Plywood Planking

[Brian]

Thanks for the offer, but I have huge tubs of brown micro balloons, which I've used to make glue and filler, along with Thicksil. I hadn't thought about the fact that using a LOT of micro balloons makes it easier to sand. So, you would basically fill the low spots, not the whole surface, using a large trowel (got one), sand, then probably go back and refill what you missed and sand again? Doesn't sound too bad. 80 grit? The nice thin about using brown is that the CPES'd ply is yellow, so it will be easy to see when I'm down to a high spot. I've already scuffed it like that and I'll use the scuff marks to see where the low spots are. May end up doing the whole sheet. I'm thinking that a straight board edge (3/4") might be the best thing to "screed" the peanut butter a bit. No way I can do all 8' at one time, so probably 2-3' at a time.

Thanks again and Merry Christmas!

[jamundsen]

I was just thinking. Model shops sell Micro Balloons but they only sell small quantities and get an arm and a leg for them. I see you're in Hawaii so that might be an option. Where did the brown micro balloons come from? Is there a label on them? For sanding I used a Hutchins straightline sander. The longboard was not my friend. I would start with 60 grit on the long board. It wont take long to cut.

[jamundsen]

I guess Im just worried your micro balloons may be wood flouer which would be really hard to sand. We generally dont use micro balloons for anything but filler.

[Roberta]

Another product I use is called Quick Fair from System Three. Glen L sells it. You will need to commit to a lot of sanding to get a good, flat finish. Those of us that have been there know this all too well. I spent many months on the Torpedo. Good luck.

Roberta

[Brian]

We have a company here called Fiberglass Hawaii, which is actually an international company and manufactures resins, glues, etc. The brown micro balloons are just that, not flour.

I just went out and mixed a small batch like you said, to test it on about 2 sf. Wow. Surprisingly easy to spread and level with a 10" spreader! I think it's going to be great. Will start sanding with 60 on the long board. I have a straight line air sander, if that's what you mean by a Hutchins, but my compressor doesn't seem to have enough airflow to keep it going. I've cranked the pressure way up in the past (beyond recommended) but it still stalls after a minute. Since then, I have rerouted my air system to be shorter, so maybe I should try it again. Definitely the tool to use if I can get it working.

Optimistic about being able to get this nice and flat. Thanks for the Xmas present!

[jamundsen]

The straightline sander takes a huge amount of air. I have a 80 gallon shop compressor which just runs it. But even without the sander the long board should take the micro balloons down pretty quick. The last 4 feet to the transom are the most important ones to be perfect.

[chugalug]

I like using the 50/50 mix of silica with microballons recommended in Glen-Ls book on fibreglassing.Used some for screw hole fillers and filling imperfections before sealing hull with CPES. seamed to soften somewhat after applying the cpes. however seamed to harden back up after week long cure of cpes before fibreglass cloth and epoxy.

[Brian]

That's exactly what I have done, but it didn't come from the book. It came from the observation that if you put the silica (Thiksil) in on the epoxy and then topped it with balloons, the silica didn't blow around so much while mixing. You do NOT what to breathe that stuff! Now I wish I had only used micro balloons, since it makes filling and sanding so much easier.

Separate subject: I am liking the resulting color the CPES produces on the Mahogany. Why not just go with that, sand it, and polyU over it for the sides? Done! Not planning on glassing the sides.