Should I ease lapstrake edges for painted finish?

[tonyl09]

I'm in the midst of building a Herrreshoff 17' rowboat, getting ready to do the sheer planks. It won't be long after that when it will be time to paint the exterior.

I am doing glued lapstrake planking with 6mm plywood. As I've cut the planks out I pre-finished the interior side with a saturation coat of epoxy and sanded them to 120. The bottom and garboard will be sheathed in 6oz glass inside and out. The remaining planks will be epoxy saturated only painted with two-part polyurethane.

Remembering the old adage "round all corners, ease all edges," I'm wondering if I should ease that outer corner of the planks to get the paint to last better.

Any thoughts on the matter?

Here are a couple shots of the build, when lining off the planking and double-checking the sheer after the first four planks.
IMG_4998.jpg
IMG_5478.jpg

Thanks -- Tony

[Rich Jones]

Welcome to the Forum!
I've built quite a few glued lapstrake boats and always eased the edges just a wee bit.
It doesn't take much to ease an edge for paint to adhere better just a little swipe with a piece of sandpaper.
I think it even more important since it's plywood which could easily splinter if left sharp.

[neil.henderson]

I'd suggest - it depends.......................
Do you want the boat to look like a traditional timber pin & rove clinker build and what would the edges have looked like after a traditional construction?
Or, are you happy with a look which is slightly (very slightly) different to a traditional look?

I am building my 3rd glued clinker boat, I do not round the edges of the planks, but I do make sure that the ply edges are well sealed - I use water thin 2-part sealant that I slosh (technical term) on till the ply stops absorbing - allow to dry for 2-3 days & then sand, then I paint with enamel.

Good Luck Neil

[Yeadon]

Round ‘em. Knick off the hard edges at the minimum. No sharp edges on little boats is a good rule. Not a bullnose, but as Rich said, ease them. Paint will stick and they’ll feel good in hand.

[Andrew Donald]

I vote Ease em. Paint will stick better and won’t get knocked off as easy.

[Roy Morford]

My vote is just a slight easing with sandpaper. That's what I've done on my wherry build and the paint appears to adhere well.

[rgthom]

A vote for fairly generous easing. They are going to get dinged, you do not want water getting into plywood.

[Canoeyawl]

We used to glue on a strip of hardwood usually mahogany, the thickness of the plywood x about 3/8" this was faired again with a rebate plane and skimmed off to exactly the planking thickness with a block plane. That protected the end grain and allowed you to plane a wee chamfer to hold finish, it disappeared after the first coat of paint.

[Hugh MacD]

I'm with the majority here on easing edges. It's a boat...anything sharp will get bumped eventually and break that finish.

[tonyl09]

Thanks, everyone. Seems like we're pretty much in agreement on doing some easing. I'll proceed along those lines.

Learned quickly about that from the ergonomic view on the interior of my first boat, a 28' single-chine plywood cruising boat. Sharp edges are a real pain in a seaway.

[jim_cricket]

I ease edges, and put a small fillet down in the corner of the lap. In fact, I fillet ALL epoxy seams. The paint film lasts much longer with no hard inside corners to crack.

[David G]

I ease edges, and put a small fillet down in the corner of the lap. In fact, I fillet ALL epoxy seams. The paint film lasts much longer with no hard inside corners to crack.

Strongly agree. Not so heavy a fillet that it's visible, but even a tiny one makes a big difference to paint adhesion, and even strength.

And yes, ease those sharp edges - for two reasons. First, leaving them sharp leaves them vulnerable. They'll get rounded over in use anyway, best to beat nature to the punch and get some paint on. Second - because of the surface tension/capillary action of the wet paint film... it will want to migrate away from any sharp edge. That leaves the corner poorly protected by the paint . The paint performs much better covering even a slightly eased edge.

[tonyl09]

Got the first coat onthe topsides today, Perfection 2-part urethane. The bottom and garboard are glassed and gloss-coated with graphite-filled eopxy.
IMG_7592.jpgIMG_7597.jpg

Tony

[sp_clark]

Nice 'boat shop' you have there Tony!

Nice work on that 17'er too! Enjoy her once she's wetted!

[nedL]

Beautiful boat and beautiful shop!

Will you be bringing her to the WBS in June?

[Chris Woodward]

That's looking really nice, Tony. Good to hear you here.

[tonyl09]

Beautiful boat and beautiful shop!

Will you be bringing her to the WBS in June?

I might visit the show, but who knows when I will have the interior finished. That cool winter delayed my epoxy work.

The greenhouse is a fun workspace, though it was hard to get far enough away from the boat to check for fairness when planking. We ended up putting everything in diagonally -- the strongback and 20' worktable -- to squeeze everything in.

Cheers -- Tony

[Bill Perkins]

Tony ;I did as you have done on the exterior of my lapstrake ply boat . Primed with epoxy ,then 2 part poly topcoat . !0 yeqrs later the coating was still perfect.I recoated because the green had faded some ;pure vanity on my part .

[Michael_Owen]

Beautiful job! I just met a wooden boat builder from Jamestown the other night in the parking lot of a Providence Whole Foods. He said there is a group of fellas that frostbite sail their Shellback dinghies down there. Always good to know more wooden boat folks near by.

Mike