Side panels stringers, the nano filet and the 5 minutes epoxi miracle

After the hull stringers were all placed and reinforced with aramid fiber, time came to strenghen the hull sides.
İ did exactly what Ben did and that is one of the advantages of being a little bit behind.....! Thanks dude. So İ went with simple 2 inches strips of ply, which as a matter of fact ended up being much more than that in the middle due to the curvature.

To place those stringers at their correct location İ first marked the middle of each panel (from sheer to shine) and trace a line. İ tried to have that line as smooth and balanced as possible over the entire hull from f214 to f 53.5.

To shape those stringers to their correct size İ basically used a very high tech piece of machinary.....my eyes ! No rocket science there.
To make it easier on myself , İ used a straight wooden stick cut to the exact length for each panel stringer then placed it on top of the panel center line İ drawn, from frame to frame. Then İ looked carefully at the gap that showed underneath that stick. (sorry no picture) Measured gap at 1/4 length, middle, and 3/4 , took the stick and those gap measurements back to a leftover plywood piece, marked those measurements and cut. All it took afterwards was a little hand file and fine adjustments to make it almost perfect in all cases.
Then came the Nano filet and the 5 minutes epoxi miracle.











İ have to admit that although İ bought that 5 mns epoxi, İ was not really found of it before and did not use it for bottom hull stringers. There was actually no need to support those bottom hull stringers before actually fileting and taping. But for the side panel stringers it was a totally different story ! So the 5 mn epoxi came to the rescue and the Nano filet came around. Basically İ just did really small filet with silica /5mn epoxi putty.

The purpose was just to hold the stringers in place before actual fılets were done and that really worked 100%.

As a matter of fact here goes a little explanation on how İ held those stringers in place in order to "nano filet" them. İ used the largest clamps İ had and left it hang inside the hull. Then İ used little left over 2x2 blocks (those are my work bench leftovers) and placed them right underneath the stringer to make sure it was perpendicular to the side panel.

İ carefully closed that clamp until everything was aligned with the previously drawn panel middle line and used masking tape to hold the clamp from sliding back.

This was necessary since the clamp was not actually clamping or grasping anything but rather was just supporting the square block on top of which the stringer was laying.

Maybe 5 mns to get the set up perfectly aligned for each stringer, many runs to the other side of the boat just to make sure that all stringers (from bow to stern) looked aligned and seemed to flow as one single giant reinforcement, and then the Nano filet were applied.

5mns after, everything was removed, all stringers were holding tightly and normal filet / tape was applied.

Working on those stringers is not a dificult operation but overall İ would say it is very time consuming. İ spent a good amount of hours to finish the job. Another thing İ am using copiously spending with all those frames and stringers is resin and silica. İ bought 1kg of silica which came in a very large bucket and İ thought it would last me for ever, but to my own surprise it is almost finish. İ will have to buy another bucket !

Next steps for me are:

-finish all stringers (between f18 and f53.5) and maybe some more to support cockpit sole and decks

-finish keel and keel box