Ooo! Sparkly! Redfury's Grinding again!

[redfury]

After so many moons of sitting in half a project making "vroom, vroom" sounds whilst the rest of the board here is kicking tail on their boats, I've finally donned my tyvek suit of armor, goggles, and armed myself with excalibur...er, my trusty Makita grinder.

Isn't that the expression of pure, unadulterated bliss?

 

[redfury]

Re: Ooo! Sparkley! Redfury's Grinding again!

Re: Ooo! Sparkley! Redfury's Grinding again!

There she is, out of her hidey hole...I predict six extra weeks of grinding! For those just joining in on the progress, what we have here is a 1975 Glastron V178. You can find more pics of her and my progress in the links below.

First thing I did ( last night, with just my pants and long sleeved shirt on..idiot! ) was took the diamond bit wheel and cut out the remaining material on the stringer shells. Pleased with the speed and results, I resigned myself for the night, ready to hit it today with vigor.

 

[redfury]

Re: Ooo! Sparkley! Redfury's Grinding again!

Re: Ooo! Sparkley! Redfury's Grinding again!

This is outta here! I've decided that the foam is going, and so is the rest of it. It's pointless to save any of this stuff.

I've come to fully realize the futility in trying to contain the dust the flapper wheel makes with any kind of suction system, though I have to attest to the ability of the 40 grit flapper on a good grinder. It made quick work of the shoddy work Glastrons employees did on this boat. I found resin voids, and resin rich areas all over the place, particularly under the mat used on the stringers...it was quite disappointing to see it, though it sure made grinding the old glass off easier in places!

I've got my compressor hooked up at the house and a hundred feet of skinny air hose out to the boat. It helps keep the area clean and allows me to keep the grinder blown out. I don't think the neighbors are going to care for me too much once all that sparkly dust starts landing on their patios though :redface:

I got all of this done with one session and one single 40 grit disc. I did all my cut outs with the diamond wheel and it does a nice job at slicing through the glass, though you have to be careful not to cut through the hull with it...very easy to do if not paying attention.

For what it's worth, @ 6ft tall and 210lbs, I should have gotten the xxl tyvek suit as the arms and legs are too short once I bend over and start working. I blew myself off with compressed air and took a shower. I don't find myself itching much more than I usually do, so if it stays this pleasant, I'm hoping to get an hour or so a night on the boat all week long. If things hold out nicely, I'll have the hull ready for a transom this weekend! Let's hope my stamina holds out! I'll keep the pictures and dialog going as much as possible.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Ooo! Sparkley! Redfury's Grinding again!

Re: Ooo! Sparkley! Redfury's Grinding again!

.......For what it's worth, @ 6ft tall and 210lbs, I should have gotten the xxl tyvek suit as the arms and legs are too short once I bend over and start working. I blew myself off with compressed air and took a shower.

That grinder will just as easy take a few inches off your arm length and leg length...... then the suit will fit just right

 

[bear_69cuda]

Re: Ooo! Sparkley! Redfury's Grinding again!

Re: Ooo! Sparkley! Redfury's Grinding again!

redfury,

No more "vroom, vroom" sound from you dude! Looks like you're kicking serious butt!

Ahhh the good ol' tyvek dayzz! Itchy and scratchy... supposidly baby powder pre-grinding helps. Didn't here of this till after i was finished.

Lookin good dude!

 

[WizeOne]

Re: Ooo! Sparkley! Redfury's Grinding again!

Re: Ooo! Sparkley! Redfury's Grinding again!

That ol' excalibur has cut a mighty swath. Nothing like a clean slate to make it like it should have been from the gitgo.

I hear you on the tyvek suits. I'm the same height but 20 lbs lighter and when I kneel down in my XL's,(which everything you do requires) the groin rips open. (mine has booties which really constrains the suit) I'm thinking you might want to go with XXXL's.

 

[JustMrWill]

Re: Ooo! Sparkley! Redfury's Grinding again!

Re: Ooo! Sparkley! Redfury's Grinding again!

