Glassing Inside the Hull

(Click on any picture to enlarge it. Blog starts with 9/23/08 post.)

I ground down the epoxy fillets using a 6" sanding disc mounted in a drill, and a 5 1/4" random orbit sander. I plan to have a natural finish inside and out, so I spent some time here.

After sanding, the inside of the hull was coated with thinned epoxy.

I set 6 oz. fiberglass cloth inside the hull stretching from in front of the front bulkhead (at the 4' mark) to beyond the rear bulkhead (at the 12' mark). I applied one coat of thinned epoxy, since I did not want to fill the weave but leave a textured surface. This cloth will supply the strength needed to support the passengers without any added stringers in the hull.

This shows the cloth (on left) after the single coat of epoxy was applied. The fiberglass has disappeared and the wood grain shows through nicely. The fiberglass butt splices used to join the plywood sheets are hardly noticeable. There is a nice texture on the surface. I lucked out here.

The bulkhead will go just inside the edge of the cloth.

A view of the hull at this stage.

Another view of the hull. The lines are nicer in 3D than the model would suggest.

I marked out the two bulkheads using dimensions taken from the Hulls model. I located the bulkheads on areas of the plywood that will not be used for the deck.

I am going to install 8" hatches in the two bulkheads.

Finally, I have a chance to use the circle cutting attachment that came with my Roto-Zip tool. What a neat toy.

A perfect circle. How cool is that?

The completed bulkheads. The notches are for the inwales.