Building hint for Setka builders doing planking
You maybe thinking - if you have ever experienced a build with epoxy How? I manage to get the sized planking sheets each 2.5m long easily to where they should be with no mess no fuss - especially if you have experienced the tendency of epoxy glued bits to slide around, epoxy is a slippery beast.
well here it is my secret
you cut the pieces to fit , no need to cut them oversize and trim, though for the hullsides I cut the bottom a little longer at the sheer. Then once it is dry fitted and clamped exactly where you need it you drill some 1.8mm or 2mm holes through the plywood at the first chine, I do 4 holes spaced out on a big sheet of ply mark the holes on the ply, remove the panel, then prewet the ply , and stringers, apply thickened epoxy to the stringers, and then with someone holding the far edge and them not touching the prewet ply to the stringer - you place your edge of the ply where you want it, push a finish nail through the hole in the ply into the hole in the stringer, the ply then hangs from the nail, clamp with a spring clamp, bend ply to shape, next nail in, clamp, bend ply to shape nail in clamp, till you get to your helper -the ply hangs from the nails no movement- then you are free to clamp with proper clamps, screw in screws, clean etc, the panel will stay where you originally had it, during dry fitting - no slipping no stress and a happy helper, it helps to mark the stringer holes too , I do this technique to line up ply bulkheads on frames as well- one nail per corner, you can pull them out once the epoxy sets up, or leave them in until cured and use a soldering iron to heat and remove the nail. easy!
nail in after dry fit, no glue yet
and after glueing and screwing and clamping , you can mark above the nail hole on the stringer, so you can find the hole easier too
If this helps you or you think it will help, leave a comment, (they remain private and do not appear - if you want ) and if you would like more hints please ask
