Lund Nisswa Restoration

[lundnisswa]

Re: Lund Nisswa Restoration

Keel Patch

Back to the previously mentioned Keel Rub through, I ground it down until I did not dare grind any more, I actually was through the hull and down to that keel guard which I left attached for now so I would have a backing for the Patch.
Once again, I did my best at this by making three patches of 1708, each 2inches larger than the next, acetoned the area thoroughly-let it dry and applied the patches, man is that 1708 thick compared to the 6 oz I had been using, and it drinks Resin, it was actually hard to get transparent, then when all done some bubbles started to form, so I used those bubble rollers and it pushed them out pretty well.
If not good enough of a patch job on the inside I can always grind it back off, I am also going to put a patch on the exterior.

Had some left over Resin, so I mixed up a small batch of milled fibers in a small cup, very thick, hard to do but I sucked it up into a turkey injector, I had previously prepped some small Transom bolt holes from old transducer mount bolts, with tape on the outside- I injected the holes from inside the boat, turned out great.

OK, let me know if I goofed up that patch, I will grind her back off.

Lund

 

[lundnisswa]

Re: Lund Nisswa Restoration

OK, call me crazy.

In my practicing of fiberglassing I decided to attempt to build my own battery tray with left-over scraps and resin from each task.

I lined a cardboard box with some slick tape, layed up a bunch of scrap 8 oz cloth in there and much to my surprise it actually worked as a release, came right out of the mold, not a stitch of tape or cardboard stuck to it.

So now I am adding more scrap as I go, and of course grinding and acetone prior to each glassing session.

Will cut it off to desired height when all done, sand it good and paint.

The brown stuff in there is some left over peanut butter I mixed with left over resin, figured it wouldn't hurt anything, hate to waste that resin, that is some pricey stuff.

Lund

 

[erikgreen]

Re: Lund Nisswa Restoration

Sweet. Trying a mold project while you're working on the boat. A man after my own heart.

It's easier to mold fiberglass than most people think, at least the simpler shapes. It gets a little harder when you do more complex parts or you need to start waxing/prepping your mold... I'm going to try molding a few things this summer, got myself some mold release wax and PVA.

Looks good so far... remember to keep a few scraps around for the odd patch here and there, and in case you want to mix some roving into putty sometime... the biaxial pulls apart very neatly.

Erik

 

[lundnisswa]

Re: Lund Nisswa Restoration

Transom is encased/waterproofed with resin/cloth.

Transom installed tonight using PL, all 13 through hull fittings even lined up. Oozed out the bottom nicely, and out the top.
24 hours, clamps come off, might wait 48.

Also put down a strip of 1708 today on inner keel, the length of the boat.

Next up, stringers.
Lund

 

[lundnisswa]

Re: Lund Nisswa Restoration

Ok, boat building is very time consuming, but am enjoying the challenge.

Today I set out to make the three Bulkhead Templates while the Transom is curing, want to get these done before the Stringers go in.

Once again some tricky angles to deal with, Took 4 hours to get the Templates fitted.

Lund

 

[lundnisswa]

Re: Lund Nisswa Restoration

DM44- On the Pour Foam;

I am going to use 2 units of 2lb foam (4gallons), supposed to provide 16 Cu. Feet at 70 degrees, I am going to pour the two inboard stringer channels without the floor on first, cut with wire if I have to, The outboard stringer channel, in my opinion needs to be done after the decking and everything is in place, gonna have to drill holes and patch. Thats my plan anyway, we will see what happens.

Removed all the bolts and Clamps from the Transom, that baby is not coming off any time soon, as a matter of fact I had a piece of wood under a clamp on the exterior of the boat, and some of the PT got in there from the transom cap mount holes, I started to try to pry it off but it was taking fiberglass with it, so I had to Grind it off.

Only complaint I have on the PL adhesive in my particular application is the bedding, I had the bedding in there perfectly, when it cured it expanded out and sorta of started to crack from expansion I guess, it is still serving it's purpose and will get covered with a fillet anyway, it just bothers me.

My method for the PL on the Transom was, 1 Large (28oz) tube, half on the wood, half on the boat, and then I used two of the 10 oz tubes for the bedding, used a small notched trowel. Two person job.

