Fillet putty increasing viscosity after applying.

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It does act as a catalyst/accelerator without a doubt.....

 

The best tool for everday use is the spatula, the most common jointing tool used by commercial caulkers. Albion is a manufacturer of them and they have different size available. Its much better than the ball type herman showed, as with the spatula you can pull back the excess much more easily as well as adjust how much you add by the angle of the blade.

 

At this point I'm just filling the gaps on the exterior side of the hull panel joints. Possibly fillet was the wrong term? Anyway I think the same would be applicable for both. On the outside I've been using a sheetrock knife, then putting peel ply overtop The results have been pretty good except where the putty has run out.

I'm hoping to do all the inside joints this weekend.

Most likely talc powder is all I'll be able to source for this weekend as a bulking powder. Where I live there is no marine industry. Should that work well?

 

Silica has no chemical reaction (activator) or participation initiating the reaction (catalyst) with the resin or hardener. You are adding stone to the mixture, which greatly increases it's density (volumetric mass) while not adding much weight, so thermal conductivity increases. Again, if you spread out the mixture, before you apply the silica, then mix the silica into the resin across a wide, flat area, like a board or very large mixing tray, you can reduce this exothermic response considerably. Simply put, you can use procedures that work or struggle with ones that don't. I'm always working in warm weather, so this is an issue I've long contended with.

Pipe and dowel drawn fillets are easy enough, but in many locations on a build, you just can't hold the pipe at the same angle, which means the fillet will change dimension. This isn't the case with a ball, which will maintain it's circumference, regardless of angle applied. This is particularly important in areas that will be visible, like the inside of a cockpit foot well, where you want nice uniform radiuses, if for no other reason than to make it look professional. Of course you could sand and add extra filler later to "even things out" but why bother, if a technique can save the trouble. In a structural fillet application, you can decrease the fillet's thickness by a considerable amount with several degrees of pipe/dowel angle change along it's length. I want folks to think a machine made my fillets, preferably without having to go crazy cleaning them up.

I found several HDPE balls a number of years ago, 1/2" to 3" and each have been drilled and tapped for a short wooden handle. Epoxy doesn't stick to it and they are nearly indestructible. I too use the tape method occasionally, but knowing my ball dimensions, I can lay down tape without the need for aluminum oxide lines contaminating the feather edge of the fillet. I use thin plastic packaging tape too, not crepe tape, which is quite thick and not especially smooth, which causes the fillet to get ribs as you drag what ever across it.

 

What kind of a boat builder are you !!!
make you joins smaller and use less filler and add glass to it !! that kind of mix wont last at all . one good bang and its history .
What you going to do when all the old people have died and taken there knowledge with them ?? :?:

 

This thread got me thinkin' so I went off to the big box store in search of a set of balls. No luck. Time now to think out of the box (or ball ). Hmmm...

I asked a couple of guys at Lowes if they had any balls in stock but they said if they had more balls they'd be working elsewhere. Then I asked one of the women who worked there and she just stared at me. So I wandered the store looking for balls of any kind. I looked in plumbing, in hardware, nothing. Then it occurred to me. Casters! Well they had a whole section and I found some 2" (51mm) casters. Off to the shop. I grabbed my trusty hack saw and cut the balls off of those casters. Then onto the drill press to make a 1/4" hole in those balls.

And.......voila, a new set of balls. 1" radius for bigger fillets and a ping pong ball for a 3/4" radius. Took about 10 minutes and cost about $3.50 for the casters. We'll op-test them later today.

MIA

 

So now you have some normal sized balls for daytime use, and larger ones for special occasions? Nice!

You didn't by the way asked the lady about how her balls were called, right? That indeed makes here stare...

Reminds me of a product one of my friends imported in NL:

http://www.ballsforcars.com/

 

That's hilarious Herman! The rear of those cars reminded me of this big Labrador Retriever that we had years ago. He was just huge. My wife and I would take him for a walk and people would sometimes just stare. So, I'd smile and say "well, you know how it is, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree".

Too bad, he was so full of testosterone that he got pretty aggressive so we had to get him gelded. The vet refused my request to have his removed parts saved for posterity in a jar of formaldehyde. He was the best dog, lived to 15 years.

 

yeah, Labradors. I had 5 of them. Great dogs / friends.

 

Jetboy,
For years all I've ever used for exterior work are plastic spreaders like these. They're inexpensive, commonly available, and perfectly designed for the job at hand.

Ball type fillet tools are great, especially when you're working on a tricky triple inside corner. But when it comes time to lay down a simple inside radius I reach for my tool of choice...a soup spoon. You might laugh...but I haven't found anything that works better. I can apply my cabosil, lay down a perfect radius, and clean up most of the excess material all with this little wonder tool. Once the radius is in place I use my plastic spreader to clean up the edges. The only time I'll use tape to mask off an area is when I'm approaching a finishing stage or I have some special concerns.

MM

 

I usually just eyeball fillets with a squeegee or plastic applicator, like the ones shown directly above. I can bend them easily and they conform well enough. The ball is for precision fillets, in areas they will be seen and for those of use that don't like to sand fillets all that much (I know there's only a few of us left). V berth tops, countertops, furniture, cockpit soles and seating, etc. There are lots of places you need a clean, even fillet and the ball works well, no mater what the situation. Maybe it's just that I like to say I have lots of them.

 

I got mine stepping off a bike at around 120mph - YMMV

 

. . . where you got them, not how you lost them . . .

 

Par,
I'd like to refer to the OP here, and ask a question if I may. Although I've never used epoxy myself I've read often enough that if one applies heat even to cured epoxy you can soften it to point where it can be removed. If this is indeed the case then could it be that when applying such a thickened mixture under high ambient heat conditions, and considering the additional heat generated by the exothermic reaction that the epoxy itself is at fault here?

MM

 

No, that's definitely where I found them

I can still hear the clanging...