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Adios

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Everything posted by Adios

  1. I was installing my last stringer tonight. I steamed this 1x1.25" piece for about 80 minutes, it bent on fairly easily and...POW! Broke another. I'll make a new stringer and try again tomorrow. I thought that the quality of the wood looked good, no grain runout, knots, etc. any suggestions?
  2. Thanks for the comments. I finally have the sheer clamp laminated and am installing the last 4 stringers. These "sheer stringers" have a rather severe bend as well as about 40 degrees or so of twist. After breaking a couple of stringers I decided to set up a steam chamber. It's hanging from the overhead rafters. By hanging it on an angle, the water drains from one end and the heat rises through the chamber more evenly. I used 4" metal HVAC duct, wrapped in insulation and fitted with an inexpensive clothing steamer. After steaming each piece for about an hour, they were bent into place and the shape held with multiple clamps. The long clamps are supported to get the right degree of twist. I let them dry for a couple of days before gluing.
  3. So, it warms enough during the day to mix up some epoxy and work on laminating the sheer. It will be 8 or 9 layers thick, one or two at a time with lots of clamps. This part is painfully slow but hopefully I can be done framing by the end of December. No shortcuts here. It will be more fun once planking starts again.
  4. So now I'm using 1/4" laminates and will thicken them up to 3/8 or 1/2 as I build thickness. I should have known better, wasted time and wood but I'm back on track. Winter is setting in making epoxy work difficult, even here in the south. I'll keep you posted and comment/advice is appreciated.
  5. Right now I'm working on the forward part of the sheer. This is the part forward of the "break" that gives the boat it's dramatic bow flare. It is 1x4", about 17' long and has a 90 degree twist and a rather severe bend. The plans call for 1x1" laminates but I say, not possible! Several attempts with 1x1 and 1x1/2 inch pieces resulted in failure even with fairly clear, tight grained wood.
  6. Next, the side stringers, intermediate sheer and sheer clamp were tackled. Douglas fir was used, scarfed together in 26 ft lengths, milled to the appropriate dimensions and a 1/2" round put on the inside edges to facilitate draping of fiberglass later. I did have some problem with breakage and had to watch out for grain runout and other imperfections. Ratcheted tie down straps were the best way to bend these into place and took multiple test fits prior to gluing.
  7. Well, time has flown by with little time for boatbuilding and less time for posting to the forum. My bandsaw gave out and it took forever to get parts, work has been extra busy, hunting season opened...excuses, excuses! I have had time for some work although I'm way behind my initially ambitious schedule. I had hoped to have the hull planked by now but milling and fitting of the side stringers and sheer have been more time consuming than I had thought. Here are some updates since my last post. The next step was fitting of the chine planks. These are 12 mm ply cut to shape and butt glued with doubters. The white batten is a piece of PVC trim moulding from Lowes. These are cheap and make good fairing battens. They come in various thicknesses and stiffness. The chines are overbuilt (too wide) deliberately and will be faired prior to planking the sides.
  8. Makenmend, The staple gun is expensive. I paid $ 215 for the Omer 81P but it shaves a lot of time off of the process. I'm building a boat for the fun of the experience but time is valuable and anything that makes it easier is welcome. The last boat that I built was cedar veneers over strip planking, 3 layers. I fastened them with regular staples shot through plastic banding used for crate packaging. I pulled out thousands of staples. Some broke but every piece was meticulously removed to prevent rust. I had a steroid injection in my shoulder and 6 weeks of occupational therapy. I'm not doing that again! So far, the $215 is worth it! Staples that are proud sand right off with #40 sandpaper. The one thing that I would say is that I seem to be using a bit more epoxy than usual to make sure that there are no voids. Like Miyot said, you have to lean your weight onto the board to get the compression needed. I give him a lot of credit for doing it all with a manual stapler! Thanks, John
  9. Using body weight and a rubber mallet, air bubbles were tapped out and the board positioned. LOTS of staples were used starting in the middle and working to the edges to get squeeze out of the glue. This really works quite well. I understand the concern with staples, no compression is obtained, but they do have impressive pull out strength. Fairing and finishing will be much easier with not having to patch more screw holes. Sorry for the blurry photos but I sure that you get the idea! I finished the starboard side yesterday and will work on the port side today. We're having a rainy weekend so, its boatbuilding weather!
