Brendons Zip Build

[bjfrater]

Ok thanks so much to all of you.
I will see what I can come up with, I have some bits of wood from the frames that I will use. With all these pictures it should be easy now.

One other question, did you guys screw the skeg down as well as epoxy it? I see the book suggests bedding in some fibergllass cloth as well.


Josh, Im impressed with the finish you were able to achieve on the bottom of your boat the dark blue looks awesome. Did you do that with a roller?

[cusoak]

Yes you want to screw it to the keel.
I think that I only used 4 screws to hold it down, with epoxy under it.
Then fiberglassed it to protect the wood I used white oak for mine.
Jeff

[Dave Grason]

I have a quick question just to clarify... are you talking SCREWS or bolts that go all the way through and get nuts and washers on the inside?

[cusoak]

No bolts, just screws through the bottom and into the keel along with epoxy to hold it in place. Then epoxy and fiberglass cloth over it to protect it against abrasion.
Jeff

[cusoak]

Here are 2 pictures of my skeg.
Because th bottom is not flat where you are going to put it it will rock side to side.
So cut a grove in the center of it that will allow it ti sit over the point where the 2 pieces of ply wood come together.
Pre drill and counter sink the screw holes.
Attach it to check fit at this point make any adjustments to the fit.
When I attached mine I filled the grove with epoxy and screwed it in place, then removed and squeeze out.This was done with thickened epoxy.
Then I mixed up some more thickened epoxy and went along the sided to of the keel and made a fillet.
The fillet will allow the fiberglass to curve on to the deck nicley.
Jeff

[mrintense]

On my design, it called for flattening the area where the skeg mounted and through bolting with carriage bolts. I didn't need to bed in fiberglass because the mounting surface was flat, but I did use thickened epoxy in addition to the bolts. I also fiberglassed my skeg although it was a bit fiddly to get it done. One last point, I encapsulated the mating surface of the skeg before attaching it.

[gdcarpenter]

Since I was a little bit compulsive/obsessive about avoiding penetrations whenever and wherever possible, I made my keel and skeg as one piece. I 'prefaired' the sides of the keel on a table saw, and made the cut deep enough and wide enough that I could slide my bottom hull ply into the groove I cut, thereby totally encapsulating the end grain of the ply.

[joshuab]

Josh, Im impressed with the finish you were able to achieve on the bottom of your boat the dark blue looks awesome. Did you do that with a roller?

I did use a roller and tipped with a synthetic bristle brush, i bedded my skeg in epoxy, screwed to the keel with 9 screws filled each hole with epoxy an then put a large thickened epoxy fillet all the way around it, i cut a 5 degree "V" down the center so it sat beautifully on the hull.

[joshuab]

https://youtu.be/hTqksphA12g

Heres my video semi explaining how i did it (paint)

[travis24]

All epoxy no screws.

Travis

[cusoak]

I want to pass along a process that I discovered one day while surfing the web.
It is in regards to laying out fiberglass cloth on wood or anything.
What the video showed was a guy covering the bottom of a boat with 1 piece of cloth. I know when I did my Zip I had a hard time getting 1/2 of the bottom covered and smoothed out.
Well this is what I learned and I tried it on a row boat that I am restoring and it works well.
You put it on and get most of the wrinkles out, then you start in the center of the boat and with light pressure from the little finger side of your hand and start to smooth the cloth to the side of the boat.working in the direction of the wrinkles making sure you get to the side of the boat.
After that is done then go to the areas that go over the side ,transom and with the same motion smooth over the edge of the boat on to the side.
This is called relaxing the cloth. If you let it sit over night and come back and do it all over again the cloth well relax and conform to the shape of your hull. It seems to almost stick to the hull.
Two things will happen it will wet out much easier and will not move when wetting out going over edge.
Jeff

[Dave Grason]

Honestly, that sounds like a really good tip. I've spread enough glass cloth and wet it with epoxy to know that what you're saying will work just like that. I never thought about letting it sit overnight, though. So, you've given me a mental image that will stick with me until the next time I will be doing this. Thanks.

[bjfrater]

I have managed to make some progress on my skeg. It took some finessing to get it to sit level over the keel and i routed a curve down the length of it to help. I also came across my first case of out gassing after I gave it a coat of epoxy (check out the bubbles in the picture). I have sanded it back now and added a new coat so no harm done.

Im really looking forward to being done with this stage of the build, im over sanding the same area over and over! I have already purchased most of what I need to start painting. I think I just need to go once more all over sanding and I should be ready.

Q: What grade of sanding did you prepare your surface prior to applying the primer? So far I have sanded down to 80 grit.

[cusoak]

I would not go any finer than the 80 grit for now.
Put on a 2 good coats of primer . Following any sanding the primer call for in between coats.
Then you will need to sand smooth again. I would not sand past 100 grit at this point.
What do you plan on using for your bottom coat.
Jeff

[cusoak]

The other thing is the bottom looks and so does the Skeg.
Jeff