Recomendations for fairing a wood hull wanted

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airborne1

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Have now finished caulking my wooden hull. Now I want to fair off the dings, damaged planks and gouged out areas. Its had a hard life before I bought it.
Any recommendations on best material for doing this, epoxy with filler, etc ???
Also, do I need to clean off the filler along the seams between planks or cover them??
I have a fair amount to cover so don't want to use plastic wood or pre-mixed filler as used for small screw holes.
I understand that I need to use a "barge board", whatever that is, to continue the shape from plank to plank.
Any recommendations gratefully received.
 
A coat of International pink metallic primer (for wood) ... rub it down wet with a block and 220/240 wet and dry paper ... then a filling with International trowel cement using a broad bladed filling knife ... then rub down wet again, using a block and the same paper, then first undercoat, then any more dings, another local trowel cementing, then rub down again and carry on painting as normal. Piece of cake ... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
A 'barge board' also very truthfully called an 'agony board' is a yard-length of plywood with a suitable handle at each end, rather like the handles on old-fashioned wooden planes. To the base of this is glued a strip of fairly coarse [probably 80 grit] abrasive paper/cloth. Get good quality abrasive or you'll have to keep replacing it. This is used like a plane, but in all directions over the surface of the planking. The idea is to reduce the planking uniformly down to a fair surface, not to build it up with goops and goos.
Peter.
 
Thanks lads for the info. Unfortunately it was built 1949 and has had some rough times. Some dings are too deep to clean off and still keep the plank thickness so will have to try to build it up first in some places
 
You can buy Epoxy filler in tins, I have a tin (actually two tins, one is the hardener) which I used on a couple of large scrapes on my hull (not me) it is a great product, fairs well and takes paint easily. small dings I use a normal body filler as it's easy to fair off.

Tom.
 
Guess there are three issues here from what you describe.

Gouges and bits missing from planking can be dealt with in two ways. If they are big then new wood (graving pieces) let in is the normal solution. Smaller imperfections can be filled with thickened epoxy filler, provided the wood is dry and clean.

Smaller scrapes can be dealt with best by using trowelling cement after priming - see paint manufacturers literature for using these.

You also mention filler in seams. This is more complex. You don't say what filler you used, how wide the seams were and how long the boat has been out of the water. Almost certainly the planking will expand as it takes up when you put it back in the water, so expect some of your seams to move and even break the paint skin. Some advise not trying to fair until the boat has been in the water for a season.

I think what you will have to accept is that on an old boat of traditional construction, getting a nice shiny, fair surface is difficult. The important thing is to get a paint surface that holds well on the planks and looks even. These is best achieved using conventional paints such as Toplac and choosing a light colour. Not only does this hide imperfections better than dark colours as it reflects light rather than absorbs it, but it reduces the extremes of temperature that can play havoc with wood.

Once you have dealt with the big fillings, Kitterns regime is the one to follow. Long boards are useful for fairing new hulls, and often used on modern wood construction. However they are not easy to use on hulls the right way up as you are mostly working above your normal height. Conventional wet and dry using a rubber block is perfectly adequate - but beware Kittern's "piece of cake" really means loads of work!
 
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