I am building the Sasquatch 14-30 and have just turned the hull over to fair up and start welding. However, I have got a bulge in the keel line just outside the inner frame and a sag right at the centre.
I was going to try removing spacers in a few locations to try to ease it, or should I put some kind of strongback inside to force it into a better shape. Any ideas welcome. I hope the pictures make it clear what is happening.
This has come up a few times and I had something similar on my Laker build. I seem to recall that the high spots on mine were at the frame locations and by the look of your cable ties it could be the same with yours. This means your frames could be a fraction oversize (I'm sure mine were ) however whatever the reason the fix is the same.
It's a matter of spreading the panels where there is a dip or bringing them closer where there is a rise until you are happy with the fairness of the seam. Raising a low point is easier as you may need to sand/file the panel and/or frames to remove a high point. Thicker (or double) spacers may be required at some points. Don't worry about having a gap to fill - you won't need to spread the panels very much to make them come up at the low points and the filleting material will fill it easily. Also this is on the bottom and won't be seen much.
You will need to cut and replace the cable ties where you loosen the seam - wires have an advantage of being adjustable both ways - but it's really fairly easy.
Other than the dip it looks like it's coming together well
Cheers, Bob
Laker 13 - christened and slimed (just).
Laker accessories underway.
A bit of judicious spacing and slackening of ties has vastly improved things and I have done the tack welding. I shall post photos once the bulk of the ties are removed.
That's better:
Just finished filling in between the tack welds. Lots of sanding to look forward to tomorrow!
I am going to give the hull a coat of epoxy and sand again before setting about glassing it.
I was a bit worried about how easily the end jigs would come free but a couple of gentle(ish) taps with a small hammer and then a good yank (as in pull, not US resident) and they came out fine. So far this build has been more about expecting to hit snags than actually doing so - long may it continue so.
) however whatever the reason the fix is the same.
