Steve Phillabaum wrote: > I will be installing my belly skin this weekend and wonder. Should I use staples or weights? I have enough jugs filled with water to cover the entire skin. I don't know if this would distort, twist, or even create a good contact. Sure would be nice not to have to remove those staples. <
Steve, That's a toughie. You could go either way. If you use the jugs, you'll have to be sure that you have good contact (start with T-88 on both parts, by outlining first), and that will be tough considering the curvature. Cut the belly almost to shape (within a quarter inch or so) and then use a router to flush cut it later. One downside is that excess epoxy will run down the spruce due to gravity and look bad. Or do the same and use staples. Staples work OK if you use stout wire or nylon string under the staples, but T-88 sticks so good to the staples that some will break and you'll have to "roll them out" with pliers. It's pretty easy if you use the rounded edge of the pliers for leverage to roll off to one side. Two benefits to using staples is that once you staple it, you can flip the boat over as soon as you're done stapling and all the excess T-88 will flow down to form a nice fillet between plywood and spruce. The other is that perfect contact will be assured. There will be some holes to fill, but an hour of micro and sanding will hide them forever. Mark Langford, Huntsville, Alabama see KR2S project N56ML at http://home.hiwaay.net/~langford email to N56ML "at" hiwaay.net --------------------------------------------------------------
