CSFW Update Log

Work from 05/21/08 through 5/28/08.

The deck with it’s smooth compound curves and roller’s recess is a strong visual feature of the Njord design. There are no hard edges to be found on it. It is one, smooth, organic shape from bow to stern and from port to starboard sheer line.

Read on for stripping, sanding and fiberglassing…

With the hull flipped onto some cradles I can start stripping the deck.

I stripped it like the hull, in 3/16″ thick bead and cove Northern White Cedar. I started by running a few narrow strips up from the sheer line. Regular width, 3/4″ (19mm) strips wouldn’t handle the curve from the the sides to the deck so I narrowed them to about 3/8″ and 1/2″ (10 and 12mm). I also ran a full-width strips at the centerline. I then in-filled between them. Like the hull I used mostly staples to attach the strips to the forms. I did use a few drops of hotglue periodically on difficult strips and along the sheer and centerline. When the staples are pulled the few drops of hotglue hold the wood in place during sanding and fiberglassing.

I did a few things differently for this Njord… One was to hotglue some thin scrap wood battens to the insides creating extra forms between stations. They helped keep the strips running fair between stations helping to prevent odd sags and humps. As I stripped I also periodically hotglued to the outside thicker battens running parallel with the centerline. They really helped flatten out humps and pulled up dips. Closer spaced stations would have helped… The combination I used worked very well.

On the Black Pearls I installed a plywood form for the cockpit opening and stripped to it. I did the same thing on the “Nereida” Njord. For this one I wanted to keep the flowing lines of the deck so I stripped over the cockpit opening. It was easier and I think better for this particular design.

The deck was then sanded to 80 grit using a combination of power and hand sanders. I found it was best to spend most of the time with a long board sanding it by hand with the power sanders knocking off the high points.

I then rolled on an epoxy seal coat. I tinted it a nice medium blue that is similar to the chosen paint color. The seal coat reduces the amount of epoxy used during the actual laminating. It helps to prevent epoxy starvation. At least that’s the theory. Some swear a seal coat makes a lighter weight lamination. Others don’t and feel it’s a wasted step. I like it. I now fill any cracks between strips after the seal coat. With the seal coat I can squeegee thickened epoxy into any cracks or low sections and not make a mess. When the cracks had cured slightly I cut out and laminated on one layer of 4oz glass. I used clear epoxy to ensure the glass was completely wetted out. After curing for a few hours I rolled on a fill coat of blue-tinted epoxy.

Time to start work on the inside…