: New member! Just received my Pygmy Osprey Standard. I hope one or more of you
: can answer a couple preliminary questions for me before I get started. Is
: it (or is it not) advisable to lightly sand the panels before I start to
: drill etc. AND - I notice that there are no beveled edges for the kit. Is
: it okey to bevel the inside edges of the panels? I would think that the
: sides would hold better and have less of a gap on the outside as the sides
: get stitched together.
: Does anyone have an opinion for me? thanks in advance.

Tom:

If it's not too late, here's my experience with Pygmy boats (have built two of them)

You will eventually sand the exterior of the boat - rounding edges, smoothing seams, fairing the butt joints, etc. When this occurs, if the sanded texture differs at all from the condition of the wood prior to glassing the butt joint, there will be a difference in color. Coarse textures seem to absorb more epoxy/get darker, fine sanded surfaces absorb less/appear lighter. The bottom line on this is: lightly sand all the panels prior to assembly, to the same level you plan to sand the hull prior to glassing. (I had good luck with 150 grit, and eliminated nearly all of the Pygmy "banding" on my second boat. Any residual banding seems to be related to fabric reflectance/relative absorbsion of epoxy).

Regarding beveled edges: My first boat was done per instructions, and though it turned out fine, it did have wider exterior epoxy seams than I'd hoped, and getting the seams to align perfectly was a bit of an effort due to the sharp inside edges of the unbeveled wood. Following review of this BB - and CLC's Shop Tips - I lightly beveled all inside edges of my next kit, a Coho. This really helped alignment chores (was glad, since the Coho is a multi-chine), and did reduce the visible seams on its exterior.

Wouldn't get carried away on beveling, since I'm sure you could mess up the shape of the boat somewhat this way, but in moderation, it sure worked for me.

Good luck, don't worry, and have fun!

Rick