PocketShip.net

I went back and looked at my blog post for Dec 27, 2013, and I could see blue masking tape (partly covered by graphite/epoxy) around the outside edges of the insides of the trunk halves. So yes, I masked off the areas where the blocking was to be glued.

Hi,

Thanks for the updates. Regarding "masking tape," I see references to "blue" tape and lots of images on the blogs of this. I know CLC sells a masking tape although it doesn't appear blue and I'm not sure of its width. I welcome suggestions as to brand of tape to use in this project (fillets, blocking, etc.) as I'm very leery of applying tape to any surface which might subsequently be treated or bonded with epoxy and FG.

Thanks in advance,
Mark

Some of the blue tapes are superior to the beige varieties, some are the same. For that particular masking job I didn't need anything special, just had some blue lying around. 3M has several varieties when you start needing finer edges, as when painting. One is called something like "Edge Lock." It is blue with yellow printing on it.

But when you need really good edges, for example between different colors on the outside of the hull you need automotive-quality tape. The best I know of is 3M 218 Fine Line Tape which you can order from CLC or many places online. Or if you have an automotive paint store, e.g., Ditzler, in your town you can purchase locally. We used to have one here, but they went out of business so now I have to order mine. This tape is some sort of plastic and has the ability to follow curves, up to a point. You can buy it in several widths--the narrower tapes can go around tighter curves. Anything with a radius of less than several inches, though, and you will have to cut small pieces to follow around it. Some folks (e.g., Jeff Hatch) are much better at this than I am. You might want to contact him for advice. His boat is beautiful work of art. Check it out at https://www.flickr.com/photos/35243545@N02/ .

After removing the tape you can wash the area with acetone. Then you'll be sanding the whole works as well, both the graphite surface and the previously masked areas at the same time. The sanding will spread some loose graphite/epoxy sanding dust onto the previously masked edges so you have to vacuum that and wash again with acetone to get that off before gluing on the blocking. It's very clean after all that. Lot's of people use blue tape as part of their glassing routine without evident problems.

Having said all that, it wouldn't be too hard to "paint" the epoxy/graphite mix on the CB trunk sides while avoiding the blocking areas. No need to mask if you don't want to if you're careful.

One other point I probably don't have to mention, but the epoxy glue also acts to seal the wood. So make sure the glue completely covers any bare wood on blocking and plywood and that it flows out a little onto the epoxy/graphite surface. On the second side, where you can't see what's happening, spread a little unthickened epoxy before the glue, and make sure it flows onto the graphite/epoxy area.

In fact, Russell Brown says to always spread unthickened epoxy first because otherwise the wood soaks up too much of the glue. I did this in some areas, but at times it was a pain, so I also often used the CLC-recommended method of slopping the glue on pretty heavily on both surfaces. So far, that seems to have done the trick.