Looking good...all the memories. I guess I should finish mine up now. I have a "working" boat...but I now have to do all the finish work...electrical/panel/side panels..etc.

-Will

 

[redfury]

Re: Ooo! Sparkley! Redfury's Grinding again!

Re: Ooo! Sparkley! Redfury's Grinding again!

Working that grinder is much like working the edgers at work ( disc sanders for hardwood floors for working everywhere the big belt won't/can't get to ). It's nice having the physical memory on sanding off old finish...it's really helped me to get a good feel for the surface. Tomorrow I'm going to pick up 4 more flapper discs and see how far I can get with them.

One thing I was noticing though, was that the transom skin has a layer of resin on it, and that had a poor bond with the wood transom. I'm wondering if I'd be better off using a thin layer of PL adhesive to bond the wood to the skin, than to use "peanut butter". The thought occurred to me today...I might have to look into it. I mean, we use it to bond layers of wood together to make the thickness of the transom, so why not?

At any rate, I'm so pleased with the process and the fact that the itch is really nothing I can't handle, that I'm looking forward to every day that I can get back on it and start grinding. I really gave that first disc a real workout. It's definitely the way to go.

As far as the itch goes, I really hope it doesn't translate similarly into the old "chili contest judge" email from a while back...

 

[redfury]

Day 2 of the "itch of our lives"

Day 2 of the "itch of our lives"

Well, I went out and purchased a few more flapper discs and managed to burn through 2 of them tonight. Got too late to take pictures, but suffice it to say, they are effective-effective at burning a hole through the hull!

I was working on a pretty difficult area though, and was starting to get fogged up in the safety goggles. I shoulda known the second time I went through...it has that same low drone sound as when I zipped through it with the skill saw

Oh well, as long as I don't end up turning the boat into a pile of glittering dust, I can fix it! Updated pictures tomorrow!

 

[jcsercsa]

Re: Ooo! Sparkley! Redfury's Grinding again!

Re: Ooo! Sparkley! Redfury's Grinding again!

HAHAHAA OHH MAn Mike , its about time you started this !!!! Now you can quit living threw Mine !!! hahaha Looking good there man !!!!!!!!

I was itchy but it wasnt really bad , most of it was on my lower arms ,and on my face , but i see you got that covered also !!!! lol

How long has it been sence you took the top off of her ??? John

 

[redfury]

Re: Ooo! Sparkley! Redfury's Grinding again!

Re: Ooo! Sparkley! Redfury's Grinding again!

How long has it been sence you took the top off of her ??? John

Originally, or this year? I've had that cap on and off 2x already!

I removed it for the first time this year on May 3rd.

Took some pictures this morning, but I gotta scoot to work, so I'll get them up when I get home.

 

[jcsercsa]

Re: Ooo! Sparkley! Redfury's Grinding again!

Re: Ooo! Sparkley! Redfury's Grinding again!

Originally, or this year? I've had that cap on and off 2x already!

I removed it for the first time this year on May 3rd.

Took some pictures this morning, but I gotta scoot to work, so I'll get them up when I get home.

OHH didnt know you put it back on thought it was still off from last year, or was it the year before ??? lol

Work dont they know your working on your boat ??? lol John

 

[capri1600]

Re: Ooo! Sparkley! Redfury's Grinding again!

Re: Ooo! Sparkley! Redfury's Grinding again!

What are you using the flapper disk on? I used a single 4 1/2" grinding disk for masonry when grinding my entire boat out and it's not worn out yet. It does sound like you make good headway with those though so I'd be curios to know the process you are using.

 

[92excel]

Re: Ooo! Sparkley! Redfury's Grinding again!

Re: Ooo! Sparkley! Redfury's Grinding again!

Also whats the deal with the paper mask and no respirator?

 

[oops!]

Re: Ooo! Sparkley! Redfury's Grinding again!

