Bob Brown’s Belle

[BobBrown55]

I started my Belle Isle build almost 7 years ago (!) and have not made much progress over the past 4 years. Life changes! Now, I’m getting back to it a bit. This forum has been a great help to me so far, and I know I’ll need more help to get to launch. Also, I hope this will help other builders, as other builders’ posts have helped me. So, I started this topic.

One thing that slowed my progress was getting a tool to drill the prop shaft hole. Fortunately, a couple engineers at work helped me and I got that done in June.

It came through pretty clean.

[BobBrown55]

I’ve also made progress recently on getting the Belle ready to stain. The sides and transom have all been sanded with 80, 120, and 220 grit. That may be overkill based on re-viewing a couple of Townsend videos, but It can’t hurt. (Turns out it can hurt; see comments below.). Here’s what she looks like.

[DrBryanJ]

Bob: She looks really nice. What type of stain are you using? 220 may be too fine. My stain manufacturer recommends no finer than 150. Says wood won't pick up stain well with finer.

Bryan

[vupilot]

Looking great!

[BayouBengal]

I don't know what a Townsend video is, but your planking looks outstanding and from best I can tell your hull looks very well faired. Does it really even need to be stained?

[BobBrown55]

I don't know what a Townsend video is, but your planking looks outstanding and from best I can tell your hull looks very well faired. Does it really even need to be stained?

Bayou, Thanks for your comments. Townsend offers a series of DVD’s on boat building. I’ve found the ones on finishing to be helpful. Here’s his website: http://www.townsendboatworks.com/dvds_f ... _tutorails

I don’t like the wide variety of color in the mahogany I used. I hope the stain will even it out.

Thanks,

Bob

[BobBrown55]

Bob: She looks really nice. What type of stain are you using? 220 may be too fine. My stain manufacturer recommends no finer than 150. Says wood won't pick up stain well with finer.

Bryan

Bryan, Thanks for your comments, especially on the sandpaper grit. I’m using Interlux Interstain. Sure enough, the product data sheet says, “BARE WOOD Sand with 80 grade (grit) paper. Sand smooth. Sanding with too fine a sanding paper will not allow Interstain* to penetrate into the wood.”

I was going with what I’d learned in a boat finishing class, but that was for varnish, and I hadn’t realized stain would be different. I’ll run a test on a scrap, but it sounds like I may need to go back and ‘rough it up.’

Thanks!

Bob


Update: I ran a test on scrap wood, one piece sanded to 80 grit and one to 220, and applied stain to both. I couldn't tell any difference. Both seemed to absorb the stain just fine. So, I went ahead and stained the boat as it was, finely sanded. See pics below in another post.

[Bill Edmundson]

Bob

I think most epoxy also says 80 grit.

Bill

[BobBrown55]

Big milestone: I stained her! I really like the way it turned out! (I wish I'd been able to get wood that was more similar in grain and color, but it is what it is...)

I used Interlux Interstain
#42 Brown Mahogany (1X)
#573 Chris Craft Mahogany (2X) (2 pints #573 / 1 pint #42)

Thinned with #333 Brush Liquid. Townsend’s video says he mixes this 50 / 50 with the stain, but that seemed too thin to me. My mix was more like 30 / 70, and it worked fine.

[Roberta]

Looks great.. i love the natural shading. The stain sets it off.

Roberta

[BobBrown55]

Nest step is sealing with CPES, then fiberglass.

Question on the fiberglass process: I’ve used West Systems epoxy so far, and have liked it and gotten used to it. However, I’ve heard others say there are better epoxies for fiberglass, since it needs to be clear.

Recommendations?

Update: Never mind. I reviewed my notes and found a post from Bob Perkins where he recommended MAS epoxy, so I ordered that. One added benefit, the MAS website had a good video of a guy fiberglassing a kayak. Though I’ve done it before, it was helpful to see that.

[Bill Edmundson]

Bob

I've become sensitive to epoxy. I've used MAS with slow hardener with good luck. West is really good. I used it on the Tahoe.

Bill

[BobBrown55]

Ok, I retired in August and ‘should’ have a lot more time to spend on the Belle. But, there seem to be a bunch of other deferred projects that need attention. All I’ve managed to do is drill the hole for the rudder and seal her with 2 coats of CPES. Here’s what she looks like.

Now, it has been a couple of weeks, and the CPES Is thoroughly dry. The directions on the CPES website seem to indicate I should put on another coat so it’s not totally dry when I proceed. However, they’re talking about the next layer being varnish, while mine will be epoxy / fiberglass.

Does anyone have experience with this situation? Should I do another coat of CPES or proceed to fiberglass?

[tysman52]

Looks Great! Keep it up!
JT

[billy c]

I would run an adhesion test on a sample and see whether the fiberglass has great adhesion. Try it with heat too as your finish will be baking under the sun. If less than perfect results. I would skip the glass and just apply varnish above the waterline as per instructions.