I wrote my questions and info down, but I want to add up front a newbie alert. I've never built a boat. I've not taken a class. I have moderate skills with wood, but I'm sure this will be testing those skills. I confess that I am a newbie and might be missing plenty of normal things people already know because they're so basic. And for that innocence, I beg your indulgence.
I have a Moccasin 2 plan and recently had the chance to sit in the waiting room at the "walk in clinic" to get my foot x-rayed. It was a great opportunity to read through the plans!
I have some questions.
For the keel, the material list says 1"x1", 3/4"x3/4" x 10' but the instructions (fillet and tape, keel page) read 5/4" x 11' . Do I believe the material list or the instructions? Yes, I know that a 5/4" is actual 1". But the list and instructions are at odds.
Taping:
Do you overlap the glass tape? How much?
The doubler panel:
How many times does one score the doubler panel to make it fit right? Once? A few? Depends on the wood I use?
Stem centerline:
I should only bevel the ply where it meets at the centerline, and not where the sides meet the bottom? It seems that the sides butt up onto the top of the bottom. This makes some sense to me, so I'm okay if that's the answer, but I wanted to check.
Spreaders:
I have the moccasin 2. I think it should have 2 spreaders, but there's only measurements for one spreader. Did I get a wrong sheet? Or have other folks simply been more creative with adding two spreaders and it's not documented?
Spreaders:
The general construction guide calls for installing the spreaders before the inwales. The instruction page (spreader) says to install the spreader AFTER the inwales are glued in. Which to believe?
Spreaders:
Am I correct in calling the spreaders thwarts? This is what I learned years ago for canoeing merit badge
Stitching:
I can see how the fillet will fill in around and amongst my stitches, evermore to become part of the boat. I can see why one would use copper wire if using wire. But what happens to the outside? There's no indication of what to do with the outside part of the stitches. In the recent wooden boat, they're building a 16/30 canoe and I see that they say to snip the outside stitches. When and how is that done? If I fillet, tape and epoxy the inside seams, wouldn't cutting off all the outside stitches allow the boat to simply pop apart?
Also, on those outer joints, once I've glued the insides, shall I round over those outside joints with a plane (or similar tool) to take down the sharp edges?
Okay, that's all the questions for now. For now.
Am hoping that perhaps memorial day weekend I'll be able to have the plywood and cut some wood up. We shall see! I want to get the ply cut before heading off to camp in June. It'll speed up the process of the whole boat, I think. I hope.
Thanks all for any input.
(p.s. once the rains come back and I'm unable to work outside in the spring weather, I'll work on the domain - hull187.com , which will be the wordpress blog that shows my project)
