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smacrae

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About smacrae

  • Birthday 01/01/1

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  1. Was talking to a pro boatbuilder mate of mine the other day about gluing with resin. He wipes both bonding surfaces with acetone before applying a priming coat, again to both surfaces, of resin he thins with about 5% metholated spirits. He maintains that the resin more readily soaks into the timber and as it cures the meths evaporates and does not affect the structural integrity of the resin. The thickened resin glue (with cab-o-sil) is then applied in the usual manner. Does anyone else use this method?
  2. I was given 24 sets of measuring cups each containing 1/4, 1/3, 1/2 and 1/1 cup sizes. My erroneous mix was 5 x 1/3 to 1x 1/4. I have since colour coded them. But you are right Frank, one must fully concentrate when tallying 5 measures - it is surprisingly easy to miscount. Pity I wasn't given some 1/5 cups.
  3. Thanks Tom, cab-o-sil it is. Of course the other thing thing I need to learn is to take care with my resin to hardener proportions. Because I used the wrong sized measuring cup for my hardener, the proportions turned out to be 7:1 rather than 5:1. :cry: I was easily able to split the boards apart after 3 days of curing. Never thought I'd have to use a machete to build a CS17 :?
  4. Where fillers are specified to thicken epoxy for gluing, what fillers are suitable? Specifically, can Q-cells be used in this application?
  5. Thanks for the replies. The bottom I'll be bumping into will be the Great Barrier Reef and perhaps Australia. I'll definitely use the epoxy rope on the leading edge of my rudder, but I'll let the spotted gum handle the reef alone.
  6. Couldn't find anything on this using board tracker even going back the full 6142 years - I guess Noah isn't registered on this site! The plans specify an epoxy filled hole drilled out to take the pin. Presumably this does the job well enough. Anybody have any observations on this? I have read about epoxy soaked ropes attached to the leading edge of centreboards. It appears this is to harden the edge and to make repairs easier. I have made my board from extremely well seasoned spotted gum that is too hard to nail. My thought is that with double glass on the leading edge it will be robust enough to take any normal knocks. Any dings in this edge should surely be no harder to fix than those in the epoxy rope. Any comments? With thanks
  7. Have found a locally available timber that seems to be a good substitute for Douglas Fir or Sitka Spruce. It is Hoop Pine (Araucaria cunninghamii). Can get it in clear 20' lengths (longer if needed) and it is from plantations. Have attached a comparison table. Strength value.doc
  8. Just noticed that Boat tracker defaults to view posts for the past 6142 years. I take it that the Ark would have been one of Grahams earlier designs? Now I think a cubit is measured from the fingertips to the elbow or don't I know my arm from my elbow?
  9. Good on ya, Frank: the search engine works well. It will certainly stop me posting queries that have been already adequately covered.
  10. Not only a genius, but ingenious! Can hardly wait to build my mast! What a wonderful medium the WWW is for disseminating ideas across the world and cultures. It's such a shame that others choose to use it for darker purposes. The knowledge you blokes share is humbling - I only hope that soon I will be able to give rather than just take. Another question: Charlie, you mentioned "The formulas on Frank site". For the life of me I can't find this formula - could you lead me to it, please? The plans mention a composite aluminium/timber mast. From an aesthetic point of view I would prefer all timber. Any recommendations? with thanks from the apprentice
  11. Thank you once again for your replies. Quite a learning curve this boat building. I can see why it is so hard to stop at one! I've ordered a birdsmouth bit from Timbecon (thanks Frank) and am hoping to pick up a rotary cutter in Cairns on Monday. (thanks Charlie) More mast questions: I want to use a sail track, so any tapering must be smooth. Does that mean I have to taper the eight sheaves that make up the mast? Secondly, is rounding off the mast a matter of planing the corners, or do I build a 20 foot long lathe or some other jig?
  12. Thanks for your answers. My apologies re units of measurement: the dreaded imperial/metric challenge. In Oz, most builders, timber yards (that's "lumber" to you) deal in millimetres or metres. We also put our larger measurement first. So a board might be 4800 x 150 x 50 mm or in your old fashioned terminology 16' x 2" x 6". There was a lot of grumbling in Australia when we changed from imperial to metric, but once you've worked in metric, using millimetres as your base unit, the advantages become obvious. We have Douglas fir over here. We call it Oregon. Like all timber, top grade clear stuff is becoming harder to find and more expensive. Looks like both self cut and factory made tape have their places. Am unfamiliar with carbide scrapers - presumably these are readily available from hardware stores as are the cutters Charlie mentioned. When birdsmouthing long lengths I would presume that a tilting arbour table saw would be useful. For those of us without such luxuries, what other methods are available?
  13. Have started my CS 17. Actually, the work to date has been building a boatyard, sewing a tarp to cover said boatyard and glueing up a blank for the centreboard. Ripped up a length of 6x2 spotted gum and laminated it as per the plans. It was an old floor joist I've had kicking around for about 20 years - it's now very well seasoned and hard as the hobs! My ply arrives next week. Questions: The plans specify 3" tape; is cutting your own tape a reasonable alternative? I have heard the selvedge edge of the tape creates some problems. What sort of fibreglass cloth should be used? Woven rovings, chopped strand? Masts: I have an 8x2 length of clear western red cedar (17 foot long). If ripped, laminated and sheathed in glass, would it make an adequate mast? With thanks Steve
  14. Thanks everyone for your helpful replies. It looks like I'll just have to get off my butt and start scarfing. Steve
  15. Have just received my CS17 plans (#164). Need to decide on scarfing the ply sheets or butt joining. I know there are pros and cons for each method. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. With thanks. Steve
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