Fun with Minicel, AKA, I love the smell of contact cement and a heat gun in the morning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALi78xSaP0YI got choosy about minicel cushiness versus durability, I really want the NorthStar to be my best and most thoughtful work yet. There are different grades of pliability and durability with minicel and EVA foams, and I believe I now have some in every variety. I wanted something cushy compressible for the knee bumpers, something from this pile of softer minicel chunks.
PA160015 by
Mike McCrea, on Flickr
Something more rigid and durable for water shoe or boot heel planted in front of the foot brace bar, and a sturdy wedge to trap the barrel held in place against the front edge of the utility thwart.
The knee bumpers needed to be 3” thick cushy minicel, marked for contact cement where they tuck an inch under the inwales, and Dragonskinned for curved edges to reduce sheer forces when getting in and out of the canoe.
PA170019 by
Mike McCrea, on Flickr
The foot brace boot heel pads are 6” x 9” rectangles of more durable EVA yoga block from the Conk box. Perimeter outlines taped for precise contact cement application.
PA170021 by
Mike McCrea, on Flickr
I am amazed at how everything on the NorthStar fits so perfectly. I did another test sit before commencing with the minicel and contact cement. Everything is the acme of exactness. Not this Acme.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9m7evoFF83cConsidering I reused old inwale holes in some places I’m either damn good or damn lucky. The 45L blue barrel, my favorite size on longer trips, fits snug as a bug between the inwales.
PA170022 by
Mike McCrea, on Flickr
The 38L barrel is a couple inches shorter and will fit equally well. Either of those barrels will “trap” nicely against the front of the utility thwart via a minicel Conk wedge.
Time for some contact cement work; the usual three coats on the minicel, two on the hull, last coats dried to barely tacky, heat gunned, press together and pray for alignment.
PA180024 by
Mike McCrea, on Flickr
I dry fit practiced seating the knee bumpers a couple times, which are contact cemented to both the underside of the inwale and to the hull; always tricky when using contact cement adhesion in two dimensions at the same time. The knee bumpers, insta-stuck when contact cemented to both the underside of the inwale and the side of the hull where tricky to install just right; with a Sharpie mark at the inwale edge I could line them up and pivot them underneath to be simultaneously stuck to both edges. Or so I hoped, only get one chance with contact cement.
Once stuck all of that minicel got clamped or wax paper & sandbag weighted, and I could have a look at the replacement NRS 3D stem bags.
Fully inflated those 3D end bags fit the Yellowstone Solo stems very well. In the NorthStar stems I would need to deflate them to half their size. Beyond that, lacking sufficient lacing points for a decent cage, I had to honestly consider how often I was going to install flotation in the NorthStar. Somewhere between rarely and never.
The vinyl pad D-ring locations, installed at the ends of those half-filled bags, would be less than ideally located for other, more likely purposes. I wanted those double D-rings on the foam core floor betwixt seat and stems, between a couple sheerline tie points.
PA180030 by
Mike McCrea, on Flickr
As far as I’m concerned those strategically located D-rings are never coming out, so I’ll install them using G/flex. The perimeter tape is just there, as with the minicel, to help neatly brushing on the contact cement, and to achieve squared-away and centered aim when installing the pads. Once the minicel and pads are glued in place the tape comes out.
Vinyl pad D-rings G/flexed in place, sand bag weighted and checked occasionally for full contact adhesion, finger pressed, hard rollered and re-weighted.
More epoxy babysitting, might be time to check in at the shop office, have a beer and other treats. I ran an exhaust fan in the bench window while doing the contact cement work, so I’m not stoned yet.