Next duck boat project, ON THE WATER!

Still looks good, after a little polish you should get another 30 years. Funny to hear you used cherry. I install kitchens and always have cherry lying around and I used it to build the seat for my sunfish project.
 
Well, I guess I'm done with her... BUT not the way I had hoped.


Along in my plans, one of the first things to do was patch the few little pinholes and abnormalities in the hull and give her a couple good coats of sealing epoxy. Following the brain trust here on the DHBP, I ordered and received a box containing #635 resin and medium hardener from US Composites. Itching to get going, I used 100 grit paper on my dustless orbital sander and sanded the entire hull. After dusting then wiping with a soft cloth dampened with acetone, I mixed up a 16 ounce batch of "honey". Using a foam roller, I proceeded to give the entire bottom and side combination a thin coat with the mixture.


Now let's take a moment here. I have built four boats with wood and epoxy. I have used epoxy on a few other other things, most notably an emergency repair on the lower unit on my old Mercury twenty HP. I neglected to pay attention to the apparent leak in the prop seal. As I was getting ready to hunt the next day, I glanced down and noticed a crack in the lower housing at the lower gear box where water had gotten in there and froze. After some serious thought, I drained all of the oil, tapped the bulge back in place, sanded the finish, wiped clean with most probably lacquer thinner, cut a small piece of glass cloth, mixed up a small batch of West Systems resin/hardener and completed the emergency repair. After several coats of resin and a heat lamp, viola! all fixed. I ran that motor for another fifteen years, after of course, I replaced the seal. Never had an ounce of trouble with the patch. I tell that story to say that while I'm no expert, I have a bit of experience with epoxies.


So, back to the original subject. I though it odd that the next day after I rolled on the mixture, it was still tacky. I have the boat in my walk-out basement where it is dry and reasonably warm. With the auxiliary heat, it's around 70 degrees plus. I gave it another day, still no change. another day, same result. I tried applying a little heat, on and off for several days. The epoxy is what I believe they refer to as "set-up", but will not harden. It is still tacky. Hard, yet tacky. I tried scraping some away, but that won't really work. It's too hard to remove reasonably, but after two weeks, will still allow finger prints. I called US Composites. After several phone calls and a couple pleasant conversations with friendly technicians, they feel it is my fault. "They" say I should have mixed the hardener for three minutes- I mixed it for five. "They" say I should be sure to measure precisely, I did that. "They" say I should have stirred the mix for five minutes. Did that, to a clock. The only thing I didn't do, was pour in the hardener first. I DID NOT do that. I poured in the resin first. For kicks and giggles, I mixed another very small batch, exactly to their directions and tried it on a raw piece of pine I had laying around. Same thing, After two days, in the exact same environment, it's still tacky.


While I have come to the realization that it's possible I may have a faulty batch of resin or hardener, it's at the point of "it doesn't really matter". I'm thinking the boat is ruined. I tried scraping some of the faulty mixture off. I tried sanding it off. Doesn't really work. There is so much in all of the minute cracks and crevices, it would be virtually impossible to reasonably remove it all to the point of salvaging the remainder. I think it would be literally easier and quicker to just start over. When I originally built this little craft, the only power tool I had was a circular saw and a cheap jig saw. Every thing was cut and fitted by hand and hand planed with a block plane. I, as the original instructions called for, I used resorcinol glue and traditional flat bladed screws driven by hand. I kept records, and start to finish, I had around 160 hours in spare time in her construction. THAT part is hard to swallow.


So, I am not sure what I am going to do at this point, but I've resolved to the fact, it WILL NOT be ready by our second split. Another gulp too big to swallow. I'm not getting any younger.


If anyone out there in DHBP land has any ideas, Id' sure be open to listening...


Thanks,


Jon
 
Sorry to hear it....

I don't think all is lost at all. There are several approaches
I'd consider and choose the ultimate route based on some tests. I'd take ethanol and vinegar to the uncured stuff and see how it responds. Maybe put a piece of cloth (like a towel) on it to hold the liquid for a bit to be able to get it to work on the material. I think both ethanol or vinegar will work, but I'd test to see which one resulted in a better outcome. If neither work Methylene Chloride (available in gallons at the big boxes) will strip it, no question since it will dissolve FULLY CURED epoxy. This is a strong solvent and pretty nasty, so I'd try as last resort and outside with an appropriate respirator.
 
DAMN! I will say that I have had great success with US Composites....


Last winter when I was building my Scaup... I was asking some questions of their tech guys.. they started off nice... but it was evident... that they either were simply reading off a FAQ sheet, or have never actually used their products... They gave me a line and dance about the proper method to mix.. (which I do not abide by) At the point in which I was trying to question them, as my method was CLEARLY very wrong... 3 boats in ... with no issues using a drill with a mixer in pint to quart size batches..... mixing on high speed until bubbles appear.. compared to a SOLO cup mixing my hand...until it started to get warm... he said "So why are you calling us?"


