PocketShip.net

Greetings!
I purchased a partially completed Pocketship at the end of last December. Finishing a room addition and kitchen remodel at our house has delayed any serious work on the boat. The boat I purchased is a kit boat purchased originally in 2008 and I am the third owner (located in Wilmington NC). I have read through the manual a few times and recently have been fitting the seatback framing (roughly p 139 in the manual). My purchase included quite a lot, including: remaining plywood parts and patterns, large roll of fg, two rolls of fg tape, timber package (un-milled), gallows assembly, dorade vents, acrylic portlights, acrylic drop board material, miscellaneous hardware, a large box of cell-o-fill (light weight white micro balloons), small (maybe 2lbs) of wood flour (brown fine powder), and partial containers of MAS epoxy and slow hardener.
I have poured over the forum and many building blogs - what an amazing amount of wonderful information! I am getting an order together for supplies and would appreciate feedback on the following questions:

1. assuming prior owner/builders have followed the manual (which appears to be the case), about how much more resin, hardener and wood flour would be needed to complete the project? and am I correct regarding the wood flour (brownish powder used for thickening resin for gluing and filleting) and cell-o-fill (white micro balloons used for fairing when mixed with resin)?

2. the partial containers of resin and hardener are at least two years old. are they ok to use?

3. the manual refers to attaching (gluing with thickened epoxy) components using temporary screws. is that simply screwing the components together, through the thickened epoxy without "buttering the screw" and then removing once cured? I would think the screw would not want to come out, as it has to have passed through the thickened epoxy?

4. there seems to be some debate (forum posts) regarding the use of a brad nailer, and the use of regular or ss brads - I have a compressor and the nailer - seems very efficient if an accepted practice?

5. using MAS LV epoxy is it necessary to "wet out" joints prior to filleting, or large panels prior to glassing?

6. is sanding required on totally cured resin prior to additional coats or filleting?

7. with the seatback assemblies, the manual refers to a "temporary" seatback frame (farthest aft) used to maintain orientation of the longitudinal framing. The boat I purchased already had these frames epoxied in place. the furthest aft is approx 3" from the transom. can i work around this (leave it in place)? or would it be best to cut it out?

I am sure I will have more questions as my build continues, but this is plenty to get me started.
Thanks!
-Todd

1. assuming prior owner/builders have followed the manual (which appears to be the case), about how much more resin, hardener and wood flour would be needed to complete the project? and am I correct regarding the wood flour (brownish powder used for thickening resin for gluing and filleting) and cell-o-fill (white micro balloons used for fairing when mixed with resin)?
- I needed an additional 25 yards of 36" wide glass, about a gallon of resin and slow hardener beyond what the kit provided.

2. the partial containers of resin and hardener are at least two years old. are they ok to use?
- I built mine using 6 year old resin and hardener with no issues. I actually had to heat my resin to dissolve some crystalization prior to the build.

3. the manual refers to attaching (gluing with thickened epoxy) components using temporary screws. is that simply screwing the components together, through the thickened epoxy without "buttering the screw" and then removing once cured? I would think the screw would not want to come out, as it has to have passed through the thickened epoxy?
- Not an issue, they come out readily.

4. there seems to be some debate (forum posts) regarding the use of a brad nailer, and the use of regular or ss brads - I have a compressor and the nailer - seems very efficient if an accepted practice?
- I used mine on just a couple of occasions. Nice to have when needed.

5. using MAS LV epoxy is it necessary to "wet out" joints prior to filleting, or large panels prior to glassing?
- Not necessary but definitely a good practice.

6. is sanding required on totally cured resin prior to additional coats or filleting?
- Yes.

- And a lot of fairing can be done with a heat gun and a good carbide scraper. Better than sanding epoxy drips.

I’m also building a Pocketship that I bought in a partially completed state. I also just ordered 25 yards of fiberglass to finish it up ( I hope). I also bought 4 gals of LV.

I’ve used a brad nailer extensively and found it useful. I bought 318 SS brads. I have found that, when fiberglassing, that the brad holes can be a source of outgassing, causing air pockets. I now hit each brad hole with a bit of epoxy. Now, I was fiberglassing mid day and temps were still rising a bit, so that’s part of the problem.

Buckeye / Slash2,
Thanks for your input, it is greatly appreciated. Still trying to figure how much resin/hardener will be needed to finish the project. It seems I will need more fg for sure. but how much resin? 3 gal?
thanks in advance!

Todd

How much more resin?

Not sure how much you have on hand, but check out the clc website. Look at epoxy products under Boat Supplies and you'll see the package for Pocketship. Compare that to what you have.

And if you're a new builder, don't be surprised when you run out. You'll tend to mix and use more than you need, or at least I did. And make sure you have the pumps. I used measuring cups for my first boat and wasted a ton of epoxy not being able to whip up small batches.

Welcome, and good luck!

Hi Todd,

our kit from http://www.fyneboatkits.co.uk included 40 litres of resin plus 20 litres of hardener. The kit included pumps but we prefer weighing resin and hardener using a balance.

Dietrich

Hey Todd,

I was rereading your initial post and you ask if the cell O fill is for fairing. Someone correct me if I have this wrong (and I hope I don’t), but that is for gluing things together and dries very hard and is structural. For fairing, which I assume you mean cosmetic leveling, you want to use micro balloons which sand easy but are not structural.