PeterP

Dale, I asked Graham that very same question and he did not think it would be a problem.The cedar is pretty wimpy and the cumulative stress is negligible. PeterP

I have to correct the prices in the post above. I bought a 32oz kit of superfast which was $38 (not $18) and I also bought a 16oz of 425 cold weather hardener for $18. Got them mixed up so to speak. Still a good deal to me. PeterP

Ray, as you know there is no one perfect way to skin a cat. I did think about scarfing in place but decided against it because in my minds eye I could not get into a satisfactory flow of work. My present procedure works for me because I can keep each each operation a discrete step. Less chance for me to get messed up by doing different steps at the same time. The cost part is not that bad. Raka charged $18 for two pints. I use syringes to mix and it takes 3 ml of each to do a scarf on 1.5" plank. My estimate is that I will get a better part of the boat done on what I have in hand. The stuff is so good I'm thinking about getting some more and putting it over my cereal to see if it will firm up my softening brain. PeterP

Do not tempt me. The plywood option crossed my mind -alas there is all that red cedar sitting in the garage. Got to go. Wife just bought her dream car and dream cars need to live inside. So I get to build my dream boat to move the wood out of the way for the dream car. One could spend a lifetime exploring marital stratagems like that. Even make a name for himself in this fruitful field. Anyway, the boat will be painted apart from the transom which is laminated out of Okoumi and has lovely uniform color you are familiar with. The cedar on the other hand covers the spectrum- brown to red to white. Interesting effect but one that leaves me cold. My second CS17 was green with tanbark sails and I think I'll go that route again. But all that is a long way off. PeterP

Thanks for the kind words Bob. The plans are available from Graham - I don't know if he has the whole package ready yet but he had enough for me to get going. Strip planking does not offer instant gratification of plywood as I am finding out. Luckily, my pace picked up a bit since the last post. I've had a couple of conceptual break-throughs. Biggest thing was the switch to wider stock as I got away from the hard bend in the bilge. Also, I stopped using trunnels to keep my planks flush. Those were a total time killer. The plywood tabs I switched to go on FAST. Sure, everyone of them leaves two holes to fill but filling holes with epoxy is fast and easy. Next, I gave up on bead and coving the stock. Another time killer with no apparent benefit. The biggest thing was switching to 5 min epoxy to do the stock scarfing. The stuff is kind of expensive but now I can literally do two scarfs to glue up 28'5" plank and have it ready to hang in about 30 min. Unbelievable. It still takes a ton of time to hang the planks but things are definitely moving along. I should be about 25% planked up by this weekend. Keep your fingers crossed. PeterP

When I first got into this I did have a nagging suspicion that this was going to eat up time like crazy. In actual fact it is about ten times worse. Building a boat out of matchsticks is VERY SLOW. Lucky I like wood working. Here are some more pics: deck flange in place. Transom ditto and looking right handsome. First planks glued up and looking good and smooth. PeterP

They had sail numbers back then? PeterP

Sorry Tom, the temptation to have an original by "An Apostle Of Speed" proved too much. PeterP

To continue with the answer: yes mine will be WR Cedar planked - round bilge. The reason this came about is simple. I had some wood left over from a project that did not come to fruition. And I wanted a round bilge boat for a change. As to the engine- yes I would like one but right now I don't have the money. It may be hard to believe but I find comfort in that because I have never ever got into a project with all the money in hand yet I always manage to finish. So you could say I am right on track there. When the money comes -and I know it will -I will get a small diesel ie Bukh or Kubota. Single cylinder 7-8HP. And if it does not materialize I'll pole the bugger until it does. Right now I just want to see this babe planked up and right way up. PeterP

Howard, the jig will roll out on SCH 40 or SCH 80 pvc pipe. Or so I am hoping. Once in the clear I plan to roll it in a custom made circular cradle using neighbours for steam and beer and pizza for lubrication. PeterP

Here are some more pictures:

I was hoping to get this posted before Garry vanished into the blue yonder. Hopefully he will check in from time to time and see the twenty eight take shape. Please, take a special note of the building jig. One of my elderly neighbours came over to see "the boat" just as I was putting the final touches on the jig. Her comment was : Bless my heart that is neat! You going to make the sides a bit higher ain't ya? Needless to say I crossed my heart I would. PeterP

