sscoville Posted June 7, 2009 Posted June 7, 2009 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. Quote
John Burritt Posted June 7, 2009 Posted June 7, 2009 Maybe an obvious/dumb question - are the dimensions of the transom stiffener correct? If so, I'd sure try the heat gun. I think I'd try starting at the aft end and heating it enough to pull it loose from the side - then work my way forward until I'd freed the necessary length. Then I'd use some fresh epoxy and put it in the right place. Quote
sscoville Posted June 7, 2009 Author Posted June 7, 2009 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. Quote
Designer Posted June 7, 2009 Posted June 7, 2009 Sam, when I am have to make an alteration like that I get a grinder with a 24 or 36 grit disk and grind away the offending member and make a lot of dust. If I am careful I can get away with not disturbing the ply sides at all, I usually finish up with with a fine disc. If you go that route you will have to make a butt join in the stringer which is not desirable as you will get a hard spot unless you put in a doubler of the same stringer section overlapping and under the joint by about about a foot. You can also make some height adjustments with a rabbet plane. While building Southern Skimmer I had a mental lapse and forgot that I wanted 3/4" of rocker in that same stringer. The rocker would make the low point of the cockpit seats at the cockpit hatch drains and eliminate puddling. In my case I was able to glue a 3/4" wedge at both ends. It works out great and I am glad now that I took the time to correct the issue. Quote
sscoville Posted June 8, 2009 Author Posted June 8, 2009 It's history now. I tried one side with the heat gun and then chisel, starting at the transom and wedging the stringer from the side as I went. On the side I used the heat gun on, I also took off the first layer of plywood from the side in some areas. I did not have this problem on the other side. This may have been a result of a better glue up on the first side and not because of the heat gun, but I don't know. But I got them corrected and filled the gashes in the sides with thickened epoxy. Won't be any bright work on this boat! Thanks for y'all's suggestions. Quote
John Burritt Posted June 8, 2009 Posted June 8, 2009 Congrats on the correction. Don't worry about the bright work. Where the stringers are probably wouldn't be finished bright anyway. Just sand/scrape it fair. When its painted nobody will know. We won't tell. Quote
sscoville Posted June 9, 2009 Author Posted June 9, 2009 I am planing to use some old growth yellow pine for my false stem. It has a lot of sap in it and I'm wondering if the sap will cause any trouble with the epoxy bonding. Anyone have an answer? Quote
Tom Lathrop Posted June 9, 2009 Posted June 9, 2009 I am planing to use some old growth yellow pine for my false stem. It has a lot of sap in it and I'm wondering if the sap will cause any trouble with the epoxy bonding. Anyone have an answer? I don't know about epoxy but other coatings can have trouble staying on resin filled heart pine. I doubt that it is a good idea. Quote
lbrewer Posted June 10, 2009 Posted June 10, 2009 I have used old growth heart pine a few times with epoxy, so far, without any problems. I don't know if something as visible as the stem is a good experiment though. I recently used a piece for a mast step that was so resinous that I felt the need to sand well and wipe with alcohol before epoxy. It hasn't been on even a year so I don't want to say it was successful yet. There is enough resin in that piece, like a lighter knot, that if the epoxy doesn't hold it wont rot anyway. I don't really have enough technical knowledge concerning epoxy to know if my reasoning is sound, but cleaning the outside of the piece so the curing epoxy isn't affected can't hurt. As Tom said, house paint doesn't stick to it very well at all. I know this because the wood lapsiding on my house is all resinous heart pine (they had nice trees here in 1929). I have to paint too often. Larry Quote
sscoville Posted June 17, 2009 Author Posted June 17, 2009 I decided to use a piece of yellow pine without all the fat - yellow pine "light". I am planning to sheath my hull with Xynole. At what stage should I do this? Should I do it before or after installing the centerboard and trunk? Quote
sscoville Posted June 17, 2009 Author Posted June 17, 2009 And how many yards of Xynole at 62'' wide do I need? Quote
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