Heres some pix of various areas of the Transom after it cured for 36 hours, it was over 60 degrees in the shop and I had heat lamps in the boat warming Transom while curing. The one picture with the ID plate is where the wood was stuck on there and started ripping out the glass.
Lund

 

[lundnisswa]

Re: Lund Nisswa Restoration

Stringer final fitting;
Cut out notches for cross member supports, and cut out where the livewell drops in, also put a roundover on all edges to ease the turns for the fiberglass. Holes are predrilled for the removable center floor section support brackets, oversized holes to waterproof them with epoxy.

I have decided to glass over the tops while still out of the boat, then bed in the outboard stringers first, glass them in, then bed in the Inboards and glass them in.

Oh By the way, my PL Premium applied 3 days ago is still wet in the center of the Transom bedding, it is not runny wet like oops experienced, but none the less wet, I found this out because I wanted to trim some excess areas off, as soon as I cut into it I could feel it was wet, temp was not a factor. What concerns me about this is should I use it to bed stringers, I have some areas over 1/4" to bridge.

Lund

 

[lundnisswa]

Re: Lund Nisswa Restoration

The nisswa was a unreal boat way ahead of it's time. I had a chance to fish with Walleye pro Mark Martin in 2007 and we talked about the Nisswa and he said he loved it and would like to buy another just as a keep sake. I would really like to see your project done. Looks Great.

Thanks for the encouragement Nisswa,

Not that many people have seen the Lund Nisswa since it was only made a couple years. I agree and have said for years just what you said, "The Nisswa is a boat way ahead of it's time".
That is why I have kept it for all of these 22 years, and I plan on keeping it for another 22 years and pass it on to my son, so I hope I can do a quality rebuild, then keep a close eye on it in the future to stop the rotting before it starts.
I believe that putting a cover on it when wet is what caused the majority of the rot to start, never had a chance to dry out, remember taking the cover off many years ago and actually had some mushrooms growing in there. This time around she will stay in the garage, cover off, hatches open, bow high.

Todays update is short
Glassed over the Tops of the Outboard stringers.
This Boat building is very time consuming, just this small job took over 4 hours, prep stringers, prep glassing supplies, cut strips to fit and have stacked in order, do the lay up-then clean up.
Enjoying every minute of it, these guys have said over and over on this site, and they are right, boat building is a self rewarding project.

HOW DO I GET A FIBERGLASS SLIVER OUT OF FINGER, HURTS LIKE HECK!!!


Lund

 

[erikgreen]

Re: Lund Nisswa Restoration

I use the lint remover rollers myself.

If the splinter is big enough, go after it with a tweezers, just make sure you use a sharp tweezers, and clean the spot before and after with a disinfectant.. something other than alcohol.

I think vinegar helps dissolve uncured resin, but thankfully it cannot actually break down the glass fibers themselves.

The best way to avoid splinters, itch, and more serious injuries is always to prevent them with proper safety gear. If you think your skin itches, imagine what that stuff is doing in your lungs or eyes.

I once had a splinter of glass fiber made stiff by resin stuck in my hand, point in, for three days... I figured it was just another ding in my skin until I pulled out a 1/8 inch long spike with my fingernails.

Erik

 

[lundnisswa]

Re: Lund Nisswa Restoration

Have a question for you guys; it is bothering me that the Boat Drain Plug hole is over an inch from the actual bottom of the boat, there is no way all the water could ever drain out, I am planning on making a gradual sloping ramp to meet up with drain hole level with peanut butter, then glassing over it with 1708, do you guys think that the peanut butter will be OK in the wettest part of the boat?
So tommorrow I am going to ramp up the keel to meet the drain hole, then glass the Transom to the hull, then glass the Transom to the hull.


Bottoms of the stringers are waterproofed, and the Tops of the inboards glassed over while out of the boat, today I had high hopes of getting something done in the boat but I spent more time thinking (planning my attack) than executing, tomorrow I will execute the plan.

I did manage to make the forward battery box, sits way up in the bow, takes a beating, as a matter of fact the manufacturers battery box bottom was crushed/collapsed, so the box has to be strong, so I made it out of plywood and will glass over it.


