verhaalsite

Chapter: - Seat construction -
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To get a good seat for my boat I used the seat from my old boat as a mould. I wrapped the seat in plastic, poured plaster of Paris over it, and removed the mould after it hardened. Then I shaped the plaster a little bit to get it more comfortable.

This is the seat as it dries in front of the heating system of our house.

I reduced the porosity of the plaster by first painting it with wallpaper glue, then covering it with a layer of beeswax.

Using a paint stripper I heated the surface to get it really smooth. After this I applied 2 layers of mould release film.

After the first layer of gelcoat coins were added to the wet gelcoat. I want to sit on my money. After hardening a second layer of gelcoat was added.
As the seat was made with polyester the brushes were cleaned with aceton.

3 layers of fibreglass with polyester follow the gelcoat. It smelled terribly, a gas mask was definitely a must. People far into the street smelled it.

As a child we built houses with playing cards. So I used this experience to build a small room to heat the seat using 2 light bulbs, 60 Watt each. The temperature reached was about 37 degrees Celcius while it was 5 degrees in the garage.

I removed the excess polyester/glass, and tried to keep the mould in one piece while separating the seat from the plaster form. However the plaster broke, so it went into the garbage bin as waste. Apparently I didn't use enough release film, or the heat system melted the wax again.

The seat fits perfectly in the boat, and is kept in place by RVS nuts and bolts. This way it can be removed when necessary.

Once again an important moment. For the first time I can sit in my boat. I did it very carefully, afraid to hear cracking and the sound of splintering wood, however it went perfectly. Nothing even creaked. I plan to make a small change in the seat position, moving it 3 cm. forward. Remember the pencil story? The marks disappeared making me have to guess at the seat placement.

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	To get a good seat for my boat I used the seat from my old boat as a mould. I wrapped the seat in plastic, poured plaster of Paris over it, and removed the mould after it hardened. Then I shaped the plaster a little bit to get it more comfortable.
	This is the seat as it dries in front of the heating system of our house.
	I reduced the porosity of the plaster by first painting it with wallpaper glue, then covering it with a layer of beeswax.
	Using a paint stripper I heated the surface to get it really smooth. After this I applied 2 layers of mould release film.
	After the first layer of gelcoat coins were added to the wet gelcoat. I want to sit on my money. After hardening a second layer of gelcoat was added. As the seat was made with polyester the brushes were cleaned with aceton.
	3 layers of fibreglass with polyester follow the gelcoat. It smelled terribly, a gas mask was definitely a must. People far into the street smelled it.
	As a child we built houses with playing cards. So I used this experience to build a small room to heat the seat using 2 light bulbs, 60 Watt each. The temperature reached was about 37 degrees Celcius while it was 5 degrees in the garage.
	I removed the excess polyester/glass, and tried to keep the mould in one piece while separating the seat from the plaster form. However the plaster broke, so it went into the garbage bin as waste. Apparently I didn't use enough release film, or the heat system melted the wax again.
	The seat fits perfectly in the boat, and is kept in place by RVS nuts and bolts. This way it can be removed when necessary.
	Once again an important moment. For the first time I can sit in my boat. I did it very carefully, afraid to hear cracking and the sound of splintering wood, however it went perfectly. Nothing even creaked. I plan to make a small change in the seat position, moving it 3 cm. forward. Remember the pencil story? The marks disappeared making me have to guess at the seat placement.