Was wondering if you guys could offer some suggestions on how to fix a few things on my hollow fish build.
Was experimenting with the bead and cove rail method and as you will see in the pics, I’ve punched thru the deck and now have a few voids in the rail line. I’ve tried to use some unidirectional carbon strips to cover up the imperfections making things water tight, but the curves are too tight. Do they make bi-directional carbon strips? I’ve taken it to a local glasser in SF and they didn’t even want to touch this, and I don;t blame 'em.
Is this an unglassed board under construction? I would patch with wood before glassing. Cut out the bad, glue in new wood, sand to match, barely noticeable when glassed.
Yeah I can see that (air) - I would cut or router back to support, or just cut to fit tight and glue around perimeter, but I wouldn’t glass until the structure is sound - and the best material for repairing wood board is wood, IMO
Ahh… the overshaped HWS. Always hard to know how much is left.
Agree with Huck, but also check other areas along the rail for soft spots. This area is much too susceptible to getting a shin or knee and caving it in. and a little reenforcement in the form of extra cloth now, can save you from issues later.
I’ve gone a little overbuilt in such areas on later boards
The same thing happens on pre-glued balsa blanks where the thickness of the wood varies greatly from one blank to another, from one side to another… ask me how I know.
Even if its cosmetically less appealing (though with careful cutting and grain selection, you can do a nice job of hiding it), cut out enough to get a good surface to surface bond between wood and then make for a tight fit. I’ve done this on rails many a time, with no real problem. Sometimes the resin will bring out different batches of wood differently, leading to a darker or lighter repair, but compared to a knee-through-the-rail scenario, its by far the lesser of two evils.
Even a smallish block glued to the deck and/or bottom can give you ample support for your repair insert. I’ve seen expanding foam used as a backing with some success by a glasser I know, though I’ve never gone that route personally.
