Barnacle Bill Magazine March 2016 issue 3 | Page 31

31

The
Bosun’s Mate

Now you need to wait – but not too long! You want to trim back the edge as soon as it reaches the “green”/”nail
hard stage”. At “nail hard” the surface might be slightly tacky, but it won’t be sticky, if you push a finger nail into
it you will leave a mark.
To trim the edge I use a really sharp Stanley knife – I change to a new blade each time I do this – run the blade
along immediately above the edge of the masking tape – pressing just hard enough to cut the fabric – but not
so hard you cut through the hull fabric underneath – if the epoxy is at the “nail hard” stage this is straight forward to do and you will soon be getting the pressure on the blade just right. If it isn’t set enough the fibres won’t
cut and don’t come away cleanly. If it has set too much it isn’t the end of the world – the trimming back is just
harder to do than it needs to be.

Below: trimming back the edge