The Official "What Did You Do To Your Mac Today" Thread!

[ffaubert]

Yes along the glue (epoxy) line. Doweling wouldn't really help because the epoxy is breaking. (I have a biscut jointer and could have used it but it was only 4 boards and I could line them up easily enough.)
I think it has something to do with the moisture in that end of the board.
Each rudder is made of half of a 10' 2x12. I cut it in half then ripped each into 4 pieces. I kept each boards pieces together so I could flip and turn every other board and have it not warp if it ever gets wet. When I epoxied them together I clamped both rudders at the same time with the same clamps. (Ie; 8 boards together.)
The other rudder is still fine...? Oh well, this one will be too. But the failure is the reason I have decided to use a heavy weave cloth to cover both of them. It's a Kevlar and glass weave. Crazy strong! (I'm told it's used in the floor for blast supression on the Striker personnel carrier vehicles.)
I got my tiller handle sanded after a random orbital sander failure... The head broke off! (Porter Cable... come on...) I didn't want to drive over to the shop and get the Ryobi one so I fixed this one. I used LocTite on the screws too. (Something they didn't do...). It works as good as it ever did. (Not as well as the Ryobi but it's what I found first when looking in the shop last week.)
I picked up some Mariners varnish and got one coat on tonight.
It looks good except for the odd bang and scratch.
I got my dock in today with the help of my dock mate Ron. It went well.
We are the first to get in again. (I don't know what those retired guys do all day...)

One strange and silly thing to remember about epoxy is that it works better if it has gaps to fill.

If the fit is near perfect, epoxy doesn't really hold all that well. For a well machined joint, a glue like resorcinol works a lot better, is UV and waterproof and cleans up with water until it sets (after that, you're grinding it off).

The bad thing is that it does leave a purple glue line. But if the fit is that good, it'll be a very thin line.

A question about the kevlar. I had alway thought it owed it great properties to the fact that the fibers could move past each other without separating. Once it's coated in resin, wouldn't it lose that property and just be the same as fibreglass cloth? Or is it that the longitudinal strength of kevlar is higher than fibreglass?

Thanks

 

[finding41]

I had not heard of resorcinol glue before. The quick Google search I did shows promise though... I'll remember it for other projects.
I'm not exactly sure how/why Kevlar is stronger. It may be the strength of the individual fibres is higher. I know it's a pain in the but to cut! The scissors don't seem to work as well after either...? They seem a little more dull.

I cut some today for my rudder. It's tough stuff.
Here is a picture of it. It seems to be 2 weaves on top of each other. You can't see the glass from the Kevlar side and can't see the Kevlar from the glass side.
Go to the DB and Laz hatch mold thread I started and I'll have more pictures.

 

[Doc_holiday]

If you figure out the right glue and resin thing. Think about making some extras for sale! Your work is great. I still have to go get a belt sander for mine but yours is much better looking.

 

[Kestle]

Thanks Jeff , I rigged a single line to both on the front of the mast. I can release it and pull the whole contraption back and under some unused cleats. I am going to install small shackles at the first pulley so I can take them apart easy for transport. I only move the boat with mast down a few times a year so I want it to be easy but quiet. So you sail with yours up or stowed in the down position? If I leave it deployed, I'm worried it will chafe the sail

Umm...I normally sail with the mast up kidding aside, my mast is up 100% of the time on the trailer, as I am in a mast up storage area in San Pedro, CA.

I've considered taking it down more, but I don't want to kink my furling foil.

Jeff

 

[Doc_holiday]

I always sail with it up, not just normally.

Put the boat in today and motored about 5 miles to my new marina. Not much to report.

 

[justsomeguy]

I always sail with it up, not just normally.

Put the boat in today and motored about 5 miles to my new marina. Not much to report.

Boredom is highly underrated.

 

[Meriachee]

I always sail with it up, not just normally. Put the boat in today and motored about 5 miles to my new marina. Not much to report.

This winter caused all sorts of forgetfulness. Now I remember what that long thing on the cabin top is for!

 

[finding41]

If you figure out the right glue and resin thing. Think about making some extras for sale! Your work is great. I still have to go get a belt sander for mine but yours is much better looking.

Thanks Doc.
I don't have to worry about the glue joints with the Kevlar and glass weave that I have used! It is strong! (I'll do some testing on the stuff I trim off.)
A tip toward forming your foil shape is to draw the foil shape on each end of the board. I also (IMPORTANT) drew strait lines in a V shape going from the widest part of the rudder to the centre of the back. And strait lines going down the trailing edge showing ware to stop sanding. (This will help you determine if the foil is even on each side.)
Make them for sale.... Maybe after I have perfected the vacuum bagging.
Then why not.

