on the spot vac bagging

Here's a quick way to bond the additional layers of reinforcement glass where the bow cables will attach. I'm vacuum bagging two layers of unidirectional glass and a square of reinforcement tape over the exterior triaxial glass and the high density insert. It calls out for additional reinforcements on the inside as well

F-44SC Catamaran: a cool fat tire cub

http://www.waaamuseum.org/

a cool fat tire cub

Ok....so this doesn't have so much to do about the catamaran but Its always nice to think about alternate forms of transportation......The little Hood River airport is home to about 20 piper cubs that are tucked away in the hangars that line the airstrip.. Also, right down the street from the shop, a nice collection of antique aeroplanes and automobiles can be seen at the new Western Aeroplane and Automobile Museum.

http://www.waaamuseum.org/

laying down the glass

So a Saturday and part of a Sunday finds the port side hull clad in nice smooth glass. Again, peel ply tops the epoxy and glass and makes it possible to work the resin out and helps insure a good bond between the foam and the glass. My process goes like this.....smoothe the foam, skim coat with micro/epoxy mix to fill the foam surface. roll on a good wet coat of epoxy, lay down the glass, roll on another good wet coat of resin, top with peel ply and work the layers down with a bondo spreader from stem to stern.

help....

It's nice to have a little help now and then. 44ft. long lengths of 32oz. tiraxial glass is a bit hard to handle so four extra hands makes the job of laminating go much faster.

laminating the exterior, inboard, port side bow

Here's a photo taken while standing one the inner port side hull looking forward. The hull is laying on its side in three cradles. I wanted to glass the hull sections with continuous lengths of glass from stem to stern and you can see the recess strip created with a power planer that allows the triaxial glass seams to overlap flush.