Smoking! and Centerboard Shaping

Last night after work, I laid out the fiberglass for the Topside #2 and put a first coat on. While mixing the epoxy, I had a senior moment and got confused on the number of pumps of resin and hardener. Luckily I had only pumped a few pumps, so I decided to just put it outside and start over. I have read about epoxy smoking!, but I have not experienced it. I continued on with the wetting out of the fiberglass.

My normal procedure for safety using epoxy is to put the unused epoxy outside. I have a steal utility trailer that I normally put the used epoxy red cups on, which is outside. I let it harden and then put in the trash. After I finished the clear coat of epoxy, I went outside as normal to put the used red cups and noticed that the mix up earlier was actually smoking! It was hot enough that it was melting the red cup. A word of caution is to put any unused epoxy outside, it could cause you big problems!

Epoxy left in Cup Smoking!!!

Glass laid out and ready for epoxy.

After Coat of Epoxy

Centerboard Shaping

The epoxy on the center board has cured, so I started to shape the centerboard. I first start with my belt sander and sanded down the are of the lead pour where I poured thickened epoxy with cabosil. This mixture of epoxy and cabosil is like concrete. It goes through sandpaper like tissues and water. You do need to be careful when using a belt sander. It is meant to be used to take away larges portions quickly. I thought about buying a grinder, but I am glad I used the tools I had.I used the belt sander to sand down the cabosil mixture on the lead pours. I then used my block plan, which i sharpened before use. I took was a good tool do take away the large portion of wood to shape the centerboard. I got it close today, but I have some more work to do. I want to make sure I get the shape right. I feel that the best way for me is to use hand tools like the plane and sanding blocks. I did us my orbital sander, since I am comfortable with it and it can not take off a lot of wood quickly You can, but I feel like I have control. I still have a lot of work to do on the centerboard, but I got the major work done today. 

Above picture of centerboard shaping major areas removed. 

Edge of centerboard. I need to get a bullet shape!