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CS 17


Paul356

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Thanks, Lennie.  I did get the inwales in after that picture, another 4-hour job butonce in place it made a huge differnce.  The fir didn't crack, but I'm guessing it was close. I have no idea where to get long mahogony around here any more.  30 years ago, yes, but not now.   Once again, wife to the rescue to help with clamping and pushing.  It looks like highs in the 70s this weekend, so I should be able to get all of the chines, cockpit sides and bulkheads in and taped -- I hope!

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Hi Paul,  Tru and I are awaiting our kit and would like to get the cradle put together and the centerboard started.  Do you have dimensions for the centerboard blank that you made?  And cradle frame? 

Hope your weekend work goes well.  I hope we can come over (from Viroqua WI) and check it out this fall, if that would be cool with you!  We should have the kit in 3 weeks or so. 

-Matt and Tru. 

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12 hours this weekend, filleting and taping.  I'm getting better at it.  It's funny the skills one acquires.  I'm also getting less goop on myself and more on the boat.  I did find some in my beard, tho.  The next boat will only take half as long.   :) But, anyway, it's fun to feel the hull getting more rigid as everything starts to get tied in place.  I was surprised at how much epox the tape needs for wetting out.

 

I'm trying whenever possible to do the taping while the fillets are still pretty fresh, even a bit soft.  That seems to make everything look and feel better, and saves a ton of time on sanding.  I'm not sure how energetic I am going to feel about sanding rough spots smooth and tape edges flat inside the compartments and lockers that no one will see.

 

I decided at one point yesterday that it would be neat to leave the aft face of the forward bulkhead bright, so I'll have the wood grain looking back at me under the deck top, so that's what I'm going to do.  It's such a nice expanse.  Some photos of the weekend work are attached. 

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Matt and Tru,

 

You're definitely welcome to come visit.  Let me know when you're ready for a road trip.

 

The cradle frame ended up 12 feet long and 33" wide.  I wanted it to be narrow enough that I could stand under/next to the boat while working on it, but I don't remember exactly how I came up with 33".  Probably just ended up cutting the cross pieces 30" and put the sides on the outside.  In any event, it's working well.  The cross bars underneath that hold the casters are 48".  All 6 casters freewheel. 

 

I made the CB blank big enough for the entire blade minus the cap piece at the top and minus the last little curved piece at the top rear.  I believe that I made some of the pieces toward the rear shorter.  I started the shaping by drawing the foil shape I wanted and then cutting steps down into the blank, lengthwise, to correspond, like contour lines on a map, using my largest router bit.  I smoothed the lifts with planes, spokeshave and RA sander with 60 and 80-grit paper.  I had to go back and do some filling with thickened epoxy where I had some voids, splinters and low spots, and in some cases that was a two- or three-step process. 

 

I did the rope trick in the leading edge.  If I recall, I cut that groove with the router using a centering jig while the blank was still square, and put the rope in fairly early in the process so that I could shape up to it.

 

I did some lifesize layout drawings, too, to help shape and cut the top piece.

 

The hardest thing in the whole process was finding good wood and getting straight slats cut to glue up for the blank. 

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I'm not sure how energetic I am going to feel about sanding rough spots smooth and tape edges flat inside the compartments and lockers that no one will see.

My advice here is to make sure you sand them enough to remove the sharp points especially at the edge. They tend to catch on things and tear them, including your hands when you are reaching for something in the locker, which I know from experience. :(

 

Cheers

Peter HK

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Re, finding good wood:  I just replaced the side door on my shop with a salvaged metal half glass door and the old jamb and the old door are both old straight fir.  Possibly enough there to do the CB.  Nothing like old wood for straight clear and stable.  (not to mention free and right there in my hands!)

If we were to come see your project, are you on a regular work schedule and around on weekends?  Tru has this Friday off of school, so we could maybe come then, or on the weekend. 

 

That's great info for the cradle.  Does the kit come with patterns for the chevron shaped support sheets? 

-M&T

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  • 2 weeks later...

I think the inner keel batten has loomed as scary piece for many; I know it did for me.  On the other hand, every CS ends up with one, so it must not be impossible.  Here's how I'm doing mine. 

 

I measured the interior angle at one foot intervals along the centerline with a bevel guage, then divided that vaue in 2.  I laid out the half-angle on a piece of scrap so I could measure from the point of the angle out 1.75" along the base line, then measure the gap up to the angle line, a fraction of an inch at each station.  I marked that gap distance on the edge of the keel stock at each station.  Next, I used the table saw to rip a beveled piece off each half with the saw at the angle of the least bevel, 7.5 degrees in my case.  Fortunately, the resulting bevel matched the mark at the three stations it was supposed to.  For the remaining stations, I made two angled cuts with a razor saw from the center line to the mark on the edge showing the depth of the angled gap.  I chiseled out the notch, and that gave me a pair of angled notches at each station to show the bevel needed at each station.  Then the fun part:  I planed the bevel on each side to match the groove at each station.  After quite a bit of time spent measuring, laying out and making the angled notches, it only took about 15 or 20 minutes to hand plane each side, and the winding bevel appeared almost magically.  Next comes final fitting and finding a good way to clamp or screw it snugly to the curve in the bottom before bedding it, as Graham says, in a layer of thickened epoxy "mush."

