February 28, 2017

Laminating the Aft Inner Stem

Prior to the actual laminating of the strips for the Aft Inner Stem I organized everything and laid out all of the clamps I would need in addition to covering one table top with plastic to do the spreading of the epoxy on. 

 

 

 

After heating the shop up to 60+ degrees I mixed up two separate batches of epoxy, hardener, and filler.  Brushed a coat on each of the eight 3/16” strips, stacked them and wrapped them in plastic before carefully clamping them to the form.  I used a block of wood to level the strips to insure that they were stacked as evenly as possible.  I was surprised somewhat at how easy it was to draw the strips into the clamps.  I only used clamping pressure to hold everything in place.  No torqueing down on the clamps. 

Due to the limited number of large clamps that I have, I will only be able to do one lamination at a time.  Once the Aft Inner Stem is completely dried I will clean it up and then use it as part of the form to laminate the Aft Outer Stem.  This will insure that both the Inner and Outer stems will match perfectly when eventually built into the boat.  Once the Aft Stems are complete I will then laminate the Forward Stems in the same manner.

 

 

 

I have also placed some fixtures with 100 watt bulbs to help maintain the recommended 60+ degree temperature for curing.

If all goes well, I will take the next step with laminating the Outer stem in a couple of days.

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