Priming the Cockpit Lockers, Gluing Up the Toe Rails, Laminate Repair, and Tiller Fabrication

December 27, 2019

I made it over to the boat just before noon, and immediately got to work with today's goals.  First, I flipped over and staged the recently primed cockpit lockers and battery box / landing platform.

I wanted to get a couple coats of the grey primer on the interior surfaces.

With this primer paint application, the locker lids and panels would be ready for finish paint on their exterior surfaces.

I started by mixing a small pot of the TotalBoat TotalProtect epoxy-based primer / barrier coat.  I covered and set the paint to the side for a prescribed 15 to 20 minute induction period, and then tended to the parts to be painted.

I wiped down the surfaces with acetone to remove any unwanted debris, detritus, and the like.

With the parts prepped and the paint chemically ready to apply, I painted out the parts with both a foam roller and a brush.

With the paint drying (I chose not to watch), I moved on to the toe rails.  I carefully pulled them out of storage from (not so) deep within the shop, and laid them out in their proper orientation:  three lengths of toe rail for each the starboard and port sides.

I then set up a few workhorses to support the toe rail assembly.  Two of the four workhorses were of the same height, while the others required some additional layering the scrap material to gain a level (more or less) plane down the length of toe rail.  I began with the port side lengths of rail, laid them out and prepped the glue joints by sanding out any remaining cut marks, followed by a thorough cleaning with acetone.  The oily teak can interfere with the epoxy resin, producing a less than perfectly strong glue joint, so effort should be made to remove the oils.

Next, I assembled a couple three-point clamps (a clamp that can be tightened down on three of four sides of the workpiece), and applied plastic sheeting to protect the workhorses from epoxy resin.  I first wet out the each of the glue joints with 'neat' resin - no thickener applied to the resin - and with the remaining resin, thickened it with 406 colloidal silica.  I applied the thickened resin to the glue joints, spreading enough on to ensure squeeze out, and then clamped the scarf joints together.  The joints were checked for evenness, and excess thickened epoxy resin cleaned up.

I repeated the process imparted to the port rail on the effort to glue up the starboard rail.  As I completed each rail, I applied a few additional clamps to ensure the rail did not move during their cure time.

I have noticed an issue with the starboard bow topsides...a little bubbling of the primer paint.  I had made a previous attempt at a repair, thinking it was simply an excess of resin, gelcoat, or paint applied to a small area - about the side of a pea.  But after my first attempt, I noticed that the surface with pliable - the material underneath the recently applied primer was not compatible.  To reduce the trial and error time required to exact a repair, I decided to grind the surface down to clean, solid laminate, and I did so with the 1" belt sander.

I cleaned the surface with acetone, and with a small square of plastic sheeting, made a template for three pieces of 10 oz fiberglass cloth, each one smaller than the prior.  I wet the surface out with resin, and then applied the fiberglass cloth by starting with the smallest one first.  I finished the lamination with a layer of peel ply, enabling me to apply fairing compound after this patch cures.  I will blend the area in with its surrounding surfaces, and then prime it in preparation for the topcoat of paint.

With the remaining hour and a half I had left, I decided to get started on fabricating the new tiller for the Allied 24.  I decided to use alternating layers of teak and quarter sawn white oak.  The choice of materials would provide a interesting look of alternating dark and light layers.

I dug out my tiller template, removed the clamping blocks I had applied in creating the last tiller and then sanded the surface smooth.  I grabbed a handful of new blocks for use in clamping the lamination for the new tiller.  I laid of the old tiller onto the templating surface and hot-glued the first layer of blocks to the templating surface and set tight against the old tiller.

I then hot-glued the second layer of clamping blocks to the first layer, pre-drilled pilot holes, followed by 2"-long drywall screws.  Two screws per block would ensure no movement when clamping the new tiller lamination in place, and taking the curve of the old tiller.

I prepared three lengths of the quarter sawn white oak, approximately 3/8" thick, before running out of time.  My next step for the tiller will be to prepare four lengths of teak, and then prep all lengths for lamination.

Total Time Today: 4 hrs (tiller will not be billed time and materials)