Lund

 

[erikgreen]

Re: Lund Nisswa Restoration

Good box.

The peanut butter will be fine. Even using wood flour, only the wood particles that have surface exposed to the water (are not fully epoxy covered) will have any rot happen... so only the first layer of wood will show any color change, and not even that unless you do a really poor job mixing it.

Cabosil of course won't have any problems, nor milled glass.

You are allowed to move the drain plug if you want... just make sure you don't go too close to the bottom in case the hull cracks between the drain hole and the bottom of the boat... some boats sit exactly on that part of the hull on the trailer or when beached.

Erik

 

[lundnisswa]

Re: Lund Nisswa Restoration

OK, managed to get a bit done today.
Ramped up the keel to better meet the drain hole, actually went about 1 inch-tapering to zero.
Then applied 1708 across width of transom to wrap down onto the hull.
Then PL'd in the two outboard stringers.

Now to wait for the PL to cure so I can start climbing up the sides of the stringers with two layers of 1708.

Lund

 

[lundnisswa]

Re: Lund Nisswa Restoration

Help!!!!!!!!!!
OK fiber glassing the first stringer in basically kicked my butt, took six hours from start to finish, I just cannot seem to get this 1708 as transparent as I would like, have used way too much resin as well, either way, the one outboard is filleted, and has two layers of 1708 on it.
I used a wet out table, which seemed to help.
Alot of the resin would run out by gravity and pool at the lowest point, this indicated to me that I had it saturated, I used brush/roller and bubble roller but some areas still appears whitish, especially in the overlapping areas. The other area I have trouble with is up the side toward the tops, I cannot get them to hold the resin at all, am I on track here or should I be doing something different?

Tell me if I am screwing this up please.
I sanded lightly, and acetoned the heck out of the areas 2 hours prior to starting.

Lund

 

[lundnisswa]

Re: Lund Nisswa Restoration

Second Stringer went alot better, had a second man on the ground making peanut butter/wetting out the 1708/making Resin, took us 1.5 hours to fillet and lay up two layers 1708 on a 12 foot stringer. I had precut 50" pieces to proper widths, went really well.

After further evaluation they look pretty darn good, and they are in there like Iron. A bit of grinding here and there to get rid of some resin puddles and I will be ready to PL in the Inboard stringers.

I have a question for you guys, if I have some puddling that I did not catch should I grind that off, does it degrade strength? I had quite a bit of run off down to where my next stringer fillet will be.

The wet out table is mandatory in my opinion with 1708,
I just used thick plastic with a dam on all sides so the stuff doesn't run on the floor, this was child proof-just ask my helper!~

The other thing that is working really well for me is those cake decorating squeeze bags for the P-Butter, you can put down alot of fillet in short order, then all I had to do was use a 3inch junk-china brush and knock it into the shape needed, dabbing the brush once in a while lightly in resin to stop it from sticking.

Had to order more resin, ordered 6 more gallons total, if that gets me through the project I will have used 12 gallons total yield. Making ALOT of peanut butter and wetting out the 1708 is draining the resin fast.

Lund

 

[erikgreen]

Re: Lund Nisswa Restoration

Hmmm, okay. First off, a useful trick with 1708 is to wet out the vertical part first.

What I do is put a layer of epoxy wet on the wood/glass where I'm glassing, thickly enough so it helps wet out the cloth. It'll also help the dry cloth adhere into place.

Then I place the dry cloth, making sure it's firm against the surfaces I'm glassing. I roll it into the resin that's there, being careful to press it against the underlying material.

Then I thoroughly wet out the vertical or upper surface first, and wait a few minutes or do something else to give the excess resin time to run down to the lower part, which helps wet it out.

Runoff resin won't weaken the joint... it just means there was too much resin in the cloth. You're right that a wetting table is needed to easily wet 1708 out... it's easy to get it too wet, though. Once you've wet it on the table, use a tray or table section for squeegeeing (is that a word?) out the excess resin. The ideal amount is just enough to glue every glass fiber together and completely wet the surface of the cloth, and no more. Usually people like us can't come close to that, we end up with about twice as much resin doing this by hand.

