February 18, 2019
Today's focus was completing the top skin on the coachroof repairs. I had removed a significant amount of the core from the coachroof, as well as extricated a lot of nonsense from the integrated mast support beam, in an effort to rebuild the coachroof and provide structural support. In previous work sessions, I recored the work area and gradually built up the mast support beam with G10 fiberglass board, 1708 biaxial and thickened epoxy. Today, I would now be able to apply the top skin - a couple layers of 1708 biaxial fiberglass.
I started with prepping the surface by sanding some high spots and a few areas that I wanted to ensure had a surface that promotes good mechanical adhesion with the epoxy resin. When I completed this task, I thoroughly vacuumed the surfaces and wiped them clean with a solvent.
In an effort to ensure that the top skin is as uniform as possible, with maximum structural strength, I rethought the template, and thus the layers of fiberglass. I cut new layers that would ensure good overlap of the preceding layer consisting of two or more pieces.
I worked in a steady progression of wetting the surface with neat epoxy, filling any voids with thickened epoxy, wetting fiberglass and applying fiberglass, and then smoothing any rough transitions with thickened epoxy. The size of the layup significantly diminished my ability to pause for pictures. Pleased with the install, but already looking forward to additional work on the mast step to complete the coachroof repair.
Total Time Today: 5 hrs
No comments:
Post a Comment