2nd Interior Coat, Danish Oil on Floor Boards and Assorted tasks

Last week after work, I was able to do a couple of different assorted tasks. I added the other sheave on the center board. I have both holes filled with thickened epoxy and will need to drill out.

On the centerboard, there is an inspection port that needs to be installed on both sides. This allows for access to push down the centerboard if necessary.  The top part of the inspection port will hit the top cleat, so you need to cut it to fit. Below is where I was cutting one side. I taped up the inspection port, so I would not scratch it. I used my bandsaw to cut it and it worked fine.

Inspection port cut so it will fit. 

I also decided to add an extra coat of epoxy on the cockpit sides on the interior sides. I am not sure if I am going to paint these or just leave them with a clear coat of epoxy. You won't be able to see and they may look better with some natural wood showing.

I did a quick sanding before applying the clear epoxy. 

Here they are drying overnight. It was still cold last week at night, so I used work lights to help them cure. 

This is the bottom of the cockpit. I put one coat on last week and will need to add a couple more. 

It finally warmed up enough to put a second coat on the interior. I may touch up a couple places, but I think I am good. It turned out very nice. I painted it in the garage last Friday night and then rolled the boat outside so it could dry. I covered the whole thing with a large tarp, but they were not calling for any rain and the temperature was in the mid 50's.

Waiting for the weather to get better, I finished sanding all the floor boards earlier in the week. I applied a coat of Danish Oil on some of the pieces today and will be doing the other side some day this week. I will then do the process again to get multiple coats applied. I used one of the cheap chip brushes and it seemed to work good. I just poured some danish oil in a cup and dipped and applied with long strokes.  Below are pictures of the longer pieces drying. I will do the shorted pieces after I get multiple coats on these pieces, since I am limited on work space.

The boards have a nice honey color and will look nice once I install them later. 

Centerboard Sheave and Pendant!

Well I do wish it would hurry up and get warmer. It is definitely slowing me down. I am waiting for it to be warmer enough to finish painting the interior and to apply danish oil to the floor boards.

I am doing as much work as possible with the cold temperatures. I finished up a few more of the floor boards making them ready for Danish Oil. I still have all the long boards to sand.

I added a few more coats to the battery tray, cable conduit cover and what I am thinking about using as an Electrical Panel. Still trying to come up with a plan.  I am also deciding whether or not I want to paint them. I like the natural look, but my epoxy coatings were not my best work. I used a brush, since a roller was too large to get into all areas.

I started to work on the Centerboard Sheave and Pendant! Below it shows where I measured and drilled a larger hole and have since filled with epoxy. I used 5/8ths and the actual hole for the bolt will be 3/8th inch.  It is a little unnerving to drill into things! :) 

Below is the first versions of the sheaves. I cut them out and then decided to look at the plans. The plans shows them more in a U shape and I had them more of a square. I had already applied a coat of epoxy to them, but then cut them to more of a U shape and added another coat. A bandsaw works good for this. 

1st version of sheave

Final version of sheave

Last night I epoxied one sheave and filled the whole with epoxy. It is curing now. I will then do the other side side and let that cure. After a few days I will drill the correct size to fit the bolt and install the sheave. 

For the center board pendant, there is somewhat of an error in the manual. Or maybe a better way to say it a possible step left out.  So below is my interpretation  and  what I did. The actual pendant is 5/8 inch in diameter.

Note: I probably should say that I ordered the hardware kit from CLCBoats, so if you are purchasing your hardware separately, this may not work. I would also confirm sizes of the hardware you get before doing any drilling.

1. Drill 5/8 inch hole all the way through. 
2. Drill 3/4 inch hole 1/2 inch deep.  ( This will leave room to drill a 5/8 hole for the pendant. 
3. Fill with epoxy. 
4. Drill 3/8 inch hole in the epoxy all the way through. 
5. Drill 5/8 inch hole 1/2 inch deep in the epoxy. 

This will give me filled epoxy around all components. 

