The Gougeon Brothers on Boat Construction - WEST SYSTEM Epoxy

Chapter 21 – Laminating Veneer Over a Mold or Plug 241
Staples holding first layer of
veneer to mold.
Figure 21-19 Marking and preparing a hull for the second layer of veneer. Note that staples are left in the first layer until planks
of the second layer are spiled.
have never had to leave in more than a dozen or so
staples. When you remove the hull from the mold,
clip any protruding staples flush with sidenippers or
wire cutters and sand smooth.
If there is to be a third layer, lightly fair the hull before
you apply it. Use a hand plane and a hand fairing block
with rough sandpaper to remove any lumps of epoxy
between the edges of the veneers and any humps and
bumps which have developed during laminating. You
can speed this process considerably by using a light
duty, 2100-rpm polisher with a foam disc grinding pad.
We bond a piece of plastic or plywood to the pad, and
this combination does a better job of fairing high spots
than the foam disc itself. Check general fairness by
laying a light batten at various angles on the lamination.
Any humps will immediately show up. Quickly mark
them with chalk or pencil for removal.
Mechanical Spiling
A major problem with laminating a wooden hull is the
tedious spiling required. Proper spiling demands a good
deal of time and skill. While first layers, and usually last
layers, must be spiled by hand, you can fit and trim the
Plank of the second veneer
layer glued and stapled.
Area prepared for the second layer.
Glue bumps and ridges sanded.
layers in between, however many there are, with a faster
and simpler mechanical spiling process.
A mechanical spiler is basically a tool that will cut even
gaps between veneers. This trimming takes place on the
hull, after thickened epoxy has been applied to the
bonding surfaces and the veneers are stapled in place.
<strong>The</strong> gaps are filled with standard size filler veneers—
narrow strips of laminating material. With a spiler, it
is possible to laminate an entire hull with minimal
amounts of hand spiling. If a hull has enough
compound curvature to necessitate a lot of spiling, a
mechanical system can be an important time saver.
Unfortunately, no mechanical spiling tool is available in
the stores. You will have to make your own, but this is
not difficult. <strong>The</strong>re are several ways to make them, but
only two basic types of spilers. <strong>The</strong> first and most
common uses a circular saw blade, while the second
uses a router with a small fly-cutting attachment. We
usually use the saw type and have developed a number
of variations on it which work fairly well.
Any machine used for spiling should be able to make a
1 ⁄8" (3mm) cut approximately 2" (50mm) away from the