fairing stitch and glue Fife

[robin brass]

Being new to the Forum I think I posted this in the wrong place yesterday. Any suggestions?

I am building a stitch and glue Fife rowboat, a multichine design. My strakes do not meet as evenly as they should, I now realize after filleting. I think that before fiberglassing the outside of the hull, I should either sand down the edge of the strakes that project too far, or fill with thickened epoxy to bring up to level the strakes that don't. The ov erlap is not really terrible but there are places where I don't think the fiberglas would make the turn as it is.

So which do I do? Sand or fill? Or a combination?

And if I fill, what is the best thing to add to the epoxy -- wood flour or cabosil or something else?

Thanks

Robin


__________________
robin brass

[Andy M]

Robin,

I would concentrate on taking down the strakes which project too far. Always keep an eye on the surrounding area so you don't over do the sanding. I think you might be surprised to see some of the places that do not come out far enough will "dissapear" after sanding the high spots.

In some of the work I have done, wood flour has worked very well. I have never had to fill areas larger than 1" x 3" but found a ratio of 1:4 was about right (1 part w.f.).

Andy