And now the part that worries me... looking at your pictures, I see that the cloth itself looks fine, especially the part against the stringers. But where the fillet is, I see that even though the cloth is wet out it has a large bubble of air behind it (or at least it looks that way).

Better check that out - it's the whitish area over the fillets.. drill through the glass with a small bit and see if that's an air gap, I can't quite tell from the pics.

If it's a big bubble as it looks like, then I'm afraid you'll need to fix it.. and the simplest way to do that is grind it off and start over.

Erik

 

[lundnisswa]

Re: Lund Nisswa Restoration

Erik, I took some close ups, I know those look like large air bubbles all-over-the-place in the pix, but what it actually is the existing old channel that I had sticking out of floor at various heights, some areas I had to put putty above and below the old channel to fair the turn/or the old channel left too large of a "Ledge" that I had to fair. I do have some small air bubbles, no doubt about that! But most are quite small So if I do have a large air bubble, can I just grind the air bubble out and glass over that spot?

The one part that bothers me is toward the tops, gets very white up there.

OK, I will try to squeegee some of the extra resin out next time I use the wet-out table, I would think that may solve some of my runoff issues.

Lund

 

[erikgreen]

Re: Lund Nisswa Restoration

Erik, I took some close ups, I know those look like large air bubbles all-over-the-place in the pix, but what it actually is the existing old channel that I had sticking out of floor at various heights, some areas I had to put putty above and below the old channel to fair the turn/or the old channel left too large of a "Ledge" that I had to fair. I do have some small air bubbles, no doubt about that! But most are quite small So if I do have a large air bubble, can I just grind the air bubble out and glass over that spot?
Lund

Yes, no need to remove the whole stringer. What you're trying to do is make sure there's no bubbles bridged over by glass, so you could actually fill them with resin with a syringe if you want... this is done with smaller bubbles mostly.

If you're confident that those are just old glass there, then you're probably good... if you have a bubble larger than a dime, or a lot of them, then I'd try to fill them, but unless you want to be anal there's no need to go nuts on less than 15 bubbles in a stringer that size.


Erik

 

[lundnisswa]

Re: Lund Nisswa Restoration

Have been working on glassing in the stringers for the last several days, until I ran out of resin. I chased bubbles until the resin would start to kick.

Since I ran out of resin I pressed on with filling a void that was between the Transom edges and the hull, used tape to seal the 1/2 inch gap and poured two part foam down the void, worked very good, now I can glass the rest of the transom to the hull sides.

Thank goodness I had made good templates for the bulkheads prior to putting those stringers in, so I cut the front two Bulkheads today, and they fit very well.


Lund

 

[lundnisswa]

Re: Lund Nisswa Restoration

Finished glassing in Stringers and Transom Today.

I am overall disappointed in either my performance in fiberglassing or in the performance of the resin/cloth, I can tell you it is not for a lack of effort, it seems the resin just runs out from the tops, leaving them whitish, I have managed to keep the large bubbles to a minimum though, well that is gonna have to do.
Moving on to the bulkheads next. Cut to fit the last Bulkhead today also.
Lund

 

[oops!]

Re: Lund Nisswa Restoration

heh heh heh...i see whats goin on...its a pita...!...

lund...when you cut the fabric....cut it so the lines of the cloth go horizontal....your currently cutting so it goes vertical.....

let me try to re-explain this.....

in pic 4...of the last post....see the heavy lines of the 1708?...there running straight up and down against the stringer......when you wet it out, the glass falls down, flops over and is allmost impossible to get the glass to fully wet out and stick..you glass one end...and the other falls down...and you chase a loosing cause from end to end right?......cut the class so the heavy lines run with the legnth of the wood......

ok....see the direction of the cloth ?.......now see the edge of the glass closest to the camera?...(not the top)....that would be like the end grain on a peice of wood

does that look framilliar?........

the 1708....while a fantastic cloth...is finickey when cut against the grain...and glassed vertical
it tends to unravel....loop...and just basically end up being a mess.....

cut it the other way and youll speed your time on layups, and the aggrivation factor will be to a minimum.

cheers
oops