Actually Moving Forward

When I bought all the supplies last week, I felt like I had reached a turning point where I could actually start rebuilding (even though I still have to tear up the decks after I finish the cabintop). I spent the week getting a head start on the recore by setting up the roll of 1708 biax glass for easy access and getting the core cutout and ready to go. I also ordered and received a ridiculously nice (and huge) pair of Wiss Scissors recommended by one of the folks over at Tim Lackey's Plastic Classic Forum. I got them at Bodico.com and I am astounded at how well they cut the biax. No effort whatsoever and perfect clean cuts. Definitely shouldn't run with these.

Joe at Mertons was nice enough to tightly wind the 30 yards of 50" biaxial glass on a big tube so it could be hung and rolled out easily. I decided that the best place for it would be up near where it would be used so I would have to drag it up a ladder every time I needed a piece. So I managed to wrestle it up into the rafters and hang from the bows on an old steel bar I had lying around the yard. Other than humping a 5 foot, 70 pound roll of fiberglass cloth up a ladder and hang it over the bow of the boat, it was reasonably straight forward. It ended up a little crooked, but as long as it rolls smoothly I could care less how it looks.



Next up, I took a roll of carpenters kraft paper and cut out templates for the core and glass parts of each area to be recored. So, once finished I had a numbered template for each core area and each glass area. Since I'll be using 2 layers of 1708, I sized the glass templates for the largest area to be covered and will cut the first piece to that size and the second piece will be approximately 1" smaller in size around the edges.



Once I had all the templates cut, I grabbed a few sheets of balsa core, put them scrim side up and traced each of the core templates onto them with a sharpie marker. Then it was a simple matter of taking a box cutter and following the marked lines. The balsa is really easy to cut but you have to be a bit careful so all the little blocks of balsa don't come unfastened from the scrim while cutting or handling.

I laid all the core pieces in place and made a few cutting adjustments to get all the pieces to fit properly. Finally, I measured the locations of any thru-deck fittings (handholds, hinges, etc...) and cut out areas where they would be going so I can put solid glass plugs in once the core gets glued in.




















Last but not least, I had decided last week to simplify things (even further) by removing the chimney vent altogether. Realistically, I have never really needed anything more than a kerosene trawler's lamp to keep warm during my sailing season (May - November) and I just can't justify the added expense and complication of a woodstove.

So I had to rebuild the bottom deck skin where the chimney stack was located. I was able to take a few pieces of the old balsa and wedge it in between the headliner and the bottom skin that was still intact around the chimney stack. Then I cut out two circular layers of biax cloth to fill the gap. I will lay that up with unthickened epoxy and then do the core on top while still green.