Another day of work

Stringers - Final Gluing
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

Yesterday we did the final gluing of the stringers, and so far this is the part that Im most concerned about. We butt-joined the wider piece on the left to the narrow piece on the right. The now-joined stringer runs from the bow transom to the stern transom, and form the entire bow-to-stern frame pieces.

My concern is that that well break this specific joint in the period between when the joint dries and when we actually mount the pieces. Id highly recommend using a two-person moving method with these completed pieces. Set the stringers vertical (so theyre facing the way they will face when finally installed). Have one person lift with one hand on either side of the joint in this picture, and one person lift toward the back of the narrow section. I may do another video on this to more efficiently demonstrate what Im talking about.

But Im digressing...
Lets assume this joint is as strong as Id hope it should be... lets concentrate on what we did to set this butt joint... As usual, saturate all of the surfaces to be joined with unthickened epoxy, and saturate the fiberglass tape. Lay a coat of thickened epoxy on butt joints. Lay the plastic on the floor. Lay the bottom piece of fiberglass tape roughly where you want it. Set the boards on top of the bottom piece of fiberglass tape, and preset the butt joint. Lay the top piece of fiberglass tape on top of the plywood butt joint. Lay a piece of plastic on top of all of this. Use a square to get a precise 90 degree angle, as the picture hints at. Then use a piece of scrap wood, and temporarily screw the scrap wood to both sides of the butt joint. This will help keep the butt joint from floating during the curing process.

Remember, if you click on the picture, you can see the picture complete with comments and tags on the pics that can help you visualize what Im discussing. Again, the picture is courtesy of www.flickr.com

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A Good Days Work

As Ive mentioned time and time again, summer seems to slow Greg and me down on our quest for the perfect cabin cruiser. Today however, we made some great progress. We sanded down the hard chine on the port side and began the fine work with quick fair. It wasnt a long session time-wise, but we accomplished a lot. Additionally, we discussed ways to work smarter. The problem weve been running in to lately is that we can only put in an hour or two of work and then are required to wait for things to cure. Since the starboard side is about ready for flowcoating and priming, I brought up the idea of flowcoating and priming the boat in sections. This way, if there are areas that we need to revisit, we can be more effective in our work. Your thoughts??

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Almost There

Almost There
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

I figured it was about time for another actual picture of our project. This photo really doesnt do the boat justice, but I wanted to show you something. Next time, Ill take the shot from the bow, and youll get a better idea of the boats overall shape and progress. (This shot makes the boat look more like a giant brick than an actual watercraft.)

What you should notice in this picture is just how sharp weve cut the chines, how flat the boat is, and how patchy the boat looks now. (If you click on the picture, you will see a larger picture, complete with notes on the boat.)

Along the chines, you will see something that looks a little like mold. Greg did a fog coat of black spraypaint. The idea here is to do a very light hand sanding with a long sanding block. After this sanding, we will be able to identify the low spots. These low spots will be easily seen because the fog coat of black spraypaint will remain in the low areas, whereas the paint will have been sanded from the higher areas.

Feel free to click here if youd like an idea of how things looked before we built up the chines.

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Dave Surveys the days work

Dave Surveys the days work
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

This should be the last "what weve done so far" post. From here on, you should see everything we do shortly after we do it.

In this picture, you see several sheets of plywood joined together to form the length of the hull. I am standing directly behind the starboard bottom piece. The starboard side piece is the other section thats laid out. Heres what we did...

We test-fit the sections end-to-end. Once we were satisfied that the pieces fit, we put the sealer coat of epoxy on each side of each butt joint. Next, we joined the pieces together.

In order to join the pieces together, we started with a huge sheet of plastic on the floor (epoxy wont stick to the plastic), then we set a thin strip of plywood on top of the plastic (youll see the method to our madness in a minute), then we laid down another strip of plastic (again, because the epoxy wont stick to the plastic).

Next came the lower strip of fiberglass tape, measured just longer than the butt joints, and placed so the tape fit roughly equally on each piece of plywood to be joined together. We next carefully set the plywood in place.

Next came the top piece of fiberglass tape, again set so that the tape sits equally on either side of the butt joint. Next came another plastic sheet (for non-stick purposes), and finally, another thin strip of plywood.

After all of this was set in place, we double-checked everything and ran a screw through the whole shit-n-shebang, ensuring a non-slipping, tight, solid butt joint. We repeated this whole process for each butt joint. There was a lot of prep work involved, but it saves a lot of work in the long run. We used any leftover epoxy to seal the plywood; well finish the sealing process before we lay the fiberglass over the whole hull.

In summary... we sealed the plywood underneath the fiberglass tape with epoxy. We laid down the big sheet of plastic, so the plywood wouldnt stick to the floor. We laid down a piece of scrap plywood, so the screws would have something to sink into. We laid down a strip of plastic slightly bigger than the scrap plywood. We laid down the bottom epoxy strip. We set the plywood in place over the lower piece of tape. We laid down the top strip of fiberglass tape. We laid down another piece of plastic. We set a top piece of scrap plywood on top, and ran a screw through all of it. Once the butt joints were set, we removed the screws.

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Glassing two days and counting

 I did this first coat in the garage, and then picked it up and took it outside on a nice sunny day to see if I could get the epoxy to cure a little quicker.  My technique was to use a plastic spreader to spread the epoxy.  1st coat sucked it right up,  the second coat (applied today) used very little more glass to fill almost to the top of the weave.  Tyvek coverals ($10 at Lowes) are essential, as well as nitrile gloves.  Clean up of exposed skin parts is done with white vinegar, and soap.  No harsh chemicals to drive into skin. 

 The transom will get a haircut tomorrow morning.  I hope that the Easter Bunny will let me do a little sanding prior to church.  Looking at a couple hours of sanding with the random orbit and 60 grit. 

 Boat will get one more coat of epoxy after the sanding. Then will add the skeg.  Will trim the stem later. 

 The flat spot on the chine bugs me.  Should have fixed it when I had the chance.  I was aiming for a 5 footer (looks good up close), guess I will have to settle for a 20 footer. 
The good news is that this boat still is very easy to pick up and walk around the yard.  I am really looking forward to my first row in this skiff. 

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Lazy Days of Summer

Thats not really a phrase that applies in our situation, but it sounded good nonetheless. Greg and I are still working on the boat, and we are still taking our time. The inside of the hull has been glassed, and we have test-fitted the stringers and frame pieces. Next weeek, we plan to tack the stringers into place, and then after that, it will be time to secure the stringers and frame pieces to the hull.

Greg also purchased a trailer last weekend. It looks nice, but Greg says that hell have to make some minor adjustmenst to it.

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