goyousalukis

Well, I actually mentioned redwood when I asked about suitable woods for my Spindrift, and was dissuaded from using it by some of the replies. In building a bench, I found redwood to be pretty soft and prone to splintering. I do remember reading about "redwood canoes" before, so perhaps it is more suitable for strip type applications?

Great read. Coincedentally, I went to a short leadership talk by the author. He is a great speaker.

My only gotcha: I bought Raka epoxy which has worked great for me, but they were out of 3 inch fiberglass cloth, and the guy on the phone talked me into buying a 12 inch roll for about the same price. I thought it would be easy to cut it into 3 inch strips, but that wasn't the case. The cut sides unraveled and left a stringy mess to sand out. I should have shoped elsewhere for the 3 inch tape.

Thanks guys! My rub rails are already epoxied on my spindrift, so that is a done deal. I suppose if they ever become ugly, I could plane off the first lamination and epoxy on a new one. My boat won't get as much use as I'd like though, so it may not be an issue. I want to plug my holes, so I will counter bore a little bit, drill the hole, drive the screw, remove the screw, soak the hole with neat epoxy, drive the screw and then plug the hole. Thanks again, Justin

Quick question. I have my gunwales temporarily fastened to the breast hook and knees with drywall screws. I now want to install the permanent #10 screws. I've read that all fasteners should be bedded in epoxy. Do I drill a constant size hole and then fill it with thickened epoxy and then drive the screw home after it cures, or should I drill a smaller diameter hole into the knee and then a bigger diameter hole in the gunwales? I also read about countersinking the hole a bit before epoxy. Any help on this process would be appreciated! Justin

Thanks guys. Steve, thats a great tip about the packing tape. I'm sure I would have just slopped some epoxy there and it would have dripped through the bottom! Yeah, the kids are too small to help much, but they are excited to get her in the water.

My S11N is now 3D. I got her wired up kinda late in the evening, and couldn't resist unfolding her. It was just going to be a practice run, but she unfolded perfectly, so I was stuck holding the two ends wondering what to do next! Luckilly the door to the house was open, so I hollered and my 6 year old daughter came running and held the ends while I frantically attached the transom. Since then, I've tightened the wires, inserted the bulkheads and installed the breasthook and knees. Now I am working on the gunwales. I have no source for the typical woods, so I am using what I have. The breast hook, knees and transom stiffener are Alder, and the gunwales will be Walnut. Right now, looking at the quality of my work so far, I am leaning to leaving only the gunwales bright and painting everything else. We'll see once I have the fillets in and start sanding. One quick question: I've decided to do the small temporary fillets, remove the wires and then do the fullsize fillets with tape. My only concern is the fillets down the middle of the boat. The plywood meets at such a low angle, I am worried that the small fillets may not hold. Is this unfounded? Since the panels are locked in by the transom and the middle bulkheads, I suppose it won't be an issue. Here are a couple of pics. Regards, Justin You can check out my build log here: https://spindriftbuild.wordpress.com Not too much there, but I want to document it as best I can.

Thanks for the info guys. Since traditionally it is tapered in both axis, I guess one strategy would be to attach it flush with the top of the sides in the middle, and a little proud at the ends. Then handplane them down to the top of the sides. Similary, the ends could be tapered in thickness after the rail is attached (avoiding any driven screws of course!). The plans mention 1/8", so it is not a huge amount. Regards, Justin

Well, I just got my plywood Wednesday and started lofting yesterday. I have a quick question: the plans mention tapering the the gunwales for a better look. In which axis are they tapered? Is it the vertical height i.e. the vertical height at the bow is smaller than at the transom? Or is the thickness of the laminations tapered from transom to bow? Sorry, I'm not sure how to clearly state the question! Also, can anyone suggest a good website for beginner sailors? I sailed as a kid, and understand basics like tacking, but I am unfamilar with many of the sail rig terms in the plans. Lastly, I plan on building mine to handle rowing, an outboard and sailing. The plans mention optionally shifting the outboard reinforcement to make room for the pintles. The plans just show a slanted line. Does anyone have a photo of this configuration? Thanks for your help... once I go 3d, I'll post some photos.

Still smilin', great job! I was just thinking about posting about other uses for fiberglass tape and epoxy since I bought way more tape than I will use. Can you provide any construction tips/details? Did you just build the frame and then glass over it? Regards, Justin

Thanks guys, Steve, I've gone through your photos several times. Very helpful, thanks. Unfortunately, I'll have some more time to stew on the wood choice. My plywood arrived today. It was damaged in shipment. All five sheets were broken in a corner. I could see the problem through a rip in the carton. The only option they gave me was to accept or refuse the shipment, so I refused it. I called the supplier, and they said I should have accepted it and marked it as damaged. I am pretty sure I could have worked around the damaged spots, but without taking the carton apart, I don't know for sure. The supplier said they would call me Monday, so I guess I'll find out what's next then. Bummer.

