More Graduate

 After getting the top and bottom fit, it was time to cut out the hatch cover

CLC sends a 78 page instruction book, these things are very well detailed. It's best to use a reciprocating saw with a metal cutting blade in there to prevent tearout.

The rings & templates give me the sizing for the hatch hole

You know how they say you can't have too many clamps?

Epoxy for the inner ring and more clamps

 

You can still see the copper stitches in there. Should probably do something about that next

Stitches are out, fiberglass tape on the seams and cloth on the center seat

So now the frames are all out, except for the one bulkhead between the main seating area and the covered hatch. First I used a syringe to tack weld epoxy in between the stitches to hold these fragile joints in place. Then pulled out the copper wire stitches and added wood flour (sawdust) to some epoxy to make "fillets", to create a smooth surface over all of the joints. Pressing fiberglass tape and more unthickened epoxy over the fillet creates a watertight seam. Then cover the entire surface with unthickened epoxy, and add fiberglass cloth to the exposed seating area for protection. Finally thicken more epoxy with silica powder (included in the kit) when I need to smooth out some of the fiberglass. 

Next we can join the top to the bottom and start shaping this thing!