Nutshell Pram EXCUSE ME 24 Jun 22 Making the Mast

 24 Jun 22:

The Nutshell Mast is 8' 5" long, and the widest diameter is just above the base where it flares to 2 3/8". The bulk of the mast is 2 1/8" though, so we decided to make the blank 2 1/8" and save on some carving. It should be plenty strong, as a comparison our Sunfish mast is 2 1/4" diameter and it carries 75 square feet of sail, twice that of the Pram. We just have to remember down the road to cut the mast thwart hole to 2 1/8". 

We cut 2 pieces to length, then ripped them 2 1/8" on one side and 1 1/16" on the other. For adhesive we used TotalBoat THIXO Flex dispensed from their 2 component epoxy resin and hardener cartridge in a 25:1 High Thrust Caulk Gun. 2 beads of epoxy per face then we spread it with a paint stir stick to ensudre full coverage.

Video: Gluing the Mast Halves

We laid down some plastic sheet to keep the mast from sticking to the floor, a little of the plastic stuck to the epoxy though, not an issue as it will be sawed or sanded off. Poly sheet would work better. We clamped the mast every foot or so and used the plywood floor edge line as a visual guide to make sure the mast blank is mostly straight

When tightening clamps a small amount of epoxy squuezeout should be seen, then it is time to stop clamping, the thickened epoxy has filled gaps at this point. Any further clamp pressure could force epoxy out of the joint. Plus as the wood absorbs the epoxy some of that small bead will be drawn back into the seam.

Here is a small spot where no epoxy squeezed out, so we later added a dab of epoxy with the caulk gun.

Log of EXCUSE ME.