 

Pictures show the stock part way through planing, with some notches already planed out and some still as first cut.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Next step,the transom.  Now it's in place.   And while I usually wear either belt or suspenders but not both (and today ran out of the house without either), I did decide to beef up the works with a layer of glass on the outside and bracing on the inside against the day I need to motor 20 mi with an outboard. I'm going to finish it bright.  Right now there's enough epoxy to bed the cloth and then a healthy clear coat on top.  That will get scuffed up eventually, all sanded smooth, another clear coat if needed, and then varnished. Fillets and taping will follow, of course.  Gold leaf for the name and hailing port? So, the end-of-summer construction rush continues. Oh, and thanks to Graham for a tip on adding shims to get the width right.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Not too exciting especially compared to the fun of the messabout and people making real progress in construction, but I did manage to score a trailer this weekend that took minimal adjustment and seems like it will work very well.  For now it will let me haul the boat some place indoors for the winter, making more room in the garage for cars, snowblowers, etc.  Ugh.  The trailer is a Karavan.  I said I needed their lightest, simplest model for a 17' long boat, and this was ready for me two days later.  $845 as shown here plus a spare tire.

 

 

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  • 4 months later...

The romance of boatbuilding returns.

 

Well, sort of.  I donned respirator, face plate, coveralls, gloves, hat and spent 10 hours or so over the last three Saturdays deep in the bowels of a boat shed downtown.  Sanding.  Sanding.  And sanding some more.  I was  smoothing blobs and blebs and tape joints from the initial round of epoxy work on the  CS 17 last fall.  But at least now it's ready to come back to the garage for further construction once the weather warms.  I can see the progress, but I doubt anyone else could.   

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But I had some fun this winter, too. I wanted a pair of 10.5-foot oars, so I made blanks out of three lifts each of some really nice straight-grain Douglas fir one of the lumberyards has here in long lengths.  The fun part has been planing and shaping away everything that doesn't look like a Culler oar.

 

That big joiner plane is really neat.  I got it on eBay for $50.  The seller said he figured I was buying it to put on a shelf as an ornament and was tickled to learn I was using it.  I spent 45 min dressing the blade and it slices as fine as you could hope for.  The model dates from 1876, a "liberty."

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  • 3 months later...

Hey Paul, 

Matt and Tru out in Viroqua here.  How are you coming along?  We're making good progress, but we might be a little less exacting than you in our approach to some things.  

Are you getting in the water this summer or fall?  

We are hopeful, but have a lot left to do.  

We'd still love to see your boat at whatever stage its at.  Not sure when we'd find the time to get over there, but the intention is there!  

-Matt  

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Hi, men. 

 

Progress goes in spurts.  I had thought I was going to get the keel on and bottom painted at the end of May.  I taped the chines and bottom vee with 10 oz tape and epoxy, sanded smooth and recoated a few times.  Then a) some life events interfered with that week off and  B) I decided to go ahead and put a layer of glass cloth on the bottom after all.  I used 4 oz. cloth.  I'm glad I glassed it, because the bottom feels much stronger and "tough" and there's no flex at all any more in the 1/4"  ply at the bow.  But it also meant a lot of extra coats of epoxy both before and after putting on the cloth and, at least the way it worked out for me, several trips over the topsides and bottom sanding, somem light, some aggressive.  I have perfected my epoxy-layering technique, however, now that I am almost done (roll on a light coat on a warm day, tip it with a foam brush.) 

 

I'm close again to being ready for the keel and paint, but not quite there, and now it's the end of July.  More life events, some sailing on Lake Michigan, some extra work commitments, etc.  So, no real complaints. 

 

 Pictures show laying out the glass (not much to show, really) and then the hull after one of the later coats of epoxy over the glass (plus starting a bit of the next round of sanding).  It looks great from 8 feet away, but lots of imperfections that needed to be sanded out at some point, so that's what I'm doing now.  I doubt I'll be done by fall.  I keep telling myself it's a journey, not a race.  I threw in a couple of pix of the hull before turning it over, as well.  They ended up out of order in the middle.  I had no good reason to turn it over and work on the bottom at this point except I had the opportunity and I wanted to cut and finish the centerboard slot before it got too late, just to make sure the board would fit in the slot and housing.

 

What's the progress on your boat?  As always, let me know if you're in the area.  It would be great to see you and compare notes.

 

--p

 

 

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