or how to get high on glue
This is where I left off. As I said I got very distracted with small maker projects and 2 pairs of speakers. I have since discovered that I really don't like MDF (turns to powder when you route it) or painting it.
again I'm following the guide setout in the Yost Werks guide.
At this point, I did follow the guides on how to seal the Stern and Bow of the project using details from the before mentioned Yost Werks. My stern was relatively easy. I used a method as detailed by Dave Gentry and kinda used PVC glue (more on this later) and a good amount of Epox-E-Glue to stick a false end on.
You can see the excess glue I left on the end. At the moment it is all unsealed. I will probably paint a coat of white epoxy here to finish it off and make it look nicer.
and now off to the other end. this is the area that I found most challenging and time-consuming. There was also a big fear of messing it up. The bow of this vessel isn't really something fully covered by the Yost Werks guide so I went really far off script on this one. I wanted it watertight and a little reinforced. Lots of ideas about cutting, how to cut tabs to help it curve around the bow and the glue needs to stick, and this and that and what if I fail.
Eventually, I just hit the "sod it" button and did it. I took my time, made sure of every cut. had large overlaps, lots of tabs and kinda folded one end over the other. This is where I really got to know more about the PVC glue I decided to use.
it is known as HH-66. It seems to be the go-to stuff to fix inflatable boats, bouncing castles and other things that use PVC. Take my experience as it comes and follow the instructions for use. This stuff is rather interesting glue. for a start, it is like PVC pipe glue and smells pretty sharp. Please work in an open area, wear gloves and if possible a mask.
I did my best to be sure there were no gaps in the glue joins and to be sure, I cut a 3rd layer to give further reinforcement on the bow.
This is the end look. As I said, I don't like it but as long as it is watertight, I've had a win.
Now the big reveal of the final colour combo has been seen, here it is again.
PVC has a shiny side and a dull side. I went the dull side up so I can avoid the gloss shining the sun in my face. I will get enough of that from the water.
you can see the line of staples I put in. now think of doing it all again so there are no gaps. Yeah, I used a lot of staples. I don't know about you but I kinda like the combo. Bloody Mary, your colours remain unique.
So yeah, using the before-mentioned roll that was too short, I cut it in 2 and there I had more than enough to cover the top of the boat. I trimmed it into a shape that was more of less triangular and put on an overlay on the frame.
Now I kinda knew how I needed to proceed with gluing the PVC sections together, I still did the practice to know how to roll the red PVC onto the white.
As mentioned this glue stinks and gave me a headache after using it.
I set up a workshop fan at the far end, and at night I opened the garage door, turned the fan on and started the gluing process. I did this work 24th July 2022 and it was the middle of winter. I was thankful that it was winter so the solvent in the glue wasn't going off fast. It really did have a bot of a smell to it and I wouldn't have liked doing it in our spring and summer.
I decided that I would roll it from bow to the middle. I repeated it from the stern to the middle.
Using a wider bristle brush (use a natural brush, plastic will melt), I brushed a film of the glue down the gunwales, rolled the PVC down it, pulled it all back and brushed the glue down again to ensure that both surfaces had enough glue in all the right areas. then using a rubber roller, rolled it all down into place.
and it turned out something like this. Again the techniques I used came from the Yost Werks guide and how to use the HH-66 from various internet sources.
a view from the bow access port. I thought it looked like something from a video game.
I trimmed it back using scissors.
I think it looks kinda good.
Now I had to trim the excess on the cockpit area. Again this was off script and I kinda made it up as I went along. from the excess seen above, I trimmed it back to around 20mm from the bulkheads. this I then cut into tabs of about 30mm wide. I was able to use the HH-66 to glue the PVC to the timber. for some reason, it seemed to work. if it comes off, bugger and I will find an alternative solution.
The stern bulkhead
The bow bulk head and now I see something off-centre.
Comments