Molds for 26D Dagger Board and Laz Hatch.

Nov 23, 2011
2,023
MacGregor 26D London Ontario Canada
I'm building moulds right now and thought I'd post about all the fun.
I need extra DB's because of whare I'm chartering my boats. People describe the North Channel as "It's rocky" and that is an understatement! I'd rather be prepared with a few extra than rush to ship one in from California.

Materials:
I'm using Polyester resin. Just like what the boat is made of originally. I'm using it for a few reasons. 1 Cost. 2 something has t break when someone hits a rock. I'd prefer the DB break and not the boat.

Fibreglass:
I've got a chopped strand mat that I put on first over the gel-coat. (After it has hardened.) Then I use a heavy weave on top of that. The chopped mat stops the weave from showing through on to the gel-coat. so does waiting for the gel-coat to harden first.

I've cleaned and repaired all the pieces so that the end product will be like new. After cleaning I filled small holes with a semi hard wax. (Like bees wax.) On the bigger man made holes I used clear packing tape.

After cleaning and hole filling I waxed. 4 times.

I did the laz hatch cover first because it was easiest. I just laid it on a work table and used packing tape around the edges on the table.
The DB was a bit more tricky. Because of it's shape I couldn't just lay it down. So I used scrap wood to run along the centre of the front and back of it and cardboard on the ends. Both covered with packing tape. (Fibreglass doesn't stick to it.)
Yesterday I popped the hatch out of the mould. It worked great! I even have the detail form anti slip pattern.
Today I waxed the DB a couple more times and set to gel-coating it.
It's drying now. After supper I'll get to the chopped strand mat.

Pictures:
 

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Nov 23, 2011
2,023
MacGregor 26D London Ontario Canada
I got to the chopped strand mat tonight but didn't have enough resin to continue with the weave. I'll get another gallon jug tomorrow.
I think I will use another type of glass weave that I have. It is 1/2 Kevlar so it will be strong enough to get a number of DBs from before it is done.

On another note... I've discovered that my wife does not like the smell of fibreglass resin.

Here are a couple pictures.
 

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May 4, 2005
4,062
Macgregor 26d Ft Lauderdale, Fl
Why are the boards and hatch black?

& did you think about adding some extra weight to the bottom of the DB's?
 
Nov 23, 2011
2,023
MacGregor 26D London Ontario Canada
Why are the boards and hatch black?

& did you think about adding some extra weight to the bottom of the DB's?
The black is just the gel-coat colour. Kind of... It is just regular black gel-coat with a bit of liquid wax in it. The wax helps with removal of the new piece and it being black lets me know when I am building the new piece if I have the white gel-coat thick enough. If I can see black... The white is not thick enough.
It also lest me see exactly ware to split the mold and the piece.

Extra weight.
No I hadn't planned on it. Mostly because the boats are going to be chartered. I expect to loose a few DB a year. I want the DB to break and not the DB trunk. I think adding extra weight would add stiffness that I don't want.
Inside the stock DB there are 2 pieces of wood. 1- 2x2 and 1- 1x2. (Someone correct me if I've got this wrong. I can't find the pictures of a open DB that I had seen before... So I'm going by memory.)
I think I'll be making them like stock with the 2 pieces of wood inside.

I'm not convinced that adding weight to the sock DB would really help it that much. Now if you added a 400lb bulb of lead to the bottom of the DB things may be different...
If I was going to go that far I'd just add foils like on a Moth. lol. (Maybe on the new Siren 17.)
 
Nov 23, 2011
2,023
MacGregor 26D London Ontario Canada
After work I picked up more resin and hardener and got another layer of fibreglass weave on today but forgot to take pictures. I was in a hurry to get done and go for dinner and a walk with my family out at the lake.
We dropped by and took a look at the new Siren 17. Heidi and Jasmine hadn't seen it yet. It's a mess! (More on it in the trailer sailors menu.)

I'll do one more layer of fibreglass with some wood pieces and rope to help pull it apart tomorrow and call it done.

I saw the last piece of ice on the lake! I don't think it will last the night.
The water has dropped about 8' form the other day. Our club had originally scheduled last weekend for the club clean up, then rescheduled it for this weekend... Then pushed it back to next weekend because of muddy conditions, high water and ice still on the lake.

Tomorrow I'm off to pick up and bring home one of the 26Ds so I can work on it easily. I have a bunch of wiring and gel-coat touch ups to do.
I picked up a new Shakespeare VHF radio while I was getting the resin. (It was on sale for $100 after a $30 mail in rebate.)
 

