Transom wood replacement/preparation...

[NickAndJena]

Moving along nicely with the transom repair. This past weekend we got the transom boards cut, as well as some some others cut out of the wood left over. Check out the latest additions here:
http://boatrepair.sci-fer.com/latest-additions

Also have some new photos on the outdrive repair too. Not too much to show in the outdrive arena yet. I got the parts in this evening so stay tuned for more on that as well.

We start glassing the transom boards in this weekend. First timer on the fiberglass work. I hope it's more enjoyable than grinding the old stuff out. hehe

Appreciate any feedback or questions.

Thanks,
Nick

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Transom wood replacement/preparation...

BIGGEST word of advice for the first time fiberglasser. MIX completely and then mix a bit more just for safety.

Many people fail to mix the resin properly and end up with a mess. Good Luck.

 

[NickAndJena]

Re: Transom wood replacement/preparation...

Note taken, thanks for the advice.

As I understand it (please let me know if I'm wrong) when I mix it, I want to be careful not to allow bubbles to mix into the resin right? Kinda like polyurethane?

I've seen a few videos on how to mix it up, but wanted to confirm that understanding.. I'm thinking I'll do a test run on some scrap before coating the real stuff. Any more tips to help a beginning fiberglasser are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Nick

 

[oops!]

Re: Transom wood replacement/preparation...

wear full safety gear.....gloves goggles and mask....(resporator)

make sure all surfaces are scuffed....vaccumed then aceitoned before any resin hits it.

have all pieces of glass cut before hand.

dont worry about the air bubbles in the resin mixing bucket.......just dont leave any between the wood and the fiberglass.

and the csm allways goes nextr to the wood when using polyester resin.

cheers....
oops

 

[lennymoe]

Re: Transom wood replacement/preparation...

Nice Blog!!!

 

[seaman campbell]

Re: Transom wood replacement/preparation...

I used an old electric mixer with one blade to mix my resin. Worked like a charm, just be sure to keep the speed down. No air bubbles in the finished work, be sure to work all air pockets out, or you will have to grind it out.

TC

 

[NickAndJena]

Re: Transom wood replacement/preparation...

Sweet.. Thanks everyone, I'm so stoked to get started on the glassing this weekend. I'll post some new photos when I'm done.

Thanks to everyone that has helped with their comments thus far, I greatly appreciate it.

Nick

 

[jonesg]

Re: Transom wood replacement/preparation...

Moving along nicely with the transom repair. This past weekend we got the transom boards cut, as well as some some others cut out of the wood left over. Check out the latest additions here:
http://boatrepair.sci-fer.com/latest-additions

Also have some new photos on the outdrive repair too. Not too much to show in the outdrive arena yet. I got the parts in this evening so stay tuned for more on that as well.

We start glassing the transom boards in this weekend. First timer on the fiberglass work. I hope it's more enjoyable than grinding the old stuff out. hehe

Appreciate any feedback or questions.

Thanks,
Nick

If possible I get everything in the boat and do it there. mix resin and get it out of the pot asap. pour/spread onto the wood, apply matt, more resin , spread it and get it installed and bolted or clamped asap.

It helps to rehearse the moves.

 

[NickAndJena]

Re: Transom wood replacement/preparation...

Well tomorrow is the big show. I will have my wife helping out, I hope we don't glue/resin ourselves together. I figure the marriage is a close enough bond -- LOL (ok that was funny).

Thanks for the advice here, we will definitely go through a couple rehearsals until we get it down really good without the resin applied. After that what could possibly go wrong?
(not so funny, it's late Friday night and the brew is flowing nicely)

Look forward to some photos tomorrow, I'm so excited. After thinking this through a million times, I'm glad to finally get new resin on the boat.

Cheers,
Nick

 

[NickAndJena]

Re: Transom wood replacement/preparation...

The pinnacle point of the project has been reached today. I'm still a bit unsure how to efficiently post images and contextual commentary to the photos on this forum so here is a link to a site that has that.

http://boatrepair.sci-fer.com/transom-replacement

If you have any questions or comments please speak up.

Nick

 

[danond]

Re: Transom wood replacement/preparation...

Looking good, Nick. I see you found out, as I did, how big those batches of epoxy/hardener really need to be when you're feeding CSM!

 

[NickAndJena]

Re: Transom wood replacement/preparation...

Looking good, Nick. I see you found out, as I did, how big those batches of epoxy/hardener really need to be when you're feeding CSM!

Yeah, it takes quite a bit to get that stuff fully wet out. We got the second, and final, transom board in today. Two transom boards in just two days. I'm worn out.

The main lesson learned this weekend was related to how much of the resin is needed. We mixed it in batches of 16 ounces, probably could have used a lager container but when one person was applying the resin the other one was mixing a new batch. If we were to do this again, we would probably have ordered at least a few quart sized containers to mix in.

I would say the mixer-drill-bit has been the most useful tool in the project so far. (well of course with the exception of this forum)

Good night boaters!

 

[NickAndJena]

Re: Transom wood replacement/preparation...

During the week we'll be whipping up some fillet material to fill the gap between the perimeter of the transom boards and the boat hull. In my ultimate wisdom, or lack of experience (choose one), we ordered some stuff I thought would be good for mixing a putty-like fillet material. No no no... I didn't get cabosil, although I probably should have.

My new question in the transom replacement thread is this...

Will I have any luck mixing 1/32" Milled Fiber with epoxy resin to be used as a fillet?

Here is a short description of what I'm referring to. From our friends at US Composites (http://www.uscomposites.com/fillers.html):
1/32" Milled Fiber
Milled fiberglass powder added to epoxies and polyesters to increase strength of putty and add surface toughness/hardness.

I will do a test run, but I thought I would ask the masters...