sscoville

The transom stiffener appears correct. I re-measured the stringer at other locations and it appears okay other than at the transom. I also did an experiment with the heat gun and hardened epoxy on a stick I had used to apply thickened epoxy. It made it very brittle so that it just scraped off very easily. I think I can fix it by hitting it with the heat gun, scraping the brittle epoxy off and then re-gluing. I'm going to take some more measurements and think about it some more before I go to work on it.

I just realized that my side stringers are at least 1 1/4 inches too high where they meet the transom - 1 3/4 in. at worst. It appears they were supposed to tuck right up under the transom stiffener, but instead, the bottom of my stringers is flush with the bottom of the transom stiffener. Temporary center frame forward appears to be okay. The main problem I can foresee at this point is that there is little room between the seat top and gunnels in the stern. What can I do, or should I do? The only way I could think of to try to correct it, without tearing the entire side stringer out, was to heat it with a heat gun from the temp. center frame aft, until I could move it. I think this would be pretty messy, if not impossible. Please advise.

At what point in the construction of a BRS is the temporary center frame removed?

When is the temporary center frame removed? I just finished gluing in my side stringers and I've filleted and glassed the chines. Do I need to install the inwhales and side frames first?

A very fine boat. The first pictures I've seen of a BRS 17' under sail. What's the water temperature there?

I am about to cut out the pieces for my centerboard trunk. From the plans and photos I've seen, it appears that one side has a handle like piece on it, but the other does not. Can someone explain this? Does this attach in some way to the forward thwart?

I have not glued the chines. The keelson is glued and the forward bulkhead, transom, stem. TomH's point makes a lot of sense. I would not think 1/8 of an inch would create a problem with the lineup of the centerboard, masts, etc. I still have some things to play out in my head before I start gluing the chines. I've definitely decided I won't be tearing anything apart.

Thanks Ken. I took a day to think about the whole thing before adding any glue, like you suggested. I took the temporary fasteners out of the chine in that area and by pulling the center frame over I was able to get the difference down to 1/4 of an inch. Much further and I end up with a large gap in my chine because I had cut the bottom panels to fit. The 1/4 inch I can live with, I think (1/8 off center). I started working on the centerboard trunk in the mean time. I haven't gotten the glass I ordered from B&B yet so I haven't glued the chines. I might go ahead and tab glue it though. I haven't determined for sure where the error occurred. I'm going to keep working on the center board stuff, maybe start the rudder, scarf some stringers and other things. Maybe in the mean time I'll find a way to get it perfect. It might just be that the center frame needs to move over an additional 1/8. The way it is now, I'm already going to have to do some filler work on the outside of the chine, but the bottom panel at least partly rest on the side panel. Over another 1/8 and the bottom no longer rests on the side at that spot.

I glued the second bottom panel to the keelson yesterday and flipped the boat today. I then discovered that my center frame is off center by about a 1/4 inch - the distance between the keelson and one chine is 9/16 more than the same measurement on the other side. And, I can clearly see the center frame is off to one side of the keelson. I haven't glued the chines yet, so I'm hoping I haven't ruined the entire project. Pictures can be seen at my blog - I haven't figured out how to post them here. Any suggestions will be much appreciated.

Are you sure about this? I don't know if the same applies to sailboats, but a guy who sold my dad a new trailer recently for a Boston Whaler said that all trailers nowadays are drive on (this obviously only applies to power boats) and that the roller are just to keep the boat from bumping on the trailer frame. On this new trailer, the boat rests entirely on the bunks. But again, it's strictly a power boat.

I'm at the point where I've cut my bottom panels roughly to shape. http://brs-pelican.blogspot.com/ I'm wondering the procedure for epoxying the panels to the keelson. I was thinking I could just put a healthy layer of thickened epoxy on the keelson and then screw the panels onto it temporarily. If I don't put enough, however, I could end up with gaps that I either won't know about or can't access later. If I put too much, I could end up with bunch of rock hard mess on the inside bottom to deal with. What's the protocol here? I have shaped the keelson some so that there is pretty good surface to surface contact between it and the panels.

I am about to install the bottom panels on BRS '17 #134. One builder I know of stitched the joint. The photo cd from B&B appears to use a different method. It looks like they used screws with washers. I am wondering what part of the boat the screws were landed in.

I have one light and I use I headlamp when I need to. I have a florescent light I've been meaning to put up. It should make a world of difference because the one light I have is pretty dim.

I just started a blog to document the build of my BRS 17' (Hull # 134). If you're interested, it can be found here: http://brs-pelican.blogspot.com/

I better get some new gloves. The first link in Ray's post recommends Vinyl gloves. The second link says vinyl is not totally effective. My point is to reduce the amount of waste I am contributing to my landfill. I will be interested to see how the various manufacturers respond to Ray's inquiry.