  10. Since my last post I have started applying the second layer of ply to the bottom. This layer is 6mm thick (the first layer was 9mm) and is a little easier to handle. After removing all of the screws the surface was sanded with #40 sandpaper to remove any globs of epoxy. All screw holes were injected with unthickened epoxy then filled with thickened epoxy as the next layer was applied. I had 2 screws break and was able to get the broken pieces out with a broken screw extractor. I decided to use raptor staples and an air gun for the second layer. The piece to be applied was first test fitted. Both surfaces to be bonded were painted with unthickened epoxy, a thickened layer (WEST 403) was then evenly applied to the hull and then the second sheet of ply applied.
  11. Some more photos to bring you up to date. I took all of the screws out and starting cutting pieces for the next layer last night. Hopefully get some work done this weekend.
  12. Russell, I already placed the order. I dont think that I can manually drive 1000's of staples! Thx John
  13. Great advice. Thanks! I was anticipating clamping of some sort, not just staples, particularly near the bow. I was thinking a few screws and fender washers in key places, body weight and lots of staples. We'll see how it goes. Thanks again for the help. john
  14. Miyot, Do you recall how many sheets of 6mm in took to plank the sides of your boat? I'm thinking 7-8 per side. I need to place an order in the next month or so. I'm working on the second layer of bottom planking now and I'm going to use raptor staples like you did. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks John
  15. Next step is the bottom planking. The bottom is planked with two layers of ply, one 9mm and the other 6mm. I've just finished the first layer. Aft, where there is not much bend in the wood, I used #8 silicone bronze screws. Forward, the planks have to get down to 6-8"wide to make the bend and required fender washers and screws to pull them down flush with the stem and chine plank. The wooden blocks seen are backed with duct tape for non-stick and are used to pull the plank edges together to make them flush. The other fender washers are doing the same. I'm gonna have a lot of holes to fill when the next layer goes on!
  16. Miyot, Thanks for the feedback. As you know, building a boat this big by yourself is a big commitment. Seeing you finish yours and hearing how she handles is good motivation. Now, on to more photos... Next the chine stringer was installed. The keel and stem were shaped with a handheld power and then manual planer. The concave portion of the stem was done with handsaw, wood chisel then #40 grit on a belt sander. The keel/stem, transom, frames and floor stringers were carefully faired using hand planers and checked with battens until I was sure that the shape was correct.
  17. The excess keel length was trimmed and the finished transom installed. I found it easier to hang the transom from an overhead chain hoist for positioning rather than elevating it on a frame. Cutting the keel at the proper length was difficult to calculate. I think that it might hinge on some calculus function that we talked about in college and now forgotten! I made several careful. conservative cuts until it came out right.
  18. Frames, bulkheads and false bulkheads(cheap, Lowes ply for later removal) and floor stringers were set up, made square to the keel and epoxy glued including 3/4" fillet joints at all seams. Limber holes along the keel are to be cut later. Sorry for the dark photos...cell phone.
  19. Starting the setup. The strongback frame leveled on my garage floor. I'm building this in my garage. I live in a raised house in a coastal flood plain. The garage support columns make it a very tight squeeze but I've measured it twice and I'm pretty sure that I can get it out of the house when finished. It's a bit like a ship in a bottle!
  20. The transom was laminated over a form according to plans. I decided to use a sapale veneer ply on the outside so I can bright finish the transom. The design has doublers in the middle and edge that were added after the initial lamination of 3 6mm layers of ply.
  21. The frames and doublers were all traced and cut out
  22. The keel and stem was laminated with WEST system epoxy and a bunch of clamps. This has to be done in one step to correctly bond all parts. The assembly was then cleaned up with a belt sander and a 3/4" round routed in the inboard edge to make glassing easier later. I decided to save shaping until after the setup.
  23. Jay, I'm in MtP also. I think that I finally found the upload button so will try to send more photos. To the left in this photo are 1x3.25x16' douglas fir used to laminate the keel. The stem is cut from wider, shorter pieces of the same wood. Parts were traced from the mylar loftings using a dressmaker's wheel and carbon paper. Works great. Seen are stem pieces ready for assembly.
  24. OK, somebody please give me guidance on posting photos after the initial post...
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