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Nov 23, 2011
2,023
MacGregor 26D London Ontario Canada
I'm not too happy with the last layer of cloth I put on the mold. It lifted in areas. It's nothing horrible but it could be better. I should have used plastic and a weight to hold it down... Next time.
Ideally I would be vacuum bagging everything. But I'm not set up for that. (I don't want to be set up for that...)
I added two pieces of 1x2 length ways with burlap and I added 4 pieces of rope. One on each corner to help pulling the mold off.

I went and picked up Transition today from storage. It's in the driveway now. So much easier to work on here than in the storage yard. I have some gel-coat repairs to do and allot of outfitting to get it ready for the north.
Here is a pic of the radio I picked up. I think I called it a Shakespeare... I was wrong. It's what it says on the box. I was surprised to see the price tag... I paid $130 and got a $30 mail in rebate.
I scrubbed the inside of it and power washed it so it's nicer to work inside. That's me in the yellow glasses.
 

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Nov 23, 2011
2,023
MacGregor 26D London Ontario Canada
Here is a picture of the rope loops I added.
Went to Stratford today and purchased a new Origo stove. (Well that was the idea... It's only 50 min away.)
I ended up with 2 stoves, a floating winch handle, 14 lb Danforth anchor with chain and about 200' of rode. a main sale for a Shark 24. (I'm going to make it fit the siren 17.) a pot and pan set, coffee pot. and 2/3 of a gallon black Interlux bottom paint.
And met a possible new client for the charter. (He sold the boat and got a cottage. He still has a Wayfarer though.)
I found a swing out and away mount for the Ipad's I'm using for navigation. Only one though.
The dragged Squeaky around the block with her new friends and went for ice cream. It was 21C here today!
Calling for Snow on Tuesday....
I'm going to pop the DB out of the mold tomorrow. Hopefully do a video of it too.
 

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Nov 23, 2011
2,023
MacGregor 26D London Ontario Canada
I took the DB mold off today. I'm happy with how it turned out. It came out pretty easy. I had waxed it well. That's why it looks kind of grey in the pictures.
Tomorrow I'm going to give it a good waxing (4 coats) and get some white gel-coat in. It's supposed to be cold (-3c)(It was 18 today!) so I'll just leave it with the gel-coat and get the fibre in on Wed. I will do the laz cover at the same time.
When It warms up I figure I can make one side of the DB every day.
I took the fibreglass trim piece off the outboard well to fix it and I may as well make a mold so I can make another as the other boat has aluminium stair nose trim there...
I was curious to see how the OB area was built too. I may add a couple pieces of aluminium to help strengthen the area. It is strong and sound now but who knows how it will be handled in the future.
 

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Nov 23, 2011
2,023
MacGregor 26D London Ontario Canada
It's cold here today. -3C feels like -9C. We also got 3" of SNOW!
I was out intending to work on the motor well trim piece. It's too cold to mold the molding clay that I have.
I did some measurements on my Johnson OB and found that the distance from the throat of the mount to the spinny bolt thing is 1 1/8". No wonder the trim gets wrecked. It's too close to the spinny thing. If someone doesn't tighten the motor properly it will ride up and... Well that's my theory. It also looks like the motor has been tightened on the trim pieces... So not even installed properly before tightening...
I have decided to modify this piece before I make a mold of it.
I trimmed out the area that the spinny bolt things would hit. I'll mount cardboard to the edges of the piece and fill the voids with the molding wax before I gel-coat. Having this modification will also allow me to attach a piece of aluminium to the transom. Maybe a L shaped piece with the short part of the L at the top.
My anchor swivels came in to day.
 

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Nov 23, 2011
2,023
MacGregor 26D London Ontario Canada
A little work on the motor well trim. I'm using molding putty or plastersine. It's not allot of fun to work with but it will do. still have a bunch of trimming and smoothing out to do.

Tonight I'll gel-coat and get some glass on for the mold.
Note; The cracker box is covered with packing tape so the fibreglass doesn't stick. I hot glued it on with the gold sparkly glue because my wife wants to get rid of it. I don't mind the gold sparkles...
 

