Epoxy storm
Time to glue false stem. I use WEST Flex epoxy, formulated for gluing oak.
All components got generously flushed with acetone and cleaned. Plywood stem taped with plastic tape.
It is a big job - 11 long and broad oak slats - so there will be a lot of squeezed out glue which should be utilized.
I prepared parts of centerboard case ready to receive glue and started mixing first batch of Flex.
This glue is magnificent but it is a pain to use, especially on such big jobs: it is already thick so dosing (1:1 volume) and mixing must be done on a plate. To coat all my components I had to make three batches.
Luckily it is moderate temperature today and this epoxy has rather long pot-life so I could prepare additional portions while some slats were already coated.
Then came clamping and trying to control all moving parts from sliding away from each other as clamps were being tightened. Pre-forming them by steaming helped a lot - I did not have to bend them now but still it was tricky.
I could have avoided that by drilling guide holes for a few screws - they would hold slats in the same line. Same as I did when I laminated oak frames on Meritaten. I skipped it here because I had not much wood excess for this and I didn’t want the hole to be visible on the stem, after gluing.
Anyway, with some cursing and ingenuity I managed to keep most of the company in position and tighten clamps. Of course - it would be handy to have a few clamps more at hand, as is always the case with gluing.
It might be that my cursing got Poseidon’s attention and he noticed that I am trying to build the boat by cheating - in every purist eyes glued lapstrake boats are not “real” wooden boats and Poseidon is one of them. As his jurisdiction does not span so far North he probably complaint to Ægir who might had said a word to Thor or even Zeus because dark clouds started to form when I was just mixing the first batch of epoxy.
To my luck these divine negotiations took enough time for me to finish clamping, collect most squeeze out goo and glue side-jobs in the shed.
Just as I was cleaning up after the job the sky broke loose and thunderstorm finally came - heavy, intensive rain.
I covered my work with a tarp and went home for a beer.