A letter

Hello!

This is me, I am writing from the cold Estonia with a warm heart. I have not sent a postcard for a long time, was out of ink and stamps. Yesterday we steamed some stringers and ended up with a cageboat hard to work in. Here is a picture of this:

We developed a new technique for avoiding steamed-stringers cracking from knotholes. Namely, we used screws to fasten a 40 cm long piece of leftover stringer over the knotspot: on the outer side of the bend. We managed to bend some rather knotted wood like this. In general, no-one has yet recommended leaving a knothole in the stringer superstructure, but we hope to repair the to-be-evoked weaknesses by applying glass fabric over the knots. The steamer is still functional, by the way. Here is a picture of this as well:

The wood held even after removing the brace. Well, that’s that. Other than that, it is going fine. Days are getting longer, since the spring is approaching. There is more sunlight and vitamin D, or whatever it was called. Nevertheless, it puts a smile on peoples faces.
Joosep has pioneered a new technique for mixing epoxy and fillets. With a drill and a mixer bit. Does a fine job. “The epoxy is of a lot better consistency when mixed like this,” he says. I was afraid initially, that the glue would foam up, since it is a polymer, but that did not happen. Again, that is a good method for diferentiating generally between organic and inorganic substances: if it foams up, then it is organic. Here is Joosep proving me wrong with this new fast epoxy mixing method:

Also, there are new planks on the way:

It looks good from the inside as well:

There is still some work to be done inside the cabin. For this, we have to remove the upper stringers. But that is not a problem, they are, for now, held in place with screws. The starboard plank will be due in a week or so. Meanwhile, Joosep and I are pondering on vacuum laminating techniques. We think that this would give faster and better results than we have had so far. First steps have been stepped in the direction of this new concept. We are looking for old fridges for salvaging the vacuum pump. There is a brief overview article on this DIY concept here: http://myweb.cableone.net/bcanderson/Boatz/Vacuum/Vacuum.html
Joosep has also been working on the cabin seats. Have a look:

I think that is it, I don’t know what to write anymore. There will be more in the future. I hope you are doing well, take care.

Sincerely,
the nerds