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Nov 23, 2011
2,023
MacGregor 26D London Ontario Canada
Thanks Nom De Guerre! I'm having fun. I have a blog too...
fpsailingcharters.wordpress.com
And a YouTube channel... https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPQaS7U7HTY-wWAzH8daHvA

I started the laz hatch tonight. I waxed the mold I made and gave it a coat of white gel-coat. Tomorrow I will get some glass on and find a piece of wood to set into it for strength.
I also started making the mold for the motor well trim. What a PITA... I used a bit black gel-coat and normal resin mixed. It wouldn't kick! So I added more hardener.... Still... Then... Still nothing. I mixed this pot up before the white for the laz cover! (About 1 hour before!)
So I went in the house and had a couple chocolate Easter eggs and went back out to check on the pot of resin. (Maybe 5 min...)
It kicked in the pot! Not on the piece... Just in the pot. So now I have a hard pot of resin and a piece that is covered with a thin sticky mess. I mopped up the drippings from the table and basted the part again and again.
Well it's kind of got a coat on it. At least It's enough to start and lay down glass tomorrow. (If it dries over night.)
It's kind of cool out. +3c tonight. I'm not sure why the white gel-coat worked so well but not the other... They started out at the same temp and I haven't had a problem with it at this temp before...
Here are the photos. (Don't try this at home. It's a big waist of resin!)
 

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Nov 23, 2011
2,023
MacGregor 26D London Ontario Canada
Well I have got a layer of chopped strand, 0ne layer of a fine tight weave, and a layer of the big weave in. I also put the plywood piece in place while I had the big weave wet. One more layer over the plywood and a couple around the edges and it will be ready to pop out of the mold.
I'm getting low on hardener so that's it for today. I will pick up more tomorrow.
I had a problem with the black the other day and it kicked while I was sneaking chocolate eggs in the house. Today it worked fine... I don't know it it's the temperature or the humidity playing tricks on me... Here are some pictures.
Note; I held the wood down with 5 gal buckets of sand. It worked very well.
I'm quite happy with how this is turning out.
 

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Nov 23, 2011
2,023
MacGregor 26D London Ontario Canada
You must love working with that stuff.
Not really... Not the cutting or grinding of it. It gets in my skin and is itchy! (Same deal with any fibreglass home insulation. I always wear a white paper suiit and have the cuffs taped closed and wear a resporator, hat and gloves.)
Working with the cloth before it is set in resin isn't a problem. When I mix up a pot of resin i am either in the garage or outside. If in the garage I open the big door and the window on the other end of the building. I have a fan that blows air witch ever way the wind is blowing to get rid of fumes.
I've learnt to use two pairs of gloves when glassing. One tight disposable medical kind and a loose plastic kind that I can pull off easily. I keep a couple extra of the loose ones on the bench just in case I need them in a pinch.
It was too cold again today and I was out of town until 6:30 and after story time and the bed time rituals for squeaky too late for me to bother changing cloths and going outside. Not to mention That I need to shower after glassing to get the chemical smell off of me.
 
Nov 23, 2011
2,023
MacGregor 26D London Ontario Canada
I got a whole lot of nothing done today on the hatch or the DB. Kind of.
I did get the 2x3s for the DB and cut them to 5'. I got them because I need to extend the cross racks out on my wagon to bring home a new Watertender 10 tomorrow.
I also picked up the other dinghy today. (I need one for each boat and thought I'd try a soft and a hard to see what gets the best reviews and holds up the best.) It's a Avon R3. 10 in amazing shape! I think the Watertender is going up north with Transition because I don't have room to store a hard dinghy at home and I'm not putting it in my wood shop. The Avon is rolled up and in the back porch. It doesn't take much room to store. I forgot to take pictures of it blown up today.
 

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Nov 19, 2011
1,489
MacGregor 26S Hampton, VA
Finding,

If I attempted to make a new rudder myself, would wood be ok? What kind? and does it have to be glassed? Or could it just get 20 coats of something. Half tempted to add the couple inches on the front as many have done and similar to the ones available.

Of course I would have to guess at the foil shape and use table and circular saws to rough shape it and sand it to shape. If nothing else I would have a spare.
 

crpdm

.
Oct 23, 2008
38
Macgregor 26D Highlake IL
Doc,
I made one from a pine 2 x 12 and added an inch or two to the leading edge. I beveled it on the table saw and sanded it smooth. Its not an airfoil, but I am not racing anybody. I gave it a few coats of polyurethane I had lying around. I raised the pivot hole a few inches because the original had wallowed out. The bigest problem with wood is that it likes to float up and is harder to pull down. It's been in service for 5 or 6 years. If it ever rots out, I can make a new one in a day.

Regards,
Karl Heinze
 
Nov 19, 2011
1,489
MacGregor 26S Hampton, VA
Thanks. Mine is OEM but it cracked once and was half repaired. It works ok but I know it won't last forever and I don't want to spend the $ for one from ruddercraft when I am in a pinch.

Maybe I'll trace it out and make the rough cut and see how good I can do with varying angles on the table saw blade and see what other tools may help