: Harumph!

: Patience is a virtue quite unlike honesty.

: It is reasonably easy to decide to be honest and then carry out the plan to
: perfection.

: Deciding the be patient and exact and then carrying that out to perfection
: ... well the likes of Rob and Joe and Nick and others may have it in them,
: but I still struggle.

: Which is the genesis of this post. Despite bead and cove, Despite careful
: fitting, I still have some small gaps in the hull of the stripper I am
: putting together. The imperfections are of two types... one type involves
: several small gaps - 1/16 of an inch by a half inch - here and there where
: pieces did not join perfectly... The second type is the line where two
: strips come together in a bead and cove, across a chine or other area of
: sharp curve in the forms.

: The bead and cove lines may disappear when I get the plane and sander out...
: time will tell. But how about the other little chinks? Last boat I used
: some wood glue mixed with sawdust to fill a number of them, and this
: worked pretty well. Others have talked about plastic woods of several
: types.

: I assume that the real goal to a nearly flawless application (artistic) of
: glass and epoxy is starting with an entirely fair wood base... no holes
: from which bubbles can rise, no step-offs. This will seem to require some
: use of a filler.

: I believe it was Rob Macks who mentioned in the last couple weeks that he
: uses Dunham's wood paste which is mixed with water and then some dye is
: added. I looked around Lowes for such a product and did not see it. Should
: I be looking in a paint store for it?

: That's it.. just a bit bummed that I can't find the patience to do the wood
: perfectly and need to fix it up with a little filler...

: Well, this is only the hull. I have promised myself that the deck will be
: even more perfect.

: Rick

Hi Rick,
I know the feeling. Hiding the flaws is becoming an art. One trick I think I am going to get away with is using a 1/4" half round wood carving tool to cut a shallow cove in a crack that opened up. Then I went to a matching piece of scrap and cut a curl of a chip that I applied glue to and clamped flat onto the first cut. It is a perfect cove and bead type match because it was cut with the same tool, no glue line showing. I won't know how close the wood color match is until I glass. Hopefully it doesn't scream "Flaw".
Reg