Only got a few hours of time to work today but I made some good progress on patches and filler. In one area I had a couple of substantial gaps. Look at it from underneath (blurry pics, sorry), it was obvious that the bevel angle was wrong. I think this section was beveled when it was not tight to the form, but the next strip was attached and pushed tight to the form. This would result in an incorrect angle that would then open up when glued to the form. While the surface could have been filled in with “putty”, the gap underneath would end up using a lot when I got to the inside.
I decided the best way to fix this was to open up the gap even more and then glue in a short fitted strip. First the glue was cut with the saw, then I used a V grove chisel I had to further widen the gap. I was hoping to eventually have it meet up with the other side of the board but ultimately I just used the saw again and a regular chisel to even up the sides.
The patch was fitted as I’ve done with hundreds of other strips and then glued in palce. While I was working in this area I mixed up some filler and filled the smaller gaps. A few spots may need a second applicaiton but after sending it already look much better. Sure the patch isn’t invisible, but unless you are looking for it, it’s also not as obvious as a big gap. Since it’s on the bottom it will be even less likely to ever be spotted.
Finally, while I had some filler mixed I went ahead and took care of most of the other minor gaps and then mixed a second batch from the cherry saw dust that I saved when shaping the stems. This was filled in by the stems and all was left to dry.
I should have the vacuum bags in a day or two and be able to start sanding again. Also, I’ve got a long weekend coming up (using up vacation days) so I hope to get most of the outside completed. At that point I’ll have to see if the weather will provide an opportunity to glass up the deck or not. Justin, one of my readers, strongly urged me to not glass just one side but if I do one side, once done, flip it, prep and get glass on the second side as soon as reasonably possible. Days apart, not months apart was my take away from his suggestion. Since Justin is also building kayaks (and selling them) I have to consider that he knows what he’s doing. If you have chance, check out his site, http://www.bespokekayak.com/ as he has some pretty nice work on his projects link.