246 rebuild live from Delmarva!

[4shore]

Yeah id say its almost a direct copy of yours, just scaled up to 246 size.

Couple questions

I have about 19 1/2" holes in the transom from the clamping process. They are more or less horizontal. What is the best process to seal theses off? My thought was dish them out with a grinder, seal with thinned resin, fill hole with thickened resin and then build back up with csm.

Lamination schedule of tabbing. I was thinking three tabs. 6", 8", 12" and then laminate the entire thing.

Top cap. The original top cap of the transom is gone. The sides of the transom are covered by the liner but how do i reproduce the squared edge at the top of the transom?

[slvrlng]

Your filling the holes sounds like the right way. I would think to reproduce the top area of the transom either pile really thickened resin and grind it to the correct shape. Some fairing compound and paint. Or, you could lam a piece of ply on top and grind it to the correct shape then fairing compound then paint.

[4shore]

Uh oh i may have a problem here! I am grinding down bevels around where i had thru bolted my clamps and i am finding sections where the outside skin has not adhered. What do i do?

Do i finish tabbing the core in from the inside and then completely remove the outside skin?

[4shore]

Ok so i ended up just cutting the outer skin off 6" up from the bottom. Everywhere i had run a bolt thru and tightened it down it pressed the resin out of the joint. The only thing i can figure is that because the skin flexed more than the wood i pulled it too tight and the joint didnt have enough resin. The 3 layers of wood show no signs of delamination. I guess I will start laying up glass from the outside to build back up and then continue on the inside after that.

[Callyb]

It looks to me like you did the right thing, you definitely don't want voids in there. What's the plan now? Will you grind off the rest of the gel and finish the transom with new glass?

[4shore]

Yeah i think i will gring the gel off, build up the beveled areas and then lay glass until its even with the existing skin. Any guess as to how many layers of 1708 this will take? Im thinking 4.

Will it build too much heat to lay 4 layers at once?

[Callyb]

Count on 1/16" per layer, well at least that's what I count on. I think the transom skin should be around 1/8" plus whatever you added to it when you put the core in.

[4shore]

So how many layers can I apply to a vertical surface like this without having it slip or causing the layers to over heat?

Won't excessive heat cause shrinkage or poor lamination?

[Callyb]

I really doubt you will have enough thickness there to have the resin exotherm on you. That is pretty much something that only happens when it is left in the pot for too long and is a few inches deep. I would suggest you lam the fillers pieces in, and then (wet on wet) lam your full transom pieces on. Hold them in place (keep them from sagging) with spring clamps. Just use some packing tape to keep the resin from sticking to the clamps.

If you want to get crazy about it you can cut the full transom pieces long and wrap them around the sides and secure them with a quality tape. I don't not recommend applying resin anywhere on the sides because you will have to grind and fair the sides back in, which isn't easy.

Also, one more suggestion is to wet out your glass on a table and take your saturated glass to the boat instead of trying to wet it out vertically. Just trace out were you need to stop the resin if you are going wrap the glass around the sides and use tape.

It will be much easier, I promise.

[4shore]

So to be clear....

Would you build the new skin on the exposed wood up and then lay new 1708 across the wholes transom or would you just fill the small recessed areas with patches and then lay new full sheets across the entire stern?

I would think the second option would cause the areas with existing skin to be thicker than the center and I'd have to lay up some CSM to level it out.

[dbiscayne]

I'd do both - Once you knock the old gelcoat off, fill in the isolated lows, and add a heavy layer of glass on the new exposed wood you should be pretty close to level.  Then a layer of mat over the whole transom, sand the hell out of it, then fill the remaining low spots with fairing compound as long as they're not too deep.
Whatever you do try and get the area where the outboards mount nice & flat.

[4shore]

Ground down all the gel coat and beveled the existing skin out the the edge. Got my glass cut for my isolated low areas and will be cutting the glass for the large areas today after work. Gonna wait on the glassing til i get some warmer weather...

I would like to try using a paint roller to pre wet the resin. What type of roller covers can i use? I picked up some mohair rollers from lowes with a synthetic core but they are $5 a piece! Any cheaper options?

[Callyb]

I'm sorry I missed your earlier post. If you are using epoxy, just use cheap wally world foam roller covers. However, keep in mind poly will melt them, so that isn't an option. Personally I would use a squeegee and wet the pieces out on a horizontal surface (unless you are using CSM, which will just shred during when you go to pick it up), I would use 1708/1808 for a quick build up.  

As far as the layup goes, if you can't match the thickness of the existing skin, build it up so that your "patches" sit proud, then go over the whole transom. It is easier and more sound to grind down the high spots (from the patched areas) as opposed to filling low spots. Especially since you are hanging the motor there... I would rather have more glass and less fairing compound back there.

Good Luck!

[RickK]

Get the cheap 3/8" green rollers from the big box stores (6/$5).  Roll resin on the table, lay the cloth into it, roll some more on the front and then use a hard roller to roll it in.  Just need a big table or sheet of plywood to work that much cloth.

[4shore]

I'm using 1708 and 1808 together to pick up the extra strength from the different axials (45 for 1708 and 90 for 1808). The patches are from where i had beveled and filled the bolt holes that had all thread thru them to clamp the ply in. It may be hard to see but I have two patches in each area to feather it out. I will add more as needed.

So the 3/8 nap rollers wont dissolve or gum up? What type of squeegie are we talking about here?