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Spindrift 12 build log


Walt S.

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Just divide everything by 4, it works for me even though she still says that's expensive. It's funny that everything that I do is expensive to her, but all the overseas holidays I have sent her on aren't. Just as well I have a good sized shed that is easy to hide some of the toys she doesn't know I have. Ha Ha Ha.

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Great reasons to build a boat, but you have to realize you are preaching to the choir   :P

 

I never thought of using saw horses and ply/clamp sandwich for the glue joint, clever.  I have glued 4 scarfs at once on a 16' x 4' temporary bench built for the purpose and the other early steps in the build of my Lapwing.

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Great reasons to build a boat, but you have to realize you are preaching to the choir   :P

 

I never thought of using saw horses and ply/clamp sandwich for the glue joint, clever.  I have glued 4 scarfs at once on a 16' x 4' temporary bench built for the purpose and the other early steps in the build of my Lapwing.

 

 I haven't figured out how I'm going to do that yet.  I'll probably do it on the ground with some support. I'd like to do the gunwales next week so I'd better get on it...

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I made a lot of progress yesterday and today.  Yesterday I butterflied the hull together:

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Today I separated the two halves.  I used a soldering iron to remove the brad nails.  I later used it to heat the fiberglass overhang on the butterfly for easy cutting rather than sand it down forever:

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I added plywood aft of the fiberglass strips for strain relief when I open the two halves:

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Then I sanded down the insides of the keel line.  For this, I had to use the Alan Stewart Method of Hull Wrasslin' since I forgot to sand the keel line before butterflying the sides to the bottoms:

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I'm removing the 2"x4"x12's I laid down the sawhorses for butterflying and am setting up the saw horses with the cradles.  I also wired the keel line together.  Tomorrow, I hope to go 3D.  

 

I also have to figure out the transom.  I'd like to reinforce it to tolerate a 5 hp outboard since I'll probably be using the boat for fishing or hunting quite a bit.  

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Yesterday, I opened the boat 3D.  I started by clamping 1x2"s to each half and screwing some into the sawhorses to keep the sides from flopping open out of control.  I found the 1x2"s very helpful in stitching the chines together because I could re-clamp the sides closer to the bottoms using the 1x2s clamped to the sawhorses as I wired the chines aft.  I used 18 gauge copper wire which may need to be replaced with 16 gauge bailing wire if I can't get the chines and keel line close-enough together without breaking the copper. 

 

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More preparation for opening:

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30 minutes before the opening, I clamped hot wet rags to the bow to prevent the bow from splitting:

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Open!  This was a nail-biter, but turned out to be no big deal.

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Looking down the bow with the chines wired:post-5751-0-86984400-1473561538_thumb.jpg

Temporary frame installed:

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How level do my sawhorses need to be to judge whether the bow has a twist? 

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Thanks Ken and Alan.  As I told Alan on the phone, I'm an electrical engineer which is as much a mental illness as a job.  For example,  .10 - .25" is a small misalignment, but the size of the Grand Canyon in my mind.  

 

Can't agree with you more on this.  <.002 or I start to freak.

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How level do my sawhorses need to be to judge whether the bow has a twist?

I presume what you want to do  is minimize any twist in the hull. You could do that by leveling your boat support and then making sure that your hull is sitting square to the boat support but you are introducing  several opportunities for error.

 

This a job for winding sticks. You need two straight pieces of wood or even aluminum what ever you have, maybe six feet long 3/4 by 3/4. Lay one stick across the gunwales at the stern parallel to the transom. Now make two marks on your gunwales equidistant from the bow say 2 feet. Lay a second stick across the gunwales at those marks.

 

Now stand 10 feet or so from the bow and adjust your line of sight until the sticks line up with each other. Any twist in the hull should be apparent.

 

 

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Thanks guys.  Looks like I need to make another trip to the hardware store for some 3/4" x 3/4" sticks.  I suppose this is a problem I should fully resolve after I put on the gunwales and before I tack the keel and chines in place.  

 

The transom filler parts have a bevel and I'm unsure if I've dry-fit everything in the right direction.  Alan? 

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I bought some 3" PVC to make extra clamps as well as 15 more spring clamps.  It's a toss-up which will be cheaper.  10' of 3" PVC was $18 out here.

 

 

 

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Walt, 

 

The horizontal stiffener beam looks correct since the sides widen as the move forward away from the transom. On the vertical 3/4" solid stiffener it's hard to tell from your picture but it should also widen slightly as it moves forward away from the transom since the transom has some aft rake and the keel has upward sloping rocker.

 

These angles are really not that critical because thickened epoxy is very good at gap filling. In fact you could have no bevels at all and all would be well. What can go wrong however (for example) is you put a temporary screw through the hull side panel and into the end of the transom stiffener beam and snug it up tight and then glue the transom in assuming that is the correct angle. Then when you put the gunwales on find out the sides actually take on a slightly different angle. 

 

I recommend, after you assemble the transom parts, you temporarily install the transom (dry no epoxy) with drywall screws and or wire ties and leave it that way until after the gunwales are glued on. Then you can remove the transom and reinstall it with thickened epoxy and all angles will be set. I typically don't screw drywall screws in all the way if I don't have to which is the case with holding the transom in place. As long as the screw threads are threaded in both pieces (the side/bottom panel and the transom stiffeners in this case) then the screw is doing it's job and clamping the pieces in place. 

 

It's looking really really good.

-Alan

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Thanks guys.  Looks like I need to make another trip to the hardware store for some 3/4" x 3/4" sticks. 

 

May I suggest winding sticks that are much larger in cross section than .75", especially if they are pine.  That size will be more prone to sagging and when the SFO fog starts rolling in, warping .  If you want to make a pair to use on multiple projects (they are good for more than boat building) get some 8/4 (1.5" and rip 1 or 1.25" strips)  red oak or sapele.  If you are going to use once and throw away then some KD 2x3's from HD will work, but all of these will need to be flattened and parallel on the working sides.  Easiest way to mill is with jointer and planer, but can also easily be done with a hand plane.  The more accurate your tools the more accurate your boat.

 

You can also use 6' levels for the same purpose.

 

 

https://paulsellers.com/2014/05/making-winding-sticks-by-hand/

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In the past couple of days, I epoxied the gunwales and the transom, tightened the wires, and epoxied and temporarily installed the transom after sanding it.  I also re-installed the temporary frame after tightening the wires.  The gunwales were a pain to align and clamp.  I laid 2x4"x12' boards under the sawhorses and lined the vertical side of the gunwale pieces up with the side of the lumber and clamped at each end and at the scarf joint.  

 

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I rotated the boat 180 degrees in anticipation of unwinding it. 

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Over the next couple of days, I intend to level the boat, check it for twist using some 3/4" x 3/4" sticks I bought for an exorbitant sum at Home Depot, put in the breasthook, and dry fit the gunwales.  

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I took back the 3/4" sticks and got some aluminum angle irons to check for twist.  I honestly can't find any.  

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The distance from the tip of the bow to the corner of the port and starboard transom differs by only 5mm.  Dave mentioned leveling the boat before checking for twist on another thread. I looked at the Interior Construction plans and don't really understand the dimension used for leveling unless I'm supposed to measure from the DWL to the level line on the plans, apply the scale, and somehow find the DWL on my hull and measure up from that.   :unsure:

 

I think I need to just put in the breasthook and wire in the fwd bulkhead between the lines already drawn for me on the side panels and worry more about leveling and twist after I put on the gunwales.  

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