Thanks for the reply, Ok, redwood is out. I will go to the local hardwood store and see if they have spruce or fir, but I doubt it. I have a nice stock of hard maple, but don't look forward to trying to bend it. It is also quite heavy. Would walnut be ok? I have a nice 8/4 12' piece. Looking back at the plans, I see now that the gunwales do not form a sharp point at the bow as I had envisioned, but instead are trimed perpendicular to the boat's centerline. I've done a complicated glue up on the carcass of a philidelphia lowboy, so I know what its like to have to work fast. Ill just do a few dry runs first. I know what you mean about the building being as enjoyable as sailing. My wife thinks I'm nuts for building a boat in El Paso, but the building process is what I look forward to the most. Hopefully I'll get to take the kids out a couple of times a year at least. Regards, Justin

My epoxy arrived yesterday, and the plywood comes tomorrow so I'm almost ready to begin(if I can find some time!). A couple of quick questions if you don't mind: Is redwood acceptable for the solid wood parts? They have it here at the local bolx stores. I built an outdoor table covered in spar urethane, and it is doing good over a year later. I think the part I am most worried about are the gunwales. I understand they need to be clamped to the boat at the same time to avoid distorting the shape. Once I have them dry fit with the forward part mitered properly, how do I glue them up? Do I unclamp the forward part(both sides), glue the laminations, then reclamp that section and move down the boat to the rear? It doesn't seem possible to wet the laminations on both sides, and get the whole thing clamped up before the epoxy sets. Thanks for your help? Justin

Thanks for all the advice guys. I bit the bullet and just ordered the Okume plywood. The cheapest I could find was around $525 shipped for 5 sheets, so around $105 apiece. I used epoxy quite a bit, but always in small batches, so I appreciate all the expertise you have shared on the forum...

Great job documenting your build! That is a nice resource for those of us just starting a build.

I looked at the Blackfoot kits that PAR mentioned - they look quite good. http://buildyourcnc.com/blackFoot48v40.aspx I wish I had space for a 4x8!

Thanks MM, I'll give them a call and see how much shipping would be. I did try the woodfinder site, but there is nothing even relatively nearby. I'll follow yours and Howard's advice and get mostly slow hardener with a smaller amount of fast. Here's a dumb question: Raka sells a mixture of hardener that is 50% fast and 50% slow mixed together. Wouldn't that be the same(approximatley) as a medium speed mixture? What's the advantage of slow and hard mixed together? Justin

Howard, Thanks for the info. I'll check those specific products out. Donald, The situation dictates an outdoor build, but at least I have a nice covered patio. I had to downsize my shop to a one car garage. I have a tablesaw, jointer, planer, cnc machine, large workbench, drill press and various other tools, so the garage is packed. Thanks guys, Justin

Greg, Yes, you can do logos and such. I have attached a photo of a plaque I made out of Corian solid surface material. In this case, I routed out the Army patch and then spray painted it with "rock" textured paint and sanded the paint off the top surface. It does take some work to get from a black and white logo to the point where you are ready to start. There is free software called inkscape. I use that to take a b&w logo and convert it to vectors. Then I use either VCarve, or a CAD software to clean it up. A great place to check out is Vectric's forum: http://www.vectric.com/forum/ . Look in the VCarve section and you will see some great examples. Many of those guys are running high end Shop bots and such, but it is the same software that comes with the shark. Laguna also makes a smaller CNC now, but I think it is in the $6K range. Another great technique is to rout a recess for a logo, then fill the recess with tinted epoxy. Then after it cures, you sand it flush, and it looks like a perfectly fitted inlay. I just recieved plans for a Spindrift 11N, and I plan on using the CNC for some details like that. (There, I tied my post to boat-building!). Feel free to email me at Justin AT Ahrens.net if you have questions. Regards, Justin

Hello Everyone, So I just got my plans for Spindrift hull 973 it is an 11N. I was hoping for the magic number 1000, but that's ok. I've been combing through the archives reading all of your great posts. I am a fairly accomplished woodworker, but this will be my first boat. I helped my uncle build some boats back in high school, but that was 20 years ago. I have a question: I've decided to use Raka for the epoxy. I believe at least one poster said that the odor was not too bad for this brand, and it is on the recommended list of products. On their website you have a coice of three viscosities: Thin, Medium and Thick. Which would you recommend? They also have slow, medium and fast for the hardener. I live in El Paso, TX, so it is pretty hot, but I will be mostly be working outside in the evenings and we are approaching fall. I was thinking medium would be best. Any opinions? Lastly, does anyone have any specific recommendations for sources of plywood that ship to Texas relatively cheaply? I'm sure I'll have more questions as I go. Thanks for your help, Justin

I have a CNC shark from Rockler and I am pretty happy with it. I too considered making one, but I think my accuracy would not end up being great. I am very happy with the software that comes with the Shark - V-Carve. After around 2.5 years of use, I think I need to replace the bearings. The x & y axis is not 100% perpendicular anymore. It was perfect when I first set it up. The support person seemed to think I haven't lubricated it enough. That may be possible. I use it mostly for engraving, and it does fine for that. I have also done some prototyping for robot components and other things. Here is an example of a simple carving. Regards, Justin