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John R Weiss
 
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Default Initial connection on stitch & glue

"Jonathan" wrote...

The drawing show as step # 2, a layer of tape and resin on the inside
chine/bilge seam, that being the initial connection after the wire ties.

How do other people start to glue them up?


For their kayak kits, Pygmy Boats recommends you simply fill in the outside
seam with thickened epoxy (use wood flour if you will finish it bright; wood
flour or silica if you will paint it) to glue the panels together, then
remove the wires before doing any taping. The epoxy glues the joint and
serves as the base for the tape/cloth wrapped around the joint, reducing the
probability of voids under the tape.

After that, lay the cloth or tape on the outside and squeegee in the epoxy.
Finally, fillet the inside joint with thickened epoxy before taping. The
rounded fillet will give more strength than the sharp turn of tape/cloth.


Would I then create a fillet with epoxy and filler? or is the tape and
resin the source of the strength?.


The epoxy in the joint provides strength to the joint itself, but the tape
and epoxy distributes the loads around the joint, making it even stronger.
The fillet on the inside also serves to distribute the loads.


The drawings show two layers of tape and resin on the outside....


Designs vary widely, from taped joints only, to several layers of cloth over
taped joints. Follow the plans initially, until/unless you find you need
more strength somewhere (at the price of more weight).