on a strip-built boat? Can I build the boat in the house, up to the fiberglass step , without asphixiating us?
Just carpenter’s glue
No smell at all.
I don’t find West epoxy that smelly.
Nothing like vinyester. But what about the microdust from the sanding steps?
So, out to the garage.
Moving no problem
By the time you get all of the strips glued you will have 90% of the structural strength of the final boat. The glass and epoxy is mostly for water resistance and damage prevention. The sanding comment is well taken but that can be done in a cold garage. I’d glue in the living room and move to the garage for sanding etc. I’d follow the directions of the epoxy you choose exactly. My $.02
So, river rat, you have actually
moved one in the pre-glass state?
Vinyl Ester Resins
Can’t find where West or Meade Gouceon handle vinyl ester resins. I use epoxy and have stayed away from them for the following reasons.
Commercially available VE products contain large amounts of styrene monomer, which is released as a hazardous air pollutant (HAP) during mixing, processing and curing. Federal emission standards regulate the release of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and HAPs. Currently, steps are being taken to develop a low-cost alternative composite resin systems comprised of lower styrene concentrations. Shelf life of vinyl ester resin is short at only a few months.
I was wondering the same thing…
…since I’ve seen exactly how floppy unglassed strip boats are when removed from the forms. The manuals for building strip boats ALL recommend fiberglassing the outside before removing them from the stongback.
Additionally, if your strongback relies on its supports (sawhorses or whatever) for alignment, moving it could introduce some twist into the boat. It’s not likely to bend horizonatally or vertically, but the unglassed hull and deck do not have a lot of resistance to twisting (moreso for the deck than the hull). If the stongback is rigid enough, this is not an issue.
I would move it with the strongback
in place. I’m thinking of building the strongback into the sawhorses , but I would still be concerned about twisting.
Gluing
should not be toobig an odor issue. As for moving it? I popped my hull off the strong back to wiegh it before glassing with no ill effects. I did put it right back on to the same level and plum strong back though.
I was assuming the boat would be
kept on the molds and strongback until glassed on the outside. My strongback is a rectangular box made of 1x4 and 1x6 stock 16 feet long. It weighs more than the finished boat and provides torsional stiffness to prevent twisting. Should have been more explicit up front.
i glassed a small dory in my living room
once, leaving the doors and windows open, thinking it couldn’t possibly be so bad. I was WRONG! the house smelled of resin for weeks.
This is true. Styrene fumes will travel
throughout a house, and many will be affected. I think vinylester is strictly a professional builder’s resin, and builders such as Kas of Millbrook Boats do wonderful things with vinylester. If anyone feels they have to try vinylester, go to cboats.net and click on “John Sweet” on the home page. He has stopped carrying polyester resin, but still can supply vinylester, plus various cloths.