Below is where I had drilled the first 2 holes above. I then filled with epoxy last night and it is curing. I used the pastry bag method so I could squirt epoxy up into it. Worked pretty good.

If you zoom in on the hole, you can see the larger 3/4 diameter for the first 1/2 inch deep. Then it goes to 5/8 inch. 

I put tape over the whole to hole the epoxy in. I went thick, but I should have gone thicker.   Once this cures, I will drill the 3/8 inch hole all the way through and then a 5/8 inch hole 1/2 inch deep to fit the pendant into. 

So I am trying to make good use of my time and the above items I wanted to take my time. I think I spent a good 5-6 hours measuring, remeasuring and measuring some more before drilling. Most of this was in the evenings after work.

Waiting for Spring and odd Tasks!

Well so much for the 60 degree weather this past weekend that they were calling for earlier in the week. It barely made it into the 40's, so conditions for painting were not there. I have to be able to ventilate the garage to be able to paint.

So with the weather not cooperating, I did work on the boat for 4-5 hours on Saturday. Had to do other things around the house on Sunday.  I started off by doing some sanding with 320 grit on the interior paint 1st coat.  I probably should not have used my orbital sander, because I went through some of the paint in areas. Not a big deal, I can easily cover that up with the next coat and they were probably high places that needed to be sanded down anyway. I will probably get some 320 sheets to use by hand instead of using the orbital sander.

Once I completed that I decided to work on sanding the floor boards and working on the battery box tray. I applied some fiber glass to the bottom of the battery tray and got two coats on it Saturday and Sunday. I will get another coat on tonight or tomorrow.

Battery tray and cable conduit cover drying with epoxy applied.

The majority of the time Saturday I spent sanding some of the floor boards. Most of them I used 220 grit, but on the outer most boards from the center, I used 120 and then 220. Remember I epoxied 2 pieces of wood together to make 1 wider piece, since there is really no where to screw them down.

The 2 pieces on the left are the ones I epoxied 2 pieces together. 

They turned out very good. Nice and smooth! As soon as the weather gets warmer, I will apply the danish oil I purchased.  

It would be so nice if I had a nice heated workshop, but I will have to deal with what I have. This coming up weekend is not looking much better for the bigger jobs of painting and applying danish oil. They are calling for snow, but I will keep my fingers crossed. 

If the weather does not cooperate, I have plenty of other small jobs I can do and I might start on the rudder. There are no fumes with using the epoxy and I can use the work lights to keep things warm enough to cure. 

Some work on battery platform and Went on a trip!

Didn't have a chance to work on the boat this past weekend. We took a trip out of town to a Bed and Breakfast and took my parents. Had a very enjoyable time. I did manage to do a few small tasks after work on a couple days.

Working on the Battery Platform:

• I cut some cleats and did a round over on the edges on the router table.  The cleats will be used to hold the battery box on the platform I built.
• I then cut them into small lengths using the bandsaw. 
• I epoxied them and they are curing under a light. 
• Once they cure, I plan to fiberglass the opposite side to provide some additional strength. 

Above I am laying out the parts to make sure the battery box fits. The places where I cut the notches in the middle of the board will allow the strap that came with the box to go around the wood and hold the box in place. The pieces of wood will hold it from slipping off. The top part of the picture will go against bulkhead #2. The added space will allow the power cables to come out of the box and go up the conduit box I built to the back of the electrical panel. I am still looking at the electrical panels and 12 volt outlets online and will be ordering the parts soon. 

You can see the round-over on the top that I did on the router table. Just for looks.

Glued up with epoxy and curing under the light. 

This coming up weekend is supposed to be nice. Not sure if I can paint Saturday. The high is only calling for 50 degrees. Sunday is supposed to be in the 60's, so I should be able to apply the 2nd interior coat.  I ordered some 320 grit paper to sand the 1st coat. Hopefully it will be here by Saturday. If not, I will finish sanding on the floor boards and put a coat of Danish Oil on. 

I have plenty of options to keep me busy!!