The Swamper- new design

[jdupre']

I had a few :shock: epoxy drips from glassing the hull last night. What?? You don't get drips? :wink:

The drips are not quite hard enough to sand so I broke out my trusty bow scraper. It's a industrial hacksaw blade with the edges ground to a perfect 90 degree angle and a small burr burnished into them. I've made a bunch of bows with it and it does a lot of things better and faster than sandpaper.

The angled end is good for truing up larger areas. The rounded end is for more focused scraping. With the rounded end, I can scrape one wayward brush hair without touching the surrounding surface. Try that with sandpaper. It might sound crazy, but for finish epoxy work, I would rather do without a random orbit sander than do without my scraper.

Joey

 

[BEARS BUDDY]

looking good joey, but you do need a bigger shop

I don't know why------ I have 2 inches of excess space on each end. :lol:

That's the problem-- you need 2 and a quarter inches to roll epoxy on the face of the stems.

 

[jdupre']

No, ya got it all wrong, BB. I used a 1" brush for the stems. Plenty of room. :lol:

Actually, I cheated. I opened the door and slid the boat back a bit. :roll:

 

[BEARS BUDDY]

The man's been thinkin' again.

 

[Kayak Jack]

The man's been thinkin' again.

Cajuns are sneaky, and bear watching.

 

[jdupre']

The man's been thinkin' again.

Cajuns are sneaky, and bear watching.

I "snuck" into the shop again to do a bit more scraping. I had a couple of places where I applied the epoxy as it was just starting to get tacky and had a few big sags. Sanding was slow and tedious and not going anywhere. The scraper took care of it in about a minute--dead smooth with almost no shiny spots showing.

Put her on the scale. Hull with one saturation coat and one glass/epoxy layer--26 lbs. She should come in between 40 and 45 lbs.

 

[jdupre']

Ran into a problem with the last two fill coats of epoxy on the outside of the hull. I got thousands of tiny bubbles that I could not brush out. They just kept coming back. I figured it was amine blush, so I sanded and then scrubbed the surface down with soap and water, let dry and rolled on another coat. More bubbles. What's next--sanding and a wipe down with acetone??

Joey

 

[seedtick]

you rolling or are you brushing?

for me rolling seems to whip up more bubbles, either way we end up tipping as the epoxy dries to pop any bubbles that have risen to the surface

if you have bubbles that are not at the surface, the epoxy may be too thick to let them surface before setting up. From a viscosity standpoint, i've read where some folks set epoxy cans in the sun before mixing or pass a heat gun over the surface after application. Warmer epoxy is thinner than cold epoxy but warm epoxy reacts faster, so be careful. From a mechanical standpoint, you may be applying too much epoxy - especially if it's a thick as molasses. Bubbles have twice as far to travel to get to the surface of a 10 mil coat vs. a 5 mil coat.

 

[jdupre']

I'm rolling and then tipping off with the brush. Same procedure as I've been using. The bubbles seem to come up right off the roller more than on previous coats. I've tried lighty brushing over them and with a heavier touch and they come back immediately. I even tried coming back a half hour later (using slow hardener) and lightly brushing and they come back. Really seems to be some kind of surface reaction. I'll let the surface get good and dry, sand it and wipe it down with acetone.

 

[oldsparkey]

I'm one of the folks who wraps the epoxy bottles with a black plastic bag and set them in the sun to warm them up when it is chilly outside. Cold weather , everything gets put on a hold since the epoxy I have does not like anything under 60 degrees.

Will not swear to it but one problem he is having might be from the colder temps we are enjoying right now. All I know for sure is when the epoxy gets cold it sure does not want to flow. Acts more like molasses then epoxy.

Chuck.

 

[jdupre']

Chuck, I had the shop and epoxy nice and warm for the last two coats. It's been very humid and rainy, though. Maybe the paper plates I've been using to hold the epoxy for the roller have some kind of waxy coating on them. The epoxy appears to be adhereing well. Looking a little closer, the surface is actually covered with tiny craters. I'll try wiping it down with acetone when it cures.

Thanks
Joey

 

[oldsparkey]

Chuck, I had the shop and epoxy nice and warm for the last two coats. It's been very humid and rainy, though. Maybe the paper plates I've been using to hold the epoxy for the roller have some kind of waxy coating on them.

Thanks
Joey

I think you may of hit on the answer , the epoxy , when mixed creates some heat and that could of picked up some of the wax off the plates. A very small amount but that is all it takes. You said craters ( dimples) would indicate some form of contamination that did not want the epoxy to coat that area. Usually in some form of a petroleum product as an over spray of WD-40 on something else off your hands .... wax does the same thing.

As far as humidity , I have made boats and used epoxy when it is raining outside , one was made when two hurricanes hit us and I still worked on it everyday with no problems.

I use the disposable paint trays , after you are done with them , let the epoxy set up and pop it out , slap the bottom of the tray a couple of times and the rest falls out so I can reuse the tray. If there is a real good amount left after it cures it can be left and more put in to use. The new will float on the top of the old which has set up. It's a call you have to make when looking at it.

Chuck.........

 

[seedtick]

if you got tiny craters, then it's likely contamination that's affecting the surface tension of the top of the film and not allowing it to level out

like chuck said it could wax or oil, or it could be dust particles

right now i'd bet on the paper plates, but if you've used the same kind before with no problems - then it's harder to pinpoint

go with the plastic paint trays

 

[jdupre']

I tend to believe it's some kind of contamination, possibly blush or residue from the plates or both. I'll go back to the paint trays.

Boy, this boat-building is fun! :roll: :lol:

 

[Kayak Jack]

...Boy, this boat-building is fun! :roll: :lol:

Remember, Joey, they are HAND made, not home made. (I got in a lot of trouble over that semantic term. And, I'm not antisemantic!)

 

[Bellybuster]

a bit late but....If it is tiny air biubbles a very quick pass over with a propane torch will pop them all when still wet. I've used this when doing epoxy covered tables and it works a charm. As I said though, a very quick pass sometimes even your breath will pop them

 

[Kayak Jack]

Joey's breath would pop the whole damned boat!

Sorry, Joey; I just couldn't pass up the setup - too tempting.

Guys, Joey's breath is actually quite nice. Leastways, that's what Piper San says after a few beers. :lol:

 

[islandpiper]

You have a silicone contamination. There was silicone in a cleaning rag, or on a paper plate, or in a cleaner you have used sometime. Lessons learned the hard way doing guitar work.

piper

 

[jdupre']

I tend to agree. So what''s next? The epoxy has cured and makes dust when sanded and seems to have good adhesion.

Joey

 

[Kayak Jack]

Joey, sounds like it's almost time to set the boat out in the front yard so Joy can plant flowers in it. Won't you be PROUD!