Hi Sue, I've experienced the same thing you have and am looking forward to the responses of some of the more experienced builders, but here's my two cents.

I had three butt joints come out terribly and after calling Pygmy boats and asking for advice here I used a rotary sander to sand all the way down to the wood. If you do this, Ross Leidy pointed out that if there's any epoxy left on the wood, that section may be a slightly different color when you retape and epoxy. I sanded down to wood (being careful not to take off much wood) and the second time they looked good.

Additionally, if the bubbles are on the surface, a little light sanding will get rid of them. Additionally, and someone correct me if I'm wrong please, I'm guessing that the upcoming layers of glass & epoxy will fill in any irregularities in the butt joints that exist now.

Hope this helps.

Brion

> I've been doing butt joints in small batches since I don't have much work
> space. I've finally got the knack of it (having figured out that you need
> to be generous with the epoxy) and the last few batches look great. On the
> other hand, the first 4 joints that I did look awful. I was too sparing
> with the epoxy and I've got bubbles under the glass tape. They're on the
> inside of the panels so won't be visible but will it affect the integrity
> of the joint (most are small but one bubble is about 1/2" x
> 3/4"!) Is there anything I can do about it? Is it possible to remove
> the tape and do it over??

> The second problem is that one of the joints looked great from the top
> when I removed the bricks and mylar but when turned to the side, it was
> obvious that the two pieces weren't butted up perfectly--one is slightly
> (1/16") higher than the other. Maybe the floor wasn't perfectly flat?
> Again, is there anything I can do about this? I'm sure I can build up the
> epoxy when I tape the other side and get it to come out flat.

> Thanks for your advice,

> Sue