Hi Rob, the new build looks great, its been a while since ive looked at your site (or this one), have been in a boat building hiatus until recently...

Just wanted to add a few things...

First, bagging tables... i dont think i would ever use melamine MDF ever again... Getting the 2400x1200 panels joined so they are 100% vacuum tight is a real pain... I think next time i will simply fully prep and seal plain MDF boards, then finish them with a tooling coating. Do it once and never have to worry about it ever again. The Melamine scratches easily too, and when it does, you have another vacuum leak... Ive just been sealing the joins with a type of duct tape, works OK but still dont have full faith in it and get the odd leak from time to time. Ive noticed your using Mylar but youve discovered it doesnt last, any progress on this front?

Second, removing the need for cove and taping... How has this been a problem on the curved areas? Im guessing the variation in stiffness is causing the panel to loose its fairness when bent, any solutions yet?

Third, ive been using a high build epoxy primer from wattle as an in mold coating ie. poor mans gel coat, for my infused panels also... So far so good... You can also use other paints as finish coats on the table also, the automotive 2pk acrylic urethanes or polyesters have been used successfuly by people in the states. Details here;

http://www.compositescentral.com/showthread.php?p=42976

The key is in the open time, or how long to wait after application before infusing the layup it seems. They are also selling (in the USA) a type of "in mold coating" for use with epoxy that is applied just like a gelcoat and works the same, i beleive its still polyester based. This development also adds to my desire to build a perfect finish table mold, and pull completely finished panels from it.

Keeo up the good work mate!
Nick

--- In harryproa@yahoogroups.com.au, "proaharry" <harryproa@...> wrote:
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> Latest update now at www.harryproa.com.
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> Made a couple of bulkheads yesterday on the small table. To speed things up, we made them in a stack with a piece of peel ply between them. Laminate looks good apart from a couple of bag creases on the table side. However, we lost any time savings by spending all morning wedging them apart to break the peel ply join. What a struggle! Perforated plastic next time.
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> Installed the bulkheads this afternoon with some help from Jeff, the scone king. Looks good. Next big step will be putting the saloon roof on. In theory, not too difficult, but the sheer size of it will throw up some interesting problems.
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> rob
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