Glen-L.com

Many Tanks For The Joke Dave. I Have Sent A Few Of My Friends Down To Deliver The "Annual Humor Award" To You.




Best Regards,

Chris

Chris,

With any boat we'll be using epoxy as an adhesive, with the cold molded hulls epoxy will be our middle names I think. One concern I had was with the heat required to cure epoxy. I know I can epoxy the frame in my heated basement, but for cold molding I'd have to space heat the garage. Do you have indoor heated work space? I know with smaller builds (CLCBoats not Glen-L) people are getting away with 2x4's with 100 watt bulbs mounted

JH

PS: My grandfather served Canada in the Black Watch in WWI. You thought it took cojones going over the top, try doing it in a kilt!

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John H.
Rochester NY

Once I Make My Choice As To Which Boat I'm Actually Going To Build, I've Planned A Tent Garage For My Side Yard(Probably Built Out Of Military Modular Tenting), And I Was Thinking About Heating It With A Forced Air Diesel/Electric Heater(Also Borrowed From Work). The Heater Has An External Exaust So I Won't Die From CO2 Poisoning.

So when you get back overseas and the unit next to you pulls out their diesel heater and it fails to start because it has been sitting idle in a crate for three years, and yours fires up on the first start and you can have them over for tea your Commander owes you a cold one.

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John H.
Rochester NY

I built the Monaco in an unheated garage, and did much of the work over the winter.

For the epoxy to cure, you need to be over 5C (40F), and you should use "fast" hardener if your brand has that option.

I used a combination of techniques to keep working...

1) when it is too cold to epoxy, get a head start on all of your dry-fitting.... wait for the warmish days to glue the stuff down. (be ready, so that you can make hay while the sun shines)
2) I kept the epoxy mixing station inside, so that the epoxy started out warm, and was not like molasses
3) I aimed radiant heaters directly at the area I was glueing
4) Sometimes I used electric blankets
5) once the hull was closed in with the first cold mould layer, I ran space heaters underneath it to create a "warm bubble" under the hull.

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Bruce.

~~ Do what you love, and love what you do. ~~
~~ To me - only my boat is not yet perfect. Everybody else's is to be admired for I know the path they have walked (Dave Lott, 2010) ~~
Dow's Monaco Project

On the Chesapeake Light Craft site http://www.clcboats.com, they sell plans/kits and really focus on beginner builders. They have mentioned that some exposies have a tendency to "blush" - haze over. Of course this is not an issue for cold mold lay ups but on that final layer of mahogany you may wish to make sure your fast cure is the non-blush kind.

But these are good heater ideas - I guess I can cross the GP Medium surplus tent off of my Christmas list.

JH

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John H.
Rochester NY

Ok, I'll just be moving to Bolivia now............................

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Isn't it amazing!! The person that never has the fortitude to pursue his own dreams, will be the first to try and discourage you from pursuing yours.

Chris,

We are looking at the same size project it seems and trying to select. You are leaning towards the cold molded ones. My understanding is that the plank layup (3 layers) and inboard installation significantly extend the project and you deploy in Sept 09. Most of the build web sites seem to measure the project in years rather than months.

Will this be a full time project for you or are you thinking to get as far as you can get and finish up on your return. (I am hoping you say that "no, I have the gizmotron 5000 which cuts build time in half" and then I can run out and pick one up) Or is the platoon assisting as a team building exercise?

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John H.
Rochester NY

Platoon!? What Do You Take Me For A Infantard?

I'm Going To Build Until I Have To Leave, And Then Finish Up When I Get Back. We Only Go Over For 6 Months, Not The Standard 15 Months That The US Army Goes For. I'd Be Happy Just Getting The Frame Faired By August Next Year. That's My Goal. Something Not Totally Unachieveable.

Chris


PS- I'm A Zipperhead...In Case Anybody Was Wondering

In the US military that may have other meanings than you intended. I am betting from the photo you shared of the two tanks and other stitch & glue mock ups behind them that you meant:

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John H.
Rochester NY

Pictures Of My Head Scar To Follow