Syringes and Fillets

Now that the side panels, bulkheads, and bottom of my paddle board were stitched together, it was time to securely glue everything.  I mixed a batch of epoxy with cell-o-fill to thicken the consistency.  With a syringe, I sucked the epoxy up and squeezed it along the seams and over the copper stitches.  The cell-o-fill was a must so that the epoxy formed a bead like when you use a hot glue gun.

Squeezing the thickened epoxy through a syringe along the seam of the sideboard and bottom panel

Beads of glue along the bottom panel, sideboards, and bulkheads

I let the glued seams dry over night.  The next day I used pliers to untwist and pull the copper wires out.  It sounds crazy to remove the one thing that was initially holding my creation together, but there is a very simple explanation for this.  Last year after I glued the bottom of Baby Red (Step #11 - Bottoms Up), I had to remove the tacks that I had nailed in from the outside.  The tacks kept the bottom in place while the glue dried.  I remove the tacks because metal and wood expand and contract at different rates, which lead to gaps between the nails and wood, which lead to leaks in the hull.  The last thing a captain wants is a sinking ship.  I'm sure a paddle boarder would agree.  No metal, no problems.  For the  most part, the copper wires came out with a solid tug.  There were a few that I had to aggressively wiggle out.

Untwisting the copper wires before I pull them out

With a metal-free paddle board, I mixed another batch of epoxy.  Instead of adding cell-o-fill this time, I used something that would make the epoxy even thicker...sawdust.  I had what looked like a lovely jar of peanut butter.  I pasted it along the edges and smoothed it out.  This is called filleting.  I did this with Baby Red as well (Filleting and Fiberglassing).  Filleting will make any seam stronger and sturdier. 

I had just started filleting (to get a better idea of what it should look like, go to Filleting and Fiberglassing)

To finish out the day, I epoxied stringers into the bulkheads.  The bulkheads have slits in them to make this stop easy peasy.  The stringers run from the nose to the tail of the paddle board and provide durability...and a sense of security for me.

Placing the stringers in the bulkheads before I glue them in