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struan
5th February 2012, 08:28 AM
Hi All
I'm building a model of one of Australia's iconic wooden surf boats from the 1960's. Like the original it's double diagonal plank on stringers. The frame, keel and stringers are all easy, but I found I had to reduce the width of the inner planks to 6mm each as the 0.6mm ply would not take the compound curves of the hull well. No problems using CA Glue (superglue) to glue these planks to the keel, stringers, and gunwhale. I'll give it all a light sand to take out any hard or pointy joins. But my dilemma is what to glue the outer planking down with. CA Glue will dry before I can wet out the plank and lay it down. Epoxy will take too long and I have no ability to clamp the plank next to the keel. The same for PVA Glue. Can I try a spray contact adhesive, and do one or two planks at a time? Remember, I cannot have faults in the joints as the whole boat is to be varnish finished. Your contributions will be gratefully accepted as this is my first post on this forum despite being a member for a couple of years.
Regards
Struan

Master Splinter
5th February 2012, 12:08 PM
I think any of the contact cements will give you very messy gluelines, as well as probably not sticking as firmly as you want.

I'd suggest hide glue as it will set up fairly quickly (a few minutes) - if that doesn't work for you, you could try a five minute epoxy. The hide glue has the advantage of being easily reversible if you manage to get it wrong, and if you need a bit more time before it sets, you can heat the planks to give yourself a bit longer to work with.

There are some slow-setting CA adhesives, but I don't know if they would be quite slow enough for you.

Lee Valley Tools - Woodworking Newsletter (http://www.leevalley.com/en/newsletters/Woodworking/4/6/article2.htm) (there are plenty of other 'how-to' articles on the net)

struan
24th February 2012, 10:45 AM
Thanks for your help in pointing me in the right direction as far as the glue is concerned. I've found that Tarzans Grip Mega Bond is doing a pretty good job of gap filling and drying in about 5 minutes. And on top of that, I can sand it when dry. Will try to post photos of the finshed model.
Struan