: I'm at nearly the same point in my project - hull is stripped and
: sanded, gaps are filled. To fair the shear, I had to remove the
: staples and after raising the grain with water my staple holes
: have pretty much disappeared. However, with all the staples
: removed, the hull and deck have relaxed some and separated from
: each other along the shear line as it has sat on the form
: staple-less for the last week. Total gap is about 1" in
: places and the two sides push together tight with medium-light
: pressure.

: I'm reluctant to re-staple the hull, so I'm trying to figure out
: how it makes sense to re-train the sides into place. As I
: understand it, the outside fiberglass layers will add strength
: but not total rigidity, so would it be a reasonable plan to
: apply the exterior fiberglass on the forms with some distortion,
: then train the sides back into shape when I pull it off of the
: form to do the insides?

: Or, should I use the spreaders to true up the sides while the
: exterior fiberglass is still green? I'm a bit concerned about
: the spreaders putting dents or other stress marks in the green
: epoxy. I guess my final option would be to hot glue the boat
: back to the forms, but I've gotten this far without hot glue and
: would need to buy a glue gun, etc.

: So, is there a preferred method for stapled boats to line up the
: sides when applying fiberglass on the forms?

Hot melt glue works great for this and will pop off well enough when struck after it's glassed.

Bill H.