Update 1-31-10

TMS News

As you can tell from the post I have advanced quickly on the second half of the main hull. There are several reasons for this.

Gorilla Glue
Gluing the Divinycell strips together with Gorilla Glue has been a great success! I can work quickly, no mixing, no mess as there was with west epoxy. The Gorilla glue expands up to 4X the size of the bead so controlling the stream of glue takes a little practice. But if it foams over it not a big deal as it sands really easy. So I went from slow and neat to fast and a little sloppy. I decided it is ok if it comes out some then I know that I have maximum fill in the cove & bead. It dries in about 2 hours – not overnight like epoxy. It is a little pricey but not as much as West System. I was able to glue out the strips then the next day sand it out so the faring was every simple. I’ll use very little bog. This side will definitely be lighter! The draw back it that the foam shell is more fragile so when I lift it to slide in the vacuum bagging film I’m have to have more hands on the foam. I should be ready to vacuum bag the carbon skin on the inside next week.

Working Full Time as a Boat Builder
I was terminated from my corporate position last week so now I’m devoting all of my time to the TMS-20 project. I was planning to leave later this year but some things you cannot control. After 20+ years in the government and 10 years in a “corporate cube” or on a plane I am looking forward to this break. I was working a fulltime job plus travel then part-time on the boat so this is a welcomed change.

This is something that I’ve wanted to do for 30 years - when I moved to Florida. I plan to take full advantage of it. It would be great to have the boat in the water this summer!

I'm still looking for computer work but not that hard!

Mike

Attached Files
P1010078.JPG (305 downloads)
stripped out
P1010073.JPG (306 downloads)
Wish I could thicken it
P1010080.JPG (306 downloads)
Screw holes filled with Gorilla Glue

Mike Shappell
www.themanshed.com
TMS-20 Builder
G-Cat 5.7 - Current Boat
NACRA 5.2 - early 70's