Building a Glued Lapstrake Rangeley Lake Boat

Page 15: Preparing to paint the exterior

Epoxy coating the plank edges

We finished the interior varnish (except for a little touch-up) Friday, and Monday morning the varnish on the gunwales was hard enough to turn her over. We applied epoxy resin to the plank edges to prevent water from wicking up the end grain.

Applying wood sealer

Today we sanded exterior, and applied a coat of acrylic sealer.

The first coat of undercoat

This was sanded with 180G, and then we sprayed on the first coat of undercoat. The undercoat is intended to be heavily sanded. It fills the pores of the wood, and sands like chalk when it is fully cured. It was dry enough by evening to enable us to fill small scratches and voids with glazing putty. We hope it will cure overnight so it can be sanded and then we can spray another coat of undercoat.

View of the stern with one coat of undercoat

It's been right around freezing at night, so we might be kidding ourselves. If it's not ready, we'll have to wait a day. At any rate, we should be ready to apply the first coat of white enamel on Monday.