Post-curing the beams.

The slow hardener of Ampreg 21, which I used to build the full carbon beams, likes to be post-cured at a moderately elevated temperature of 50 degrees Celsius during 16 hours. To do this I have built an insulated box heated by a simple blow heater.

Start making the box and support for the four beams.

Positioning the beams.

Finishing the box.

Post-curing in progress.

Under Construction ……

Most part of the building project is mainly a matter of forming foam into hulls, laminating (ok, better said infusing) and mounting bulkheads into position. It is like glueing a boat together, but not constructing something. However, mounting the beam bulkheads and lower hull strut anchors with the accompanying reinforcements is much different from that and gives me the feeling of a constructing work. On the down side, there are a lot of critical details in this area which need a meticulous way of working. And this takes time, lots of time, without seeing much progress …… But the end is in sight now. Click in the photo below for the latest details.

Finishing the final details on the second float.

In this album the completion of the second float. Post curing, wingnet lashing rail and the hatches.

Finishing the first float.

This photo galery is about the finishing work on the first float.

The wingnet fastening is with an integrated molded lashing rail with a fiberglass tube. Another purpose of this rail is to create three strong deck eyes, as an alternative for bolted SS pad eyes. The extra strength is created by carbon reinforced foam pads, which goes through the hull and are laminated to the inside, the middle one also in the shroud bulkhead.

Also the making of two deck hatches (with invisible hinges) and after all the glassing is done, the final post curing of the whole hull before the fairing goes on.

The fairing and sanding turned out to be a real investment in learning time and finally succeeded by dogged perseverance. It’s the last 300 gram of fairing compound that required the maximum effort.