I will still use their product.. but their tech support sucks... amazing how the boat that I built in an unheated garage when it was below 0 outsides works! :)
 
Good morning, Jon~

I am very sorry to hear this story! I have had nothing but good luck with the US Composites products.

One thing that has worked for me - in cases where I was likely the culprit and not measured precisely enough - is to put it out in sunlight. The UV seems to harden it off where straight heat will not.

Otherwise, Tod's approach is likely your next step.

Best of luck,

SJS
 
Good morning, Jon~

I am very sorry to hear this story! I have had nothing but good luck with the US Composites products.

One thing that has worked for me - in cases where I was likely the culprit and not measured precisely enough - is to put it out in sunlight. The UV seems to harden it off where straight heat will not.

Otherwise, Tod's approach is likely your next step.

Best of luck,

SJS
Click to expand...

I haven't used the U.S. Composites, but have people found that their stuff is overly sensitive to mixing errors? I measure carefully, but I'm a very lazy mixer, I have never mixed even 1/10 what the directions say.

I have had small curing issues with small batches, but that is out of thousands of batches and a result of my sloppyness.
 
I will only say that I use their pumps... 3:1 I think I have lost count when doing 15-20 pumps.... I have not had anything not set up....

Then again.. .I probably did it right!!!!!
 
Bring it to my driveway and abandon it. It is a total loss.

When you see me in it next year you can tell yourself that I got it elsewhere.
 
Well, I think I got this “Epoxy Thing” licked. I used an amalgamation of ideas and suggestions from here. I ended up with an ultra violet 300 watt heat lamp in a portable lamp holder. I apply heat to a small area, getting the material almost too hot to touch, for about three hours to set it up. Slow going, but it works.

So, to continue- when I originally built this boat, I used a lot of “what I had on hand” to complete her. During the initial disassembly, I stripped off all of the hardware and trim. While I liked the original look of the cherry bed moulding used for the coming, in this refurb, I want to use something a little more traditional. That and after much contemplation, and especially after following along on Steve Sanford’s recent duck boat rehab, I decided to add grassing rails. Here’s what I came up with. I started out by cutting strips out of pine- 5/16” X 1 1/4” H and rounding the bottom edge. Using plenty of epoxy and galvanized screws, I then attached these strips to the sides along the top, leaving them a little “proud” of the top decking.

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After a little final fitting with a sharp old fashioned hand plane, I installed small half-round pine, with Titebond III and little nails flush with the edge, over top of the seam between the hull/deck and new pine trim. This outside strip will allow a flat surface to mount the grassing rails.

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On to the grassing rails. Keeping with the “run what ya brung” tradition, I located a nice piece of clear Redwood in the wood bin. Being a little soft, probably not the perfect choice for grassing rails, but Redwood is predictable, easy to work with, very weather resistant and most importantly, I had it. I started by ripping 1 ¼” X 7/16” battens and rounding over all of the edges. I then cut one piece 1 ½” wide and again rounded all of the edges. I then cut the larger stock into 7/16” blocks to be used as stanchions or stand-offs. I glued those blocks to the smaller battens using plenty of Titebond III.

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These were then glued/screwed to the deck and side trim to form the grassing rails.

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After the grassing rails were installed, I applied two good coats of Spar Varnish to the entire upper boat. Of course, sanded and wiped down between coats with paint thinner.

Here she is after the first coat of finish paint. I am not particularly happy with this color, so she’ll probably get two more coats of a better shade. But FIRST, I will finish the “started” motor board and install it, then on to the canvas dodger. I can work on that as time permits, then remove it and paint her in the evening to allow for overnight drying.

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I'll have to have a little 10 year old buddy of mine come over to help me install the wiring, (sure would've been a lot easier to do that when I built her). After the motor board, dodger and canvas, I'll add a couple tie-off cleats, put her back on the trailer, install the motor, grass her up, load up the inside with safety equipment, anchor and rope, etc. Then off to the lake for trial runs.


Jon
 
In between a few Pheasant hunting trips, Duck Hunting trips, a couple “Honey-Do” chores, a day long Winery Tour, and a little shopping, not to even mention the two separate days of Family celebrations and more, I managed to put a few hours into her this long, holiday weekend.

Earlier I fabricated the framing for the Dodger set-up. I put this altogether making as much as I could from scratch, or scrap materials that I had lying around. I originally installed all of that at the very onset of the refurb, “just in case”…

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My “sweet” $20 yard sale find-

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Here it is soon after initially fitting the canvas. I used some material from an old boat blind I made up many years ago. It has since been stored for probably the last twenty or so years.

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Unfortunately, I made a slight error in the stitching of the top frame loop. It ended a little tighter than I would’ve liked, not a fatal error however and I was able to adjust. The problem was when I tried to insert the framing into the looping; it kept catching on the pleats needed to compensate for the two differing circumferences. Not to be deterred, I simply got out my saw and pocket knife and made up a little bullet head to insert into the end of the tubing while threading on the canvas. A little tight, but worked like a charm for the dozen or so times that I had to remove/replace this canvas.