In building my first boat, I was disappointed by how much trash I was producing - throwing away cups, latex gloves, sandpaper, sheet plastic, etc. I have learned some ways to reduce the trash and I'm sure others have too. I thought a thread on the subject could be helpful for builders and the environment. Below are just a couple of things I've learned. 1. Instead of using latex gloves, use the yellow house cleaning type. As long as they don't get holes in them or any large bits of cured epoxy, you can keep using them over and over. 2. Mixing cups - when mixing unthickened epoxy, I take the cup when I'm finished (either plastic or paper) and turn it upside down on a piece of scrap plywood, allowing the rest of the epoxy to drain out. Plastic cups work fine as long as the epoxy is removed before going off. Otherwise, it melts the cup. There is always a thin layer of epoxy left in the cup. This is okay if you account for it when measuring the next time - if you use pumps it does not matter. If I use the heavy plastic measuring cups this way, I can squeeze the cup gently after the epoxy cures and the solid epoxy will break into pieces for easy removal. Then, the cup is like new. 3. I've also learned to reuse the tongue depressors most of the time. After mixing, lay them on a piece of sheet plastic and it won't stick. These things may be obvious to many builders, but I had to learn them through experience and the production of a lot of trash for the landfill. Additionally, the price of several boxes of latex gloves, tongue depressors, and plastic cups, adds up over the course of a project.

Good joke! You had me too.

Acetone was the other chemical I used. Unless I needed to leave it on longer, it didn't work for me.

I hope I never have to again, but if I do, I'll have to remember your technique, Tom. I tried laquer thinner and another much more volatile chemical, the name of which I can't remember, and vinegar. None of them seemed to help much. I may not have left them on long enough to work.

All I can tell you is what I've experienced. I applied epoxy at the wrong ratio when glassing the hull of my first boat. I thought it had cured, even though I realized I had mixed wrong. I put a second coat over it. Then, when popping some small air bubbles later, the glass started coming up in big strips - almost no adhesion to the wood. So I pulled all the glass up. I tried to sand the bad goo off, but all it seemed to do was move it around. I thought I had removed it all and so re glassed and filled. A week later, when I was about to prime, I found a large air bubble and when I tried to cut it out, the glass came up in strips again. I had not gotten all the bad stuff off. I called the tech people as MAS - which was the stuff I was using - and they told me 1. I could use lacquer thinner to remove it. I tried that but it wasn't doing much. Finally, I found the solution - 7 in 36 grit grinding disc on sander/polisher - this was the only thing I found that worked to completely remove the goo back to the bare wood. The goo clogged the 7 in discs like the finer ones I had tried before, but not nearly so easily. I did grind too far into the wood in some spots, but I was painting over it anyway and so did not care. Uncured epoxy is a real nightmare. I have since learned to use the same grinder and 36 grit disc to cut my scarf joints. Very efficient here too.

I got Occume 1/4 BS 1088 from McEwen in Charleston, SC for $50.00 a sheet, through my local lumber yard. The price I got today was $43.00. You've got me nervous now. I didn't see any voids in it when I used it before. Seemed like good stuff. I found this on their website though: "Okoume is pink in color on the face and back. Face veneers are usually Rotary Cut, Whole Piece Face. The core is a Chinese Poplar that typically has more layers than other imports. For instance, an 18mm panel will have 13 plys versus a 7 or 9 ply product from other countries. Having a Poplar core makes this product less stable than a tropical hardwood core. Okoume is available with Moisture Resistant glue or Marine glue. Okoume is most commonly used in the construction of the cabinet boxes. Okoume is a good substitute for Meranti, Virola, or Faveria plywood. Cost of Okoume makes this product more attractive than other import plywood. " "Chinese Poplar?" I did a google search and came accross a post from Tom Lathrop recommending McEwen a few years ago. Maybe he'll chime in. Anyone else have experience with McEwen or think $40-$50 a sheet is a red flag?

I bought Stanley's low angle block plane for my first. I'd say a low angle block is almost necessary for building with plywood. The Stanley's not really a good tool, but it works. If you can get an old one, they're much better. I think it was like $35. Given how much I used it, I'd say the one by Lie Nielson, $95 from Wooden Boat, is worth it, if you plan to build more than one boat. I've never used a Lie Nielson, but they have an excellent reputation. I just like using hand planes, however. I used it when making my oars and on one household project so far.

I have some wood flour left over from my first project. I've read that cabosil is stronger than wood flour. Any problem substituting the flour for the cabosil in these designs? I see that B&B recommends the cabosil.

I was told that biscuits were merely for alignment and the joints are no stronger than a butt joint. I was also under the impression that a butt joint will be stronger than the wood, if done properly, and scarf joints' biggest advantage is that when bending at the joint, you get a fair curve. I've only built one boat, however. I only had to make one scarf joint on that project - two sheets of 1/4 ply. I used a low angle block plane, a standard block plane, and a jack plane - they were what I had on hand. I think the low angle block is preferable because you're cutting end grain when cuting plywood and that's what the low angle is for. The other two planes were better quality and sharper and didn't cause any major problems cutting the scarf. I think I finished it with a belt sander. I was intimidated at first. It was my first application of fiberglass that gave me trouble, however. By the way, using hand planes is fun work .

I haven't purchased the plans yet. According to the photos, however, I'm pretty sure it goes together differently than the stitch n' glue rowing skiff I built. That one was bottom panels stitched together, opened like a book, side panels stitched on, and then transom. The BRS appears, from the photo cd, to take the bottom panels last.