Transom Project 2
|
Transom Project 2 |
Page 22
Back to work... I laid fillets in the bottom of the plug and reinforced the sides to hold them straight. I sanded the fillets in the bottom with one of those barrel sander tubes, worked like a champ. Then on the table saw I cut a piece out of a section of 6" PVC pipe to make the radiuses for the livewell corners. I clamped it in each corner with some cling wrap from the kitchen on it so the foam wouldn't stick to it. Then I poured a small batch of foam in the corners and there it was instant radiuses.
I then sanded the excess off with a piece of that PVC covered in 40 grit and painted it with epoxy. After that I laid a fillet in the bottom around the foam and plug bottom. Hopefully next weekend I'll wipe the low spots with thickened resin again and sand here one last time. Then I'll paint on a thinned coat of vinylester resin for smoothness. So thats where I stand on that. Hopefully I'll be waxing it with release wax by Sunday.
I discovered the best filleting tool! A milk jug cap. It works like a champ and is flexible enough to squeeze the stuff in the corners and also easy to hold to make tight corners and things like that.
Here is the end result of a ton of filling and sanding to get the corners to the shape that I wanted them. The foam worked great, but I screwed it up by not sanding it with a block of the proper radius. So I had to use filler to rebuilt what I took off. Everything is great now and I plan to coat it with reduced vinylester resin and then begin waxing it so I can make my mold.
Here is the plug coated with resin. Its not a perfectly smooth surface, but it will do. I'll make up for that on the actual mold when that is finished. I'll wax this surface really good with release wax and then spray it with PVA before the lay-up.
Finally, I got back to work. Today I did the lay-up for the livewell mold. I started with a layer of 1.5oz mat, then a layer of 1808DB, then a layer of 1.5oz mat, and finished with some scraps of 18oz roven woven. I used vinylester resin for the first time and I must say its a pleasure to work with. Its very easy to catalyze, wets out easy, and has great working time. I used a bit over 1/2 gallon of resin for this project today.
I added some square wooden dowels to strengthen some of the areas around the top of the well. I'll pop it out of the mold tomorrow night of the next day. It just depends how it feels.
I pulled the fiberglass mold from the the livewell plug today. It came loose without too much trouble. I just broke the plug apart and pulled the mold out. I had built the plug to come apart very easily. Next I plan to scuff sand and prime the new mold with a good primer that will fill in any voids or air bubbles. Then I'll coat it with an enamel type paint and start the waxing process over to make the actual livewell.
This is what is left of the plug. It came apart just like I had planned. Now it goes out to the corner for trash pick-up.
