Mike,
The hole on the starboard side looks a whole lot like th boat was
dropped or set on the cradle real wrong. Is the other laminate failure
in a similar location (but below the waterline)? If things were wrong
enough, those straps could have done it.
Before you make another try, let go the tie down staps and try jacking
the after end buy the rudder. Just enough to see if the hole shape
changes any. If yes, set things so the keel line between the keel foil
and the rudder is a smooth curve.
The damage you are trying to repair is actually a good candidate for a
mold section. If any body still know where the molds are, this might be
considered. This is a process where you get the owner of the mold to
make you a piece (full thickness from the gelcoat in) that is bigger
than the hole so you can cut it and splice it in.
Back to what you are doing. None of this will be cheap or easy - sorry.
If you know the location of another Ranger 22, you could use it to
create molds for the damaged sections.
If that is not a possiblity, you need to create and external form. Cut
four or five 2*4 -edge on- to fit the hullside and span them with a
couple more of same so the set can be held to the shipside and support a
mating surface. I suggest 1/2 or 3/4 foam insulation board as it can
take on the compound curvature with out extreme load. The smaller this
piece is, the easier it will be to get it to form to the side, but it
needs to be large enough so the strongbacks can keep it from being flat
(A few drywall screws could help here, but we never had them around.)
Coat this with a release agent before clamping it to the side. The big
yellow straps will work, but not alone. You should support the form
weight first. tie it up to the winches or some such.
Now that a form is in place, Do the gelcoat and patch that you must be
familiar with. You will need to sand the gelcoat smooth when you are
done.
Good Luck
Matt Colie
Bonasa wrote:
Thanks Matt,
Well, I ended up having to grind the patch out and start all over. The
layers weren't bonded as well as they should have and by the time I got the
patch level there were holes all over. I've got a better idea how to do this
now, so it should go a lot quicker and a lot better.
There are 2 holes I have to patch, one is about 3 feet long by 5 inches wide
at the widest part, the other one is about 2 feet long and maybe 4 inches
wide at the widest part. This is just a standard production line Ranger 22
built sometime in the 70's.
The only part I'm stuck on is working from the inside, how to I back the
hole so the first and then subsequent layers of glass lie flat and don't go
past the hull and at the same time get all the air out? Any thoughts would
be appreciated and thanks for the ideas.
I took some pictures of the inside repairs I ground out and an exterior shot
to give a better idea of where one of the holes are and put it on the web at
the link below. I'll add more photos to the album as I go along:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonasa1026
Thank you for the assistance,
Mike
"Matt Colie" wrote in message
...
Mike,
We all live and learn. The big trick is to survive the errors.
Half a millimeter is nothing to worry about. Unless the hull is vacuum
processed (highly unlikely unless it is a high buck or a one design), it
was sprayed into the mold with a chop gun. The hull thickness variation
is probably already three or more mm.
You never did indicate how large and area you were rebuilding. Now you
mention vertical elements. Thwartships (accross the boat) parts are
either frames or bulkheads - Stringers are fore-aft structures.
Were these frames original and you are replacing them?
Or were they your own addition to shore up the damaged area?
Either case....Sail the boat.
If they are original structure that you replaced. Then they are the real
structure of the boat and the glass that you just patched is only there to
keep the water out.
If they are something you added, then the hull is probably a whole lot
stronger than it came out of the box - even with 1/2 mm of laminate
missing locally.
In this case, I think it makes little difference, but if you said more
about the boat (manufacturer, version) and the actual area and possible
cause of damage. It might make a concise answer more possible.
You can use the gelcoat over a wet coat of vinylester resin. Polyester
doesn't actually stick to much, but the base of vinylester will do as good
a job of anything at making it work.
You can post pictures at:
http://www.web-a-photo.com/
http://community.webshots.com/
Both have free and suscription packages, look them over.
If I missed anything - try again. I'm here a lot.
Fair Wind and Smooth Sea
Matt Colie
Lifelong Waterman, Licensed Mariner and Pathological Sailor