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Action Tiger builds a Firefly. Slowly.


Action Tiger

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Well, I got all the patterns traced onto Mylar and cut out.

I made my own patterns, rather than cutting the plans directly. I DO NOT recommend anyone do this. I did it because:

1) I've been making patterns and copies of drawings and objects for 25 years. If I am professional at anything, it is drawing, or in this case, tracing.

2) I have handy kids, and my oldest boy has expressed interest in THIS kayak, so I may be guiding him through a build later. I will state here, I would only build a second boat if I paid for it. I respect intellectual property, especially since that's about all I own.

3) I do have quite a collection of technical drawings and blueprints I'd like to snuggle this plan into.

4) I wanted to try the Mylar technique to test for an up coming boat I will have to lay down and take off. Good bye nails and door skin!

So, I've gotten my patterns ready to trace onto the plywood sheet I was supposed to pick up, but got distracted by actual work. 50$, BB, from the local cabinet guy.

I'll get up pictures as they come, of the whole enchilada, including putting up a strongback here in the next week or so...

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  • 2 weeks later...
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I honestly use power tools so infrequently I had to dig for my jigsaw. I know right where all 5 of my handsaws are, though. And the worm drive. ;) These blades cut the tight curves very well, with minimal scorching, and made CLEAN cuts.

Sorry to hear about Bosch going downhill. If my jigsaw ever wears out, I'll have to get one of those 10 ton bandsaws like Kudzu has. :)

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Holy cow, they're all cut out. Well, except for the notches, but that should go pretty quick.

I will confess I got worried when I tried to fit frame 12" to the stern stem, because it didn't line up correctly. Got out the plans, checked the piece, and it was cut right. Hmmm?

Guess what? I was holding the stern stem upside down, like a dummy! After I oriented the pieces properly, it all fit nicely.

I'll have to get that strongback together this week, I hope...

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Well, my cheap plywood I bought for my strongback curled into Fritos once I ripped it to pieces, and no amount of reasonable juggling could make it resemble a straight beam with legs.

Upon hitting the pile, it was immediately sequestered by the young for their treehouse. With enough ring shank nails, it will make passable gussets for them. I will continue supervising that until later this week when I go buy a nicer sheet of ply. I'm thinking to get a 4x8 sheet of BB from my guy...he has it and 5x5.

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Kudzu, that's one of the reasons I've avoided plywood, generally, for personal use for a while.

I won't do a job that involves any sheet goods, of any kind, for a few years now. I get too sad.

That said, I've used a BUNCH of domestic ply in my life, and the quality has gone downhill in the last 20 years, to be sure.

Power tools I avoid, if there is a manual alternative. Because I choose to.

A stable table is one place good plywood excels.

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I am building a little cabinet thingy for my daughter.  I had to create a dado to support 1/4" cabinet grade birch plywood (made in the USA).  I didn't have a piece near my table saw so I grabbed a piece of BS 1088 Okoume that is sold as 6mm, which is slightly under 1/4" (6.35mm = 1/4")  A little bird in my head told me to actually get the birch, or at least compare the 2 to make sure they were close enough in size to make the fit.  As it turns out the Okoume, which never claimed to be 1/4" was thicker than the birch which did claim to be.

 

The moral of this story is assume nothing and measure twice, especially when using US made plywood. 

 

On a related note my Okoume measures out exactly as it is labelled and sold.  It was manufactured in Greece and sold under the Boulter name here in the US.  And so far I have found it to meet up to the BS 1088 standard it claims to be manufactured to. (Be careful, there are Chinese versions of BS 1088 that do not come close to the standard yet claim the standard for manufacture.)

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Well, I got some more plywood. I found some decent 5 ply "half inch" ply. At least the mill was right up front about the thickness...

I was digging for a while, yes I ALWAYS restack nicely, and couldn't find one good piece of ACX. This stuff is CDX, but it looks nicer than anything else they had.

I'll wait one more day to see if it wants to curl up like the last one, and then I'll get to strong backing...

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