Sunday, March 30, 2008

Lots of little steps

As you already know I am not going to get primer on until next Saturday.
(When I posted that I intended to go to work on Sunday, turns out I changed my mind and didn't go.)

It wouldn't have happened anyway.

The last coat of epoxy that I put on the deck didn't fully kick. It was almost there but still was sticky. I have had that experience before with polly making surfboards and the only solution I am aware of is to apply a hot coat over the top. (You can't sand it off or do anything else with it to my knowledge.)

With the epoxy I'm pretty sure you can't even do that. So I put it out in the hot sun for the morning and it hardened up as good as gold.
The reason for the slow set was because the hardener pump coughed when I was mixing the resin. I was aware that this happened but didn't think it would be bad enough to compromise the mix. I was wrong. And lucky.




Oh by the way, my neighbour's son is now having his rest in the psych ward. He was transported there in the back of a police wagon. My way would have been a lot simpler. (I didn't call the cops, I only found out about it this morning).


Now, back to the jib...
The sail is totally dismantled now. I highly recommend doing this to anyone who is in the least bit interested in sailing. It doesn't matter if you are an aspiring sail maker or not.


Pulling a sail apart will serve two purposes.
It will increase your understanding of how they work.
And it will probably stop you whinging the next time you hand your cash to the sailmaker.
Even a small, simple sail like a jib contains an incredible amount of sewing.

I was going to re-cut my jib to suit the self tacking and I probably still will. Then I'll see how it turns out and order some laminate and make a new one. That way I'll get free experience on the sewing machine and with the sailcut software.
My old jibs are, after all, no use to me now so I may as well practice on them.
Maybe some people are different but with me, I can read all the books you want about something,(and I have) but I get so much more understanding from dismantling the thing to see how it works.
Maybe I'm just thick?

Also as mentioned earlier I reckon I have a bump in the foredeck of the starboard hull.
I've been looking at it and decided I won't take any action until I've seen it with a coat of white primer on it.
It's really difficult when you can see the plywood as your eye is immediately drawn to the line of the laminates. maybe with paint you won't even notice it. (And maybe, as I'm right on tolerance, the bump will cause the hull not to measure. Oh well, if that happens, Gordon and I will just have to hand the gold medal to the guys that come second.lol.)


Speaking of gold medals...
We are currently having our Olympic swimming trials.
Apparently, some chick took six seconds off her PB. (Must have been 1500m surely?)
If that happened in China or Europe the Australian media would be screaming "Drug cheat!".
At the moment we're just hearing what a good effort it was. (And I agree)
We're a pretty parochial lot us Aussies.

4 comments:

Rolf Nilsen said...

I always use scales when measuring epoxy. My epoxy is mixed by weight instead of volume and I like it that way. I always dreaded the *slurfle* sound of the pumps drawing air!

I have tried recutting a classic jib to a selftacking system. It would have been easier to build a new one from the start. Luff curve, draft, max draft, entry angle etc. All hard to get right with a set of already cut panels.

AlexB said...

Hey Rolf
You are probably right about the sail.
I'm just treating it as a learning experience.
And I figure I'll have a heap of dacron that I can cut up to the sailcut plan at no expense.
Kinda figure I have nothing to lose.
As to the pumps, I've never had a problem before. But I must say, when I realised that it hadn't kicked I was really worried because I wasn't aware of a solution.
Fortunately a few hours in the sun did the trick.
Out of interest Rolf, how many projects are you involved in?
I know you are making new sails for the T.
Also know you are making an F16.
Must have a lot of time on your hands during those long dark winters?
Thanks for the comment and advice mate.
Alex.

AlexB said...

Rolf, I'll add to that because I respect your opinion.
So you reckon I'd be better off starting from scratch with the jib?
Gordon, my sailing partner, can print full size plans at work and I'm getting him to do that.
Do you think I should just go for it?

Florin I said...

Playing around with the sewing machine should be a good experience on how things work. That way you can tune the machine and see what problems may come up, before the real thing.