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Final fitting of the bottom piece of the Dodger.

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The top at some point of the game-

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Once again, in keeping with the tradition on this project of using what I have available when possible, I wanted to make up the grassing strips on the dodger. To help with this, I conjured up this little jig. It actually worked like the proverbial charm.

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All I had to do was cut three inch wide strips out of scrap material, and give them a little suggestion as I guided them into the jig and on into the sewing machine.

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I would’ve liked to double over the ends of the strips, but this material is pretty hard to push the needle thru. It was a bit much. I figure once the grass is added, a little raveling wouldn’t even be noticed.

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Almost finished. The canvas is pretty much done. I still need to make up the pressure sticks to hold everything in place.

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I still have a few things left yet. I want to make up one of those in-use cockpit covers, a foam insulated doggie bed, finish the motor board and install the motor, lay on two final coats of paint, install the lights/switches, scratch out a few minor details, and she’ll be ready for the water!

Thanks for following along!

Jon
 
Good morning, Jon~

Beautiful work all around! And great photodocumentation, too. I am so glad your epoxy problem has been resolved.

All the best,

SJS
 
Since recently finding out about a last minute, cross country, holiday visit from my son, his girlfriend and my Sister and Brother in law, I was given strict orders to “remove all of that stuff, and clean the basement”, I figured I better comply. Especially since our motto around here is- “Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy!”


So, since we last visited, I finished and installed the motor board, with a little homage thrown towards Mr. Steve Sanford. Instead of using two coats of epoxy however, I am experimenting with a relatively “new” product. I got my hands on a little water based, spar polyurethane specially formulated for wood porches. This stuff is hard as the proverbial “rock”. After applying four good coats, I deemed it ready to install. Along with a generous helping of sealant, the four ½” Hot Dipped galvanized, countersunk carriage bolts ought to do the trick. I still need to add an eye bolt and lanyard for “Justin”, but I’ll tend to that sometime this week.

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I forgot to get a picture, but I wired up a pair of rocker switches and a 12 V plug. While the plug should be self explanatory, one of the switches will control the outside running lights and the second will power the pair of interior LED lamps. I’ll add a little 12 volt battery and we should be legal on public waters.


After two good coats of my own concocted FME color later, I reinstalled the dodger, installed all of the hardware, and now, finally, I can see the end of the tunnel.


Expounding on the “removal…” statement from above, and since there are few ducks to be chased in this 70 degree weather around these parts at the moment, I figured now is a good a time as any to get wet once again. I was going to take her to my nearby State Reservoir but realized I don’t have her numbered yet. I registered her long ago when I initially completed the build, and I more recently renewed the registration, but I’ve yet to actually install the numbers and placard. Soooo, off to my little private pond instead.



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Didn’t take very long at all for my Little Lab to find her “spot”. I think she likes it!

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ON THE WATER, SHE FLOATS!

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It’s at this point in the game, that my hope of getting her out this season appears to be in peril. Even though our season runs for three more full weekends, I’m out of vacation, this coming Sunday is my Sister’s holiday get together, then we’ll be on the East Coast for the next two. Still, my curiosity took over. I couldn’t resist playing with a little grass and weeds. Looks pretty good to me!

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Maybe, just maybe next Saturday, (and this may be a stretch), I’ll be able to get a few feathers on her deck.

Thanks for following along.

Jon
 
Some really nicework. I have had some broadbill plans for 10 years. This makes me want to start now.

Regards,
Kristan
 
The Broadbill is probably a little less time consuming. This boat took a lot of time originally, but back then, the only power tools I had were a circular saw, cord drill and a cheap jig saw. I also used, pain in the butt, two part resorcinol glue. With the resources available to me now, especially the adhesives, I could probably cut the time in half.

This refurbish took a lot of time too though. No doubt it takes longer to redo something than it does to do it new from the start.

As anyone who has taken on the task, it is undoubtedly worth it. A genuine labor of love, for sure. I have a pair of buffleheads on the wall, very near me as I type, that I shot out of this boat, over a pair of, (since been retired), hand carved wooden decoys that I wittled out of a piece of old telephone pole many years ago. Those two birds are arguably my favorite of all.

Good luck, and seriously, it is well worth it.

Keep us posted!

Jon
 
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Good morning, Jon~

Excellent workmanship all around. I am so glad you could get through your epoxy problem.

I am curious about the details up forward. It looks like you made a custom chock on your winch stand to hold the nose. Also looks like your have a big grab handle forward of your bow light and another chock just before the bow. Is that to keep your anchor straight? Got a close-up?

All the best,

SJS
 
Nice work Jon, I like your style. That's just how the old timers did it, with whatever was at hand. I really liked your strap making jig.
 
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