A little detail on whats going on
The 54 feet mast is being laminated on planks no longer then 16 ft. To make up the length, the end of the planks are scarfed and joined together. Then final diameter is 11 inches at the greatest. We are building up the mast one plank at the time, each scarfed plank added at the end of the previous to build up the long beam which will later be rounded and tapered.
We use a clamp every foot to maintain an even pressure between the planks while the epoxy cures. Packing tape and/or wax paper prevents the clamps from sticking to the mast.
The first spread of adhesive is clear epoxy to wet all the surfaces, then we add thickened epoxy which will fill all voids. We have between 40 and 60 minutes of working time for each mix of epoxy, which is a about the time we need to get the glue spread and all the clamps set on a 16 ft length.
Between, taking the previous clamps off, preparing our clamps for the day and getting the next boards glued, there are a few hours of coordinated work. Laminating the whole mast will take a few weeks to complete.