14' strip plank canoe inside prep'

This week I managed to get time to sand the outside of the hull and scrape and sand the inside. The outside sanded fairly easily thanks to being able to maintain a decent temperature and humidity during the cure. I used a dual action sander, first with 80 grit then 120 grit, both without an interface pad. I was sure to keep the machine moving all the time and used diagonal strokes to try and fair out any anomalies. I wore a protective waxed paper suit, nitrile gloves and a proper face mask to stop the epoxy dust. From what I've read, once you are sensitised to epoxy it seems you just have to stop using it or wear a space suit!

Next came the removal of the moulds. I took out the screws that were holding them to the strongback (building table) and gave them each a twist. Most of them came away easily and I pulled them out from under the hull. The formers for the stems had to be hammered out to free them. I drew around one of the narrow station moulds and made a kind of shoe to hold the canoe at both ends once it was turned right way up. I flipped the canoe with the aid of a helper (this time Mrs Newton Boatworks) and then sighed after seeing the amount of scraping and sanding to do on the inside!

Despite wiping the hull inside with a damp cloth when the glue was still wet, there were hard bands of glue where the station moulds sat. Although the cedar strips interlocked nicely, they are a series of flat surfaces that form a curved shape. This means having to scrape/sand the inner surface to lose the flats. I filed a paint scraper to a decent curve and used that to get rid of the glue bands and fair the shape. This means walking a fine line between skidding over the glue surface and digging into the soft grain and tearing a chunk out.

With this done, I got out the sand paper and sanded the hull 80 grit and 120 grit. It's essential to wear a dust mask or you end up coughing all night. I even shaved off my beard to get a good seal on the mask. I vacuumed the dust/shavings up and then mixed some epoxy/different fillers/sanding dust and flush filled any gaps. I used a high proportion of the hollow glass microspheres as they lower the density of the epoxy mix and mean you are less likely to sand a hollow into the cedar either side of the filler.

I then re-sanded the filled areas and cleaned up ready for sheathing the inside.