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The Building of Old Codger


Chick Ludwig

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1 hour ago, Ken_Potts said:

 

   I was talking on the phone with a colleague today about quality control (yes, I am that boring in real life).  He related a tale about a local engineering firm that I will name "Jones Engineering" in order to protect the guilty party.  My friend said someone had told him once that being off by a few millimeters was tolerance stackup, being off by 20 millimeters was a design mistake, and being off by 500mm was Jones Engineering.

You never addressed "Perfection" . That's when you are on the water, and yes even in a yellow boat with the critical landlubbers and engineers with their pocket protectors and micrometers looking from the shore and trying to figure how to experience your Nirvana , wishing they were there too. [nice mouthful there]:<} THat's where I am with tolerance nasal gazers. :lol:

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29 minutes ago, Oyster said:

You never addressed "Perfection" .

The question to me, is "How good is good enough?" That requires a subjective answer. And a very personal one. The answer is, "Whatever you think is good enough." When you are out in your boat enjoying the experience, and you are happy with what you have created, it's good enough. If you keep saying, I wish that I had done this or that better, then it may not be good enough. If there is a flaw that you know is there, but no one else does, and it's "good enough" for you, then it's "good enough". If you say, It's not perfect and it's not good enough, then I'm sorry for you, it probably will never be good enough. A perfectionist, when asked when he would be done with what he is working on, says, "It's never finished, they just come and take it away." For Steve, the 1/4 inch shim changed "not good enough" to "good enough". For me, cutting the high side down made mine "good enough". For some, a paint job that looks good from 15 feet away is "good enough", while others require a perfect, "see-your-face-in-a-flawless-shine" paint job to be satisfied.

 

Anyway, that's my opinion, and it's good enough for me.

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This current build that I am attempting to finish up on is probably a five out of ten  in cosmetics from anything in the past that I personally have done. This actually stems from a lot of reasons, and not from the lack of wanting and trying.  But as I have aged, cosmetics takes a back seat to function in a boat. Plus this is late summer and a person can spend their time polishing or using.  Using is now taking a front row for us.  Anyway sorry for the side note with Ken, but he really knew how to enjoy his previous craft, even though it was yellow. :D

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1 hour ago, Oyster said:

....even though it was yellow.

My friend Don seems to enjoy his boat too, even though it's yellow. It also comes much close to perfection than mine. Maybe the reason is that he's still young enough to put the time into making it "good enough" for him. I've always settled for my own version of "good enough". But then, I have an excuse. I'm the original poster child for ADD. (Attention Deficit Disorder) Actually, I was ADD before they even knew that there was such a thing. My poor parents. Back until I was about 25, the ADD was compounded by adding an HD (Hyperactive Disorder) to it. I never walked anywhere. I always ran. Anything I did was as fast as I could go. Well, that's not quite true. Anything that I didn't want to do was either ignored or done as slowly as I could go. So, in my case, "good enough" is "good enough" because I

have a medical (psychiatric?) excuse for it.

 

Hey, I like this conversation. It's beginning to look like another of my carefully researched topics for an essay is coming soon. I hope y'all will join in with your ideas on "good enough".

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Chick,

 

One of my "yacht" design books offers the dictum that slope of a coachroof should intersect with the top of the bow.  As may be, but that probably holds only for boats that aspire to being a "classic" design.  Probably few boats seen on the water today satisfy that rule and probably none of the smaller ones that hope to house humans inside.  I would not have any opinion on perfection, having never seen any.  There was this girl once but then, I never got to meet her so could be wrong about that as well.

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Today was supposed to be a day spent on the water with friends in the old tin boat. Miss Debbie had the second injection of the new shingles vaccine yesterday. Today she suffered several of the side affects and wasn't up to going, so, a few more things got done on Lost Cove.

 

The cabin sides are poxied on, and the interior framing is done. The temporary center bulkhead will remain until the cabin top beams are in place.

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There are cute little knees to support the forward end of the inwales. They kinda match the quarter knees. I don't know what kinda knees they are. Some sort of lodging knee I suppose? Or maybe "half knees" since they are half way along the boat. But then, why are the ones in the back called "quarter knees"? Yes Vern, I know. They are in the stern quarters of the boat.

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Here's an inside view of the front cabin bulkhead. The forward and aft companionway drop boards are in place so I could measure the crown of each cabin top beam. There was a longitudinal straight edge spanning the ends of the cabin to measure to.

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Here's the first of three beams being laminated. I'll do one a day and install them as I go. Or maybe all three on the last day. I dunno.

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It's finally beginning to look like a real boat. Maybe it will get done before fall comes around.

 

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The inwales are done. I still have to make the outwale/rubrail to complete the gunnels.DSCN3598.thumb.JPG.42a8cd6e409f3edc38ad091b9cd4d363.JPG

 

Cabin beams poxied in place. Temporary screws holding them in place. As promised, the temporary center frame -bulkhead is now gone. YAY!

