Quick Heating and Quick Cooling

Heating the Glass Close-Up
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

As mentioned in the last entry, we used a heat gun to heat up the stiff fiberglass, and soften the epoxy. Immediately upon softening, we laid a cool metal weight on top of the newly-softened fiberglass. This helped the fiberglass lay flat as it should.

As we went, we learned that we could run the heat gun in front of the weight, which would heat the fiberglass and epoxy, and we could immediately slide a weight behind the heated area. this would ensure the area would lay flat. Ive gotta say, it was a pretty clever trick.

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A Quick Disclaimer

Let it be stated for the record that this blog is NOT designed to be an infallible guideline for how to do a similar project yourself. As I stated at the beginning of this blog, these posts are designed to chronicle our specific journey, and maybe to provide some tips and tricks that may or may not be beneficial to you. If you incorporate any of the recommendations, you do so at your own risk. If you disregard any of our recommendations, you do so at your own risk. If you even view the contents of this blog, you do so at your own risk. Neither Greg nor I will be responsible in any way, shape or form for anything that you do, whether its a stroke of brilliance, or something worthy of a Darwin Award
Its an unfortunate reality that I feel the need to post this disclaimer, but I dont want any of your silly asses filing a lawsuit against us, saying "Greg and Dave made me do it." We didnt make you do anything!

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How it all began A quick sidenote

Dave, doing what he does best
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

Ive been asked quite a few times "What made Greg decide to build a houseboat, and what kind of massochist are you for volunteering to help?" This picture may help explain it. We love the water. Greg, our friend Darin, and I have been water rats since we earned our canoeing merit badge in Boy Scouts together, over 20 years ago. For over a decade, weve had at least one annual trip where the the three of us and another friend, Sonny, go on an extended canoeing or whitewater kayaking trip. Others have come and gone, but the "core four" of us are always on these trips. So love for the water is one of the driving forces behind building this boat.

Greg is a Mechanical Engineer, and loves to design and build things. Hes been that way for as long as Ive known him. Ive always liked building things too, but Ive never had quite the knack that Greg has for complex projects. Once I can conceptualize the basic process of a task, I can frequently find ways to improve or streamline an existing process, but Greg is the visionary. (Im great at reverse engineering.) So Gregs desire to design/ build and my desire to see the inner workings (how does this work, and how can I make it work better?) is the other major driving force.

And of course theres the friendship factor... hanging out with a friend, drinking a few beers. But Ive already covered that aspect in another post.

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Weighting the Transition Area

After the Next Round of Epoxy
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

To help ensure a good bond in the area where we ran out of epoxy, we laid a slightly thicker layer of epoxy, then laid a sheet of plastic over the transition area, laid a piece of plywood over all of that, and weighted it down. From the transition point on, we epoxied as normal.

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An Invitation to look at my Other Blog

This blog about the houseboat isnt my only blog. If youre interested in seeing my other blog, which discusses about everything except this project, go to my other blog.

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