Filling, filling, filling

I chose to start with thin strips from the start.  This means that I can't just keep rough sanding. So now that all saw marks and other damage has been sanded off it is time to fill remaining low spots and move to 120 grit for a finer sand.

Anything low or damaged is filled with timbermate wood filler.  Most of this will be sanded off again leaving a fair surface.

Along the port side where the first strips were laid and the coves were not deep enough there are some gaps in the surface that mean long stripes of filler.

120 grit sandpaper glued to the fairing board, filler dried, ready to go.  At this time I purchased a 3m full face air filter so I dont breathe this shit.

Commencement of sanding the filler with the fairing board makes a real mess initially. 

Fiberglass and epoxy for the hull arrived today. Woot.  Need to get the stern and bow pieces fitted next.

 

Time to Separate.

More warm days have arrived (yay).  Alas this has meant more seperation of the deck from the hull.  The hot glue has simply failed in the heat. So the join had split most everywhere except the very tip (200mm) of the bow and the last 600mm of the stern.

So the join had split most everywhere except the very tip (200mm) of the bow and the last 600mm of the stern.

Bullet bit and some careful heat and spatula work see the deck seperated from the hull.  (thanks Lieutenant Dan) 

Strongback exposed again.

A couple of tiedowns hung from the ceiling and the deck is hung out of the way until the outer hull is glassed and it is time to glass the deck.  This piece, now off the strongback, is amazingly light.

Fibre Glass and Epoxy for the Hull ordered this week.
 

Sanding and problem solving.

 

Most of the rough sanding is complete, but some spots, hard to reach until now, remain to be sanded.  Some of the (many) imperfections are starting to show.

Some gaps along the herringbone joins on the deck  - these will be filled and sanded.

Kayak back on the fire hose rests to allow access to the unsanded areas along the centre line.

Coming out of winter we have had some warmer days.  The warmth is amplified in  a tin shed. The join between the top and bottom halves of the boat is starting to come apart.

Using Tape to hold the halves together, a little hot glue will hold this together until it is time to split the halves.

Sanding some more - removing Glue and saw marks and exposing imperfections.

So I started the sanding with a fairing board about 600mm in length.  This requied that I glue another length of sandpaper to the board afer each session.   I could see that i needed to start using the orbital sander to at least get the glue and other high spots knocked down.

A strip that I had put aside to be re-coved but then applied to the boat without doing so meant that there are some quite large (surface only)gaps that will need to be filled.

By tilting the boat in the supports i can access the seams to better sand them.

I had been advised to plane the edges to match for the herringbone pattern but I had thought that bead and cove was working quite well so i ignored that advice - you can see in the picture above the gaps that have been exposed along the joins.

The bow and stern have more staple holes per sq cm than the rest of the boat.  the twist of the strips causes a seperation of bead and cove (next time leave the strips longer so the strip can be better held in place until the glue has dried)  Some filling and more sanding required here.

The keel is starting to look more finished not that the surface is more fair and the glue has been sanded away.

 Hidden behind the uprights of the stand there are a couple of places that cant be reached by the sander.  I will need to lift the kayak into the fire hose supports again to complete the job.

Sanding Sanding and more Sanding.

At this point there is lots of variation accross the strips - I have glued 80 grit sandpapaer to my fairing board and am prepared to sand (a lot)

Wood filler applied liberally in staple holes and gaps 

Bow and stern planed, sanded and filled

By filling the low points I feel it sands fairer and it gives a good guide on where to keep sanding.  The places where wood glue is on the surface appear quite dark and rough.  I need to remove these by sanding.

At this point i am thinking that power sanfing might be required but the jury is out...