Filling Holes

Now that the planking is done, it's time to prep for painting: that means I have to fill dozens of holes. I have a lot of nail holes that were made when I tacked down the batten when I was cutting out the planks. I also have holes from the screws that went through the batten when I glued up the planks. 

It came to me one night (a lot of ideas can come in your sleep - ever heard of "I've go to sleep on it"?) that I could fill the holes with dowels and toothpicks coated in epoxy. I pondered that for quite some time - a couple of weeks at least. Which would be better, this method or just trying to fill the holes with thickened epoxy? I decided on the former method.

I measured the screw holes with a toothpick, since it would fit all the way through and each hole had its own depth. Then I cut the 1/8" dowel with a coping saw which has very fine teeth. I drilled out the holes with a 1/8" bit, dipped the dowels in epoxy and then tapped them into the holes nearly flush with the hull's surface.

One thing I'm concerned about - as I measured the depth of the screw holes, I was feeling the inside of the hole with my finger. It feels like the screws split the plywood a bit. That may requite some "repair" work when I get to the inside. We'll see how much of an issue that is. 

With the nail holes, I simply dipped the tip of a round toothpick into epoxy, pushed it into the nail holes as far as it would go and broke it off. Any protruding bits will be easy to sand off. 

Most of the toothpicks broke off closer to the surface. 

I also countersunk some screws into the planks at the stem. This was recommended for added strength.

I tried to fill in over the screws with epoxy but I had it too thin. I'll have to sand it down and add some more epoxy, next time with a little thicker epoxy.

Here's a pic of the one side of the hull that I've worked on so far.

Now I have to do the other side of the hull. Oh, yeah - I also touched up the scarf joints in the planks. Some of them were a little rough. I want to make sure they are smooth before painting.

I worked on the transom a little. The transom is two pieces epoxied together. The joint needed a little filling, as did a couple small places at the plank/transom joints. As you can see, when I glued up the planks, some of the joints needed a lot of epoxy. Guess I won't be leaving the transom bright! I hadn't planned to anyway. 

I do plan on putting a layer of fiberglass over the transom. I want to make doubly sure it's sealed very well. I'm not sure how that glue that was used by Lowes to make the board would hold up to moisture.

Now it's on to the other side.