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The "old tinner" is loaded up ready for a day at the lake with friends. See y'all next week.

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Now I have a question for you "puter nerds" out there. I can only post two or three pictures before I get a message saying "You are only allowed to download.....". If I go ahead and finish posting what I have, then come back and edit, then I can download more pictures. So, whats up, Doc?

 

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On 7/16/2018 at 10:15 AM, Chick Ludwig said:

Hey, I like this conversation. It's beginning to look like another of my carefully researched topics for an essay is coming soon. I hope y'all will join in with your ideas on "good enough". 

 

So you can find it under the Boating and Cruising Stories section of this forum.

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CABIN TOP IS ON!!!!  YAY!!! I cant wait to build the hatches, install ports, and finish the gunnel/rubrail. Then it's only painting, hardware, finishing details. etc. But now I'm 90% done. Hey, wait, didn't someone say that when you're 90% done, you still have 90%  to go? Now I'm depressed. I wanna go BOAT-BOAT (That's what the grand babbies used to say.) Anyway, I ordered the trailer today. Now I gotta send off to the state for my title and registration. Good ol' North Carolina form VR-1. I also have to make patterns for the cabin cushions and find someone to make the cushions. They cost me $600 for Summer Breeze. I hope hes will be less. How much have y'all been paying?

 

Here's the pictures. (I guess it's better grammar to say, Here ARE the pictures. But then again, this is the SOUTH!)

The forward hatch will be hinged aft, There will be a support to hold it at an angle to catch the breeze. The little "doo-hicky" to the port side of the deck is a pad to hold the plug-in bow navigation light. I still haven't decided on how the port lights will be done. Plexi windows, salvaged opening ports, ......

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The aft hatch will be a sliding companionway.

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I know y'all are getting bored with the slow progress and kinda redundant posts on this project. Lotta stuff keeps getting in the way of getting much done. Anyway, here's a couple of shots of the rubrail. Finished except for filling the holes left from the temporary screws. Yeah, I know they need to be poxy coated.

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Wait.

 

Why does the house look so wonky? :)

 

Chick, my buddy and I have always maintained the difference between a pro builder and an amateur is that a pro knows how to fix errors. Or, rather, how to seamlessly integrate unplanned variables into the finished package.

 

Reading these threads just makes me more angry we don’t live in Luxembourg, or somesuch.

Shoot! Even I could drive all the way across Luxembourg to visit friends for a day or two. This big old patchwork monster we inhabit? Shoot, it’s a day or two to get across it! Hahaha.

 

One day, Brother, I hope we get to giggle and fuss and carry on with our dumb jokes and puns around a burning pile of tree bones on a stretch of finely ground rocks, adjacent to a body of liquid life.

 

Until then, well, thankfully we got forums!

 

I got mad love for you Chick. You’ve become a real friend, buddy. Thanks for all it. Mostly for just being a real guy. Just a normal, real guy, like allus. You’re a good example to follow, Brother.

 

Even if you can’t cut straight. ?

 

Peace,

Robert

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Tiger, ..." wonky"???

"unplanned variables" I like that! It describes perfectly what I do a whole lot of!

Thanks for the kind words. I wish you were closer, too. I think we'd be even gooder buddies then. So, pack up all the boats and family and move over here to God's Country. Well, it would be if the mountain joined the sound and Atlantic ocean.

 

Scott, I definitely won't be adding any torture devices on this baby. If it don't got a motor, it's not not good enough for me. (I'm trying to attach an .049 model airplane engine on my chisel...)

YES! Real Southern Sweet Tea in one hand, and Vienna sausages on the other! By-the-way, we were in a new "burger doodle" in town and they tried to offer me unsweet tea! Here in the South! Too many dang yankees have moved in and corrupted our traditions!

 

So, now it's time to go out to the old garop and add a few more of those unplanned variables And cut some more crooked lines. See y'all later. Or rather, "After while, crocodile". (No, we don't have them in the mountains, either.)

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I once built a model air boat with 049 on it. It ran great in the driveway or in the yard but never ever would it start when I would take it to the lake! I would try  everything at the lake to get that darn thing started of course my son was with me so I couldn't throw a fit and stomp it into the ground. We would drive home and it would start right up. Had to be some kind of gremlins involved!:rolleyes: True story must have drove to the lake a half dozen times and not once would that little 049 entertain us!

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"So, pack up all the boats and family and move over here to God's Country. " Didn't you say that was where wind went to die?

 

Love watching your fast work. You are making me look bad. I'm only able to get about 6-7 hours a week lately! 5 years to retirement! I think I'm going to switch to sweet tea and become a serial builder.

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