Laying the DuraKore onto the temporary hull mould frames progressed fairly quickly. I had both sides done in less than 2 months of spare time around a full time job.
I was racing against the seasons, as I needed to be at the fibre glassing stage during summer, so that the west system resin could cure properly in suitable temperatures. Fibre glassing was to be another first for me, apart from a few small repair jobs on previous yachts.
You can see by the photograph that I had deliberately left the bottom of the hull until both sides were completed.
This was because that area had the most curvature and in my mind it was not going to be easy. So while working on the sides I was mentally working out how I was going to attack the bottom of the hull.
Most of the sides were done with 50mm width strips, and the flatter areas were planked with 75mm strips.
I found that I had to cut various sized strips for the bottom, but predominately they were approximately 25mm strips.
This was a lot more work, as there was more cutting, edge gluing and screws to be screwed in, but too me the best way to produce a nicely curved hull shape.
I was racing against the seasons, as I needed to be at the fibre glassing stage during summer, so that the west system resin could cure properly in suitable temperatures. Fibre glassing was to be another first for me, apart from a few small repair jobs on previous yachts.
You can see by the photograph that I had deliberately left the bottom of the hull until both sides were completed.
This was because that area had the most curvature and in my mind it was not going to be easy. So while working on the sides I was mentally working out how I was going to attack the bottom of the hull.
Most of the sides were done with 50mm width strips, and the flatter areas were planked with 75mm strips.
I found that I had to cut various sized strips for the bottom, but predominately they were approximately 25mm strips.
This was a lot more work, as there was more cutting, edge gluing and screws to be screwed in, but too me the best way to produce a nicely curved hull shape.
A tip
In hind sight I should have investigated using a staple gun to hold the strips on. The staples could have been fired in through a piece of plastic placed over the top of the DuraKore strip, which then could be used to pull the staple out after the resin had cured.
In hind sight I should have investigated using a staple gun to hold the strips on. The staples could have been fired in through a piece of plastic placed over the top of the DuraKore strip, which then could be used to pull the staple out after the resin had cured.
All the strips were cut with a skill saw set up to follow a fixed stationary straight edge 10M long.