Ken you have been working too hard. Time to sniff some salt air. But before you go read your post and notice the reply no. Work back from there. PS -instead of thanks promise not to bring up tore up bailers anymore PeterP

Go to a plumbing supply store -the real deal-. Wait for the first plumber that shows up and explain what you need. Chances are he will pull out a piece and just hand it to you. Offer to buy him a Coke. That simple- I've done it. PeterP

Some pictures of Graham tooling around in my wife's little rocket last Saturday. The boat is almost 20 years old and still a lot of fun. PeterP

I basically agree with John though I switched to silicone for a lot of stuff. 5200 is a tough customer to deal with once it sets up. Also, I got tired of throwing away tubes that were 80% full that somehow cured while I was waiting for the next application to come up. Gets expensive that. Silicone will not take paint while 5200 will. And 5200 is a whole lot stronger. Your bailer will have six bolts through it so you do not need the strength and if you leave it open and tear it up while pulling the boat off the trailer you may be glad to be able to yank it off for repairs. PeterP

Since no year was mentioned I can say -with clear conscience-sure you will. javascript:void(0);Best of luck PeterP

Seeing you already have a joiner I would buy a block plane and a good spare blade - I really like my Hock. You can thickness stock on a table saw and clean up on the joiner. Or hit it a couple of licks with your block plane. So many different ways of cutting scarphs -belt sander, circular saw, power plane to mention few but your block plane will come to the rescue when it is time for for the final clean up. That is one tool I really get a good use out of. Don't buy bunch of stuff up front- do with what you've got or borrow first. Buy after you have a real need for something. Save yourself from having a lot of stuff you get a little use for. If you go the kit route you should be able to put the boat together with a few hand tools. Personally, and I do have six hand planes- I would spend money on sanders first. You will spend a lot of time sanding. LOTS. Lot more sanding than planing goes into boat building. I have six different size sanders ( plus a long board and a hand block) and and use them all well when boat building. PeterP

I like my Fuji HVLP. I bought the gun and put the turbine end together myself. Saved a fair bit of money that way. I mostly use the gun for spraying woodwork, doors and such. Spraying boats alone would not justify the the outlay. The gun costs but I really like the low overspay. Rolling your finish is an option. I know lot of people who do -Tom being the most notable example- and they get excellent results. PeterP

The finishing screws have much smaller heads. PeterP

It is a hinging mechanism for the mast. Look at the bottom of Graham's mainmast -you'll get the idea. PeterP

Don't Do Your Sails! Take this from a dye in the wool do it yourselfer. I just finished making a boat cover. I know what I am talking about. You will need a whole another set of gear to get into sail making. Your honey's sewing machine will not cut it on the sailcloth or several layers of it. So you go out and spend $1500 on a heavy duty job and all the other stuff. We won't even talk about the frustrations involved in redoing stuff once twice or even trice. You would have to be prepared to do 3-4 sets of sails to get even financially. Not worth it -not to me or any of my sane acquaintances. Graham's sails are good and an excellent bargain. If you want to get in the water quicker without spending all the money - delay painting. If you keep the boat under cover your epoxy will not chalk for a couple of years depending on use. You can't sail without sails but you can without paint. Just tell them it's varnished. PeterP

This site is a hoot. Cutting edge boats and wild women. Or is it the other way around? PeterP

I'll second that motion! PeterP

Ray is exactly right about the belt sanders. In more ways than he imagines. I have had my Makita for about 15 - 16 years. Bought it initially for sanding long stock but gave up on that real quick. Too noisy too fast to strip paint. However, it has a dust bag and third time I emptied it I realized the thing was a gold mine for epoxy work. Now I have it mounted in a home made cradle screwed to the wall where it does its duty shaping small parts. And it collects WOOD FLOUR otherwise known as dust. I have never been short of wood flour since - I have gobs of that stuff -oak walnut okoume mahogany. I love my hand planes too but that is one thing they will not do. PeterP