The power tools we've used include a table saw, cordless drill, power plane, router, sabre saw,
orbital sander, belt sander and 5-1/2" circular saw. The design calls for quite a few parallel
cuts in plywood. For those we use the circular saw with a Kreg Rip-Cut saw guide.
The epoxy station, where all measuring, mixing and adding additives takes place.
We mix epoxy by weight, which requires a different ratio than doing
it by volume. Raka's website has a mix-by-weight chart, which is the
paper tacked to the wall above the counter.
Inexpensive digital scales make measuring epoxy batches quick, easy and more accurate than
doing it by volume. We started with the Digital Weigh brand scale on the left, but soon
discovered it was unreliable. It would randomly turn off in the middle of measuring.
We then replaced it with the My Weigh brand Triton T2 scale on the right, which has
been very reliable.
One of several tests we've done is to epoxy two pieces of 1/2" MDO together
with a 3/4" x 1-1/2" piece of lumber to model the chine and deck joints.
David's 175 lbs. on the glued up test piece. It didn't budge. We then both stood
on it and still it was solid. (Sorry, Pearl won't divulge her weight, so we
don't know the total weight).
We've also made up several test pieces of MDO by simply overlapping them and
gluing the overlap with epoxy. We then stressed each test piece to
the breaking point. In every case failure occurred within the ply layers, not at the glue
joint.