cascamite glue which will be ok to use in the cold. i got it from a woodworking friend and he reccons it will be stronger anyway. wheather it will be stronger or not i don't know but i won't have to worry about it not setting.

once i get to the stage of fiberglassing the inside seems this can be done off the ground and i shouldn't have to worry about the temperature.

i havn't got any work lined up this week so hopefully i can make some progress


pete

 

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Hi Peter

Havent heard of Cascamite glue. Sounds good, so long as the fibreglass will stick when you fillet and tape it.

Has the stuff you put on gone hard?

If not, have you a plan for getting it off?

I somehow doubt the Cascamite will stick to un cured resin.

 

[Peter_t]

yeah the resin has cured but as cascamite it a wood glue it will probably be best to remove the resin first. lots of scrubbing with sand paper for me i think! i think i better get a mask first as i don't fancy breathing in the resin dust.


pete

 

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If the resin has set, then just wait until it gets a little warmer and do it again.

Instead of priming the wood, you will just need to deeply score the cured resin, then add microfibres in resin and weight it or screw your lengths together. You will then need to fill the holes once the joint has set.

You wont need the cascamite. In fact, if the resin fails to take to it, you may have some serious problems trying to tape the chine joints.

 

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I just did a little reading on cascamite...

Turns out you need to screw joints covered with it together and leave the screws in.

Not sure you can really do that on this build, as its not that type of boat.

IMHO, you really do need to use the fibreglass resin as it enhances the timbers strength rather than just bonds its edges together.

 

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Next insallment on this adventure...

er....

when it warms up.

lol

Well......

Its warmed up a bit.

It hit 12C.

Time to start moving about.

Looked at the weather forecast.....two days with no rain forecast, so I felt confident I had an hour or so...

 

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Not quite sure how this is all going to work out, so I waited until I took the kids to school.

Then went and woke up the wife. She is really irritable until she has had at least a couple of coffees.

I didnt help by arriving happy lol.

I borrowed her boyfriend and the stepkid and headed home.