Skip to main content

Pygmy Pinguino Deck Underside Epoxy Coated

Some pretty straightforward steps this morning.

First, I used my carbide scraper to clean up the raised and rough edges of the fiberglass tape that I put down on the underside of the Pinguino deck yesterday. Take your time and really clean it up. You'll feel the underside of the deck but won't ever see it, so make sure that it FEELS nice and smooth. Don't worry so much about how it looks.

Then I used my random orbital sander to get some of the high spots flat and to lightly sand the wood panels.

Why are you doing this?:  Your biggest goal is to cut, scrape, or sand out rough spots and especially bits that can cut  you. Fiberglass cloth can be VERY sharp and "sandpaper-like" on your knees and skin, so you want to make sure that anything that can cut or scrape you is removed and covered with a couple coats of fresh epoxy. You also want to completely seal the wood as you will not be fiberglassing the underside of the deck. This is the only waterproofing it will receive. 

Then I used a squeegee and a 1.5" chip brush to saturate the underside of the entire deck. I really don't like using the rollers that Pygmy suggests.

My process is to mix up a "two pump" batch of epoxy and pour it over one section. This will work about 1/3 of the underside of the deck. I use my squeegee to gently spread it over the section, and use my brush for the sides and to work epoxy into areas that were sanded and need some dabbling to get the epoxy worked in.

Then when nicely covered, I very gently squeegee off the excess. But you want to leave enough so that you don't starve the wood. In the picture below you can see areas that got some epoxy yesterday and then dry looking areas that were bare wood. Those areas will look better after tomorrow when I add a second light coat of epoxy.

Pygmy Pinguino kayak deck

Other shots...

Here's the underside of the recessed panel. You can see the side to the right looks a bit bunged up... it's because I was messing around with the aft bulkhead and wanted to see how it fits at this point. I pushed it into place and it left a depression. That's okay. 

Pygmy Pinguino kayak recessed deck

The stern...

Pygmy Pinguino kayak deck


Then I spent just a few minutes cleaning up the inside of the hull. I used a hammer to persuade the temporary frames to come out. Then used a razor blade paint scraper to get the remaining hot glue off. It generally comes out well enough with a razor.

Later this week I'll sand the inside of the hull to remove the pencil lines, any remaining hot glue, and any raised epoxy that leaked through the seams while fiberglassing. Then I'll reinforce the butt seam.

Then the next BIG step will be to fiberglass the inside of the hull. That's the trickiest fiberglassing job of the entire project! Gulp...




Cheers!




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Rogue Manual

I've posted about this earlier, but thought it might be good to post it again for anyone who may be interested. I've started to write a manual of tips and tricks for Pygmy solo kayak builders. It covers the taping method, so that your boat doesn't have hundreds of holes all over it. I'm on version 2 now. Version 2 covers several other tips and tricks from myself and from others as collected over time. ATTENTION : Use the manual at your own risk! The only person responsible for any mistakes or problems with the building of your boat is you. Always use the official Pygmy manual that came with your kit. Only do those tips and tricks that make sense to you. If something in the manual doesn't sound right to you, then don't do it! Neither I, nor Pygmy Boats, nor anyone else except YOU is responsible for the safety of your boat and the quality of your build. It's in very rough draft form right now, but if you'd like to read it, please send a $10 donat

Pinguino End Pours and Other Jobs

I've spent the past day and today doing a number of jobs that just need to be done but aren't that noticeable. First, I added a saturation coat to the bare wood on the #4 panels above where I cut the fiberglass the other day. I also added a layer of epoxy over the area where heels may rest. Today I scraped the sides and heel area and added another coat of epoxy.Here's how it looks now. It's technically a third coat, but really only two as much of the first two have been either scraped or sanded. I may add a third layer once this is cured. I also worked on the end pours. The Pygmy manual says to do the end pours later on after the boat is complete. It says to take the boat outside and prop it up on a wall with the end in a bucket of ice water. Then you contort yourself and pour thickened epoxy down into the end and let it cure. Then you do the other end. THEN... you have to guess where you can drill holes through the ends for your painters (the lines that you t

The "Rogue Manual" - A Supplementary Manual for Pygmy Kayak Builders!

I've mentioned a few times that I'm writing a supplementary manual for Pygmy kayak builders. It's currently up to 30 pages with lots more to go. About half of it is dedicated to the "strapping tape" method of building a boat and not using wires and holes. The rest is other techniques, tips and tricks that many builders have used over the years. If you want Pygmy kayak building tips and tricks then hopefully this will be the place to go. Here are the first few sample pages: The cover:  The Table of Contents and first few pages: Rogue Supplemental Manual Table of Contents Those are the first eight pages of the thirty page manual. I'm sure it will be larger by the time I'm finished. Let me know if you have ideas of what should be included, or what you think of the manual so far. Thanks! Aloha!