Re: Ooo! Sparkley! Redfury's Grinding again!

mike!........congratulations.....they are letting you use power tools again!...lol

good for you ....its great to get back on them again after a long layoff.

i was sooo happy to finally get away from any grinding and sanding....now im right back in it with the final fairing.

try a 26 grit but you are done the really messy part of the grinding now.

glad to see you are back in the trenches with the rest of us bud.

im looking foward to more

 

[redfury]

Re: Ooo! Sparkley! Redfury's Grinding again!

Re: Ooo! Sparkley! Redfury's Grinding again!

26 grit in no where to be found, 40 is the lowest I can get short of a 36 I got in a package that comes with increasingly higher grit, which I got for some finish grinding. I'm kinda wishing I had gone and gotten the 7 inch grinder, but I'll survive with the little one...it's not like I have to sand 400 sq. ft. like you did Ward!

As far as the respirator goes, the mask I have is a disposable respirator type mask. I can't smell or taste anything related to fiberglass resin while I'm grinding. The respirator I have is for when I start sitting in the hull with that resin cooking off. I'll have some pictures in a few minutes for you all!

 

[redfury]

Re: Ooo! Sparkley! Redfury's Grinding again!

Re: Ooo! Sparkley! Redfury's Grinding again!

Well, you can see here where I got a little over exuberant with the 40 grit. I was attempting to get all that old glass off, like you can see above the thin spot. they did such a horse manure job of glassing in the stringers, there was dry mat all over the place.

This second one was from tipping the grinder to take off the leading edge, and the front edge of the disc went through. That low drone from the hull should have been my first indicator...I was just so psyched at the progress I had been making. Guess I'll have to get a little Biax for the hull after all! I don't think my mat and auto store repair cloth are going to make that strong enough ( though I have enough of each to do the repairs with ).

Since it was raining for the most part today, I didn't risk running the power tools, so I just hopped in there and finally got that remaining foam out. It was wet where the water could have come in, otherwise I could have left it in if I had wished to...I did not.

I'll have some cleaning up to do yet. What a horrible design when you look at it from an engineering perspective...all that water intrusion just sat there and soaked up on the underside of the unprotected 1/2 inch plywood. This will most certainly be redesigned.

Oh, and I'm itching a bit...I should just NEVER touch this boat unless I'm wearing protection

 

[jcsercsa]

Re: Ooo! Sparkley! Redfury's Grinding again!

Re: Ooo! Sparkley! Redfury's Grinding again!

Yep mike mine was the same way, with the spots in the hull !!!!!not no more !!!! lol keep it up !!! John

 

[redfury]

Re: Ooo! Sparkley! Redfury's Grinding again!

Re: Ooo! Sparkley! Redfury's Grinding again!

Well no progress today, had other pressing issues to attend to, though I was out by the boat...that counts, right? I'm quite pleased with the progress, and after seeing Johns glastron with that pretty red paint, I'm definitely going forward with that paint scheme as I had initially intended to. It looks better than I had expected it to, I can't wait to see it finished and out of that garage for some sunny day photo shoot pics!

 

[redfury]

Re: Ooo! Sparkly! Redfury's Grinding again!

Well, didn't get much done the last couple of days, but....
Today was the fishing opener in MN. Of course, I had to work...I always work. But, as predictable as the sun rising and setting every day, The Fishing Opener was the same as it always is....Cold. Which was just fine with me, because that means I get to grind "sweat free". I got home from work and got on it!

Boy, I thought I got all the junk out of the boat years ago!

But, ALL the stringers are completely out of the boat now. There is NO wood that would be found under the floor ANYWHERE now. I thought they did a bad job glassing the stringers at the rear, but it was the worst at the bow..just dirty glass fibers

There it is, the stringers are GONE. Now, I get to clean the inside of the boat. But first, I think I need to pull the side panels off so I can get at the sides of the boat so I can remove the glass tabbing for the floor, so I can scuff it properly and attach the floor the right way...I'll probably end up rebuilding the side panels the way it's shaping up. Honestly, not that big of a deal at this point. I'm not going with the gold interior anyway.

The nose is all cleaned up. With this kind of progress, I can actually start thinking about cutting new stringer material for the boat....yay!