 

[Fred]

Today (actually 2 days ago) I delivered my Macgregor/Venture 25 to her new owner. It has been a great relationship that we have had over the 9 years that I owned her and wish her well. Thank you all for your invaluable information. I recommended this forum to her new owner so I suspect he will sign on soon. I will be headed over to the Hunter site now.

 

[Jersey16]

I'm with you there brother.

I'm going to try a multi-tool judging by what Stinkbug went through with a grinder.

I still think I might clean out a path athwartships across the roof and epoxy in some 1.5"x .25" plywood strips. I would put hook velcro on them and get some flexible laminate and put loop velcro in the back of that.

I could take it down when I needed to but it would cover the mess that is my roof and hide any wiring or stanchion base bolts.

How did you make out...
I am all sanded and prepped and ready to prime. I'm wrestling with using an oil based paint from home depot or spending the $40 per quart marine paint. I'm not sure if the home depot stuff will stick to the fiberglass, but I wanted to use a textured paint to help cover some of the rough spots. Decisions decisions...

 

[Jersey16]

I'm with you there brother.

I'm going to try a multi-tool judging by what Stinkbug went through with a grinder.

I still think I might clean out a path athwartships across the roof and epoxy in some 1.5"x .25" plywood strips. I would put hook velcro on them and get some flexible laminate and put loop velcro in the back of that.

I could take it down when I needed to but it would cover the mess that is my roof and hide any wiring or stanchion base bolts.

How did you make out...
I am all sanded and prepped and ready to prime. I'm wrestling with using an oil based paint from home depot or spending the $40 per quart marine paint. I'm not sure if the home depot stuff will stick to the fiberglass, but I wanted to use a textured paint to help cover some of the rough spots. Decisions decisions...

 

[StinkBug]

I used regular exterior paint from Lowes. Cant say how well it'll hold up long term, but it's sticking just fine so far!

 

[finding41]

I just made a mess. And washed my OB.

 

[mattutley]

Finally got the boat in the slip for summer. Late start on the Great Lakes. Thought I'd be the last boat but the marina is still more than half empty! Decided to check the lower gear oil in my Johnson sail master 8. Good thing I did. Water came out instead of oil, not good..

 

[ffaubert]

How did you make out...
I am all sanded and prepped and ready to prime. I'm wrestling with using an oil based paint from home depot or spending the $40 per quart marine paint. I'm not sure if the home depot stuff will stick to the fiberglass, but I wanted to use a textured paint to help cover some of the rough spots. Decisions decisions...

I'm going with sanding down areas to put in battens and velcro the headboards in but it isn't finished yet. We just got decent weather this weekend for outside epoxy.

I'll post some pics as I go along.

I did get the head walls in place and I'm building some walls to separate the cabin from the storage under the cockpit.

The missus is making the curtains and some fabric separators to block off the head area and the vee berth.

We splash next weekend.

 

[Sock Puppet]

I looked at it long enough to remember I need to go scrape bottom paint. I've been so busy the last month I haven't touched it. With a long weekend coming up I hope to knock everything out and get her on the water.

 

[topcat0399]

"What Did You Do To Your Mac Today"

Weeelll, Eyyyee 'spooose. Its about time I chime in.

Ever since the thaw finally happened I've been inside that damn boat
grinding vacuming laying up gluing filling sanding grinding vacuuming laying up gluing filling sanding grinding gluing filling and sanding sanding sanding etc. Day after day. Its endless.

Rebuilding the the rotten settes with full interior bulkheads and planned to be water tight, and making ready for paint the cabin interior.
There is no liner inside of a venture this old but I am going for a liner like finish. Don't know what I was thinking.

The grinding is an awful task. I detest it.
Its taking a serious toll on my body also.

If this old wreck doesn't start to LOOK like I'm making progress soon I'm taking a chainsaw to it.

don't buy a wreck....

 

[Jersey16]

I opted for good'ol interlux. Two days, two coats of primer and one finish coat and I couldn't be happier. it did take a few days to sand all the glue off the cieling though. I think one more finish coat and I should be good. The old Mac looks good with nothing inside. I may just leave her that way this season...

 

[StinkBug]

Today I pulled the boat into the shop again to do a final clean and prep before putting her in the water for the holiday weekend. Got a slip at the Harbor Patrol Guest docks on Shelter Island for anyone who's in SD and would like to say hello.

 

[walt]

I had to mess with my 15 foot experiment boat again today (rather than go to work..). I like slugs on a sail for convenience.. but a lot of small dingy sailors don’t like slugs because of the gap between the sail and the mast. So I tired a new slug setup that gets the gap smaller. This boat also has a rotating mast - in one of the pictures, you can see the rotating spreader. Can’t tell if it helped (passed a bunch of boats, got passed by a Catalina 25 fin keel. Nothing broke..