105 square feet of dacron goodness!
Monday, September 28, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Bulkhead #3
Things have been progressing more slowly than I want, but this is due to several extenuating life factors. First, my work takes me on the road for days at a time, and then I'm home for a few days where I need to cram in my errands, my personal life, exercise, sleep, etc. To boot, the weather has been fantastic, and I can't justify being in the basement. SOOooooo, during my last time home, I was only able to frame BH3, which is very straight forward because there are no curves. I'm back on the road again, and will be for a while.
Once the winter rolls around with its bad weather, this boat is ON.
Once the winter rolls around with its bad weather, this boat is ON.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Bulkhead #2
Yesterday and today I worked on BH2. This went smoothly, with no problems. I spent some time shaping the side frames down to match the curved bulkhead. I was pleased with the result, though my plane is not working as well as I would like. I've got a sharpening problem I have to deal with-- as in I have to learn how to sharpen my blade iron better.
During the construction of BH2 I realized that I screwed up on BH1, cutting a 19x19 mm piece for the bottom frame instead of the 45mmx19mm piece that the plans call for. I have not decided yet if I want to keep the original piece or put together a new one. The question is pending on the Storer forum. I'm OK on wood, but I don't have a lot of extra, and cedar is pricey.
On the road for the next 8 days.
During the construction of BH2 I realized that I screwed up on BH1, cutting a 19x19 mm piece for the bottom frame instead of the 45mmx19mm piece that the plans call for. I have not decided yet if I want to keep the original piece or put together a new one. The question is pending on the Storer forum. I'm OK on wood, but I don't have a lot of extra, and cedar is pricey.
On the road for the next 8 days.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Bulkhead #1
Tonight I cut the frame for BH1. This was relatively simple, but I took my time, overcut everything, and then rasped/sanded it down to fit. Tomorrow I'll move on to the rest of the BH's. I've decided to prepare all the BH's first, and then glue, so I don't have to keep setting up and taking down my glue station.
I have two rasps. One is a half-round rasp, the other a "combo" rasp, with many different possibilities. I used both. I forgot I even had these nifty tools. I actually sanded down the transom top frame to fit, the rasps would have made the work go much, much quicker with the same precision had I even thought about it. Another notch in the experience belt!
In other news, I came very very close to buying an O'Day 27, to which the GIS would have been tender to. Everything was lined up, including a deposit, and at the last moment, I bagged it for various maintenance reasons on the boat. BOO. I am kind of grinding my teeth but still looking forward to finding something. I've got this image of my mothership anchored in the bay, and I'm swooping into the beach on the GIS with the lug sail full and my knife in my teeth and buxom blondes are running in terror! YEAH!
I have two rasps. One is a half-round rasp, the other a "combo" rasp, with many different possibilities. I used both. I forgot I even had these nifty tools. I actually sanded down the transom top frame to fit, the rasps would have made the work go much, much quicker with the same precision had I even thought about it. Another notch in the experience belt!
In other news, I came very very close to buying an O'Day 27, to which the GIS would have been tender to. Everything was lined up, including a deposit, and at the last moment, I bagged it for various maintenance reasons on the boat. BOO. I am kind of grinding my teeth but still looking forward to finding something. I've got this image of my mothership anchored in the bay, and I'm swooping into the beach on the GIS with the lug sail full and my knife in my teeth and buxom blondes are running in terror! YEAH!
Monday, September 7, 2009
Transom
The transom is ready for gluing. I spent mucho time preparing the top frame last night, I cut it wide with the jigsaw and then sanded it down to match the ply, so this took quite a while. I was being cautious. Everything fits nice and tight and perfect. I am pleased with the result of taking my time with this important element.
AND THEN
I screwed up. I was cutting out the hole for the tiller. I carefully plotted everything out, carefully cut everything out, sanded smooth and inspected for variations. Along the top cut, I noticed I had ever-so-gently strayed "north" and my top cut was not as true as my bottom cut. "NO PROBLEMO" I muttered, whilst grabbing the jigsaw firing it up. "I'll just trim it straight out easy peasey! The fact that maybe the power tool wasn't the best idea didn't cross my mind and I proceeded to venture boldly north now, as opposed to gently stray. goddammit. Now the radius of the corner doesn't match the width of the hole, the top cut is wobbly and not even parallel anymore, and I'm super scared to keep cutting to get it straight, because even with a jig clamped down for the jigsaw, I wasn't getting a straight cut. So I'm leaving my wobbly, diagonal, cut as a two part lesson: a: SLOW DOWN. b: It's OK to screw up. I'm owning up to it, and I'm walking away from my almost-but-not-quite perfect transom.
Tomorrow, I will do the first gluing, and stay tuned for some exciting new boat developments!
AND THEN
I screwed up. I was cutting out the hole for the tiller. I carefully plotted everything out, carefully cut everything out, sanded smooth and inspected for variations. Along the top cut, I noticed I had ever-so-gently strayed "north" and my top cut was not as true as my bottom cut. "NO PROBLEMO" I muttered, whilst grabbing the jigsaw firing it up. "I'll just trim it straight out easy peasey! The fact that maybe the power tool wasn't the best idea didn't cross my mind and I proceeded to venture boldly north now, as opposed to gently stray. goddammit. Now the radius of the corner doesn't match the width of the hole, the top cut is wobbly and not even parallel anymore, and I'm super scared to keep cutting to get it straight, because even with a jig clamped down for the jigsaw, I wasn't getting a straight cut. So I'm leaving my wobbly, diagonal, cut as a two part lesson: a: SLOW DOWN. b: It's OK to screw up. I'm owning up to it, and I'm walking away from my almost-but-not-quite perfect transom.
Tomorrow, I will do the first gluing, and stay tuned for some exciting new boat developments!
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Specificity ahead
Time for a little cleaning up. I took care of a lot of little items that needed doing.
I went back to the kick-ass guys at Maine Coast Lumber and got hooked up with some more cedar, primarily for the chine logs, so I can just keep moving on assembly. I also picked up extra cedar just in case. This hopefully is my last cedar purchase, the stuff is getting pricey. I also picked up a good piece of cedar for the STEM. I bought many feet so I can have many attempts, this I feel, is going to suck.
I also bought:
pumps for the epoxy, dammit, I forgot with my initial order.
inspection ports for the bulkheads.
the sail, holy cow, I just had to press the buy button and be done with it.
Next up:
finish the top frame on the transom, which is out of Douglas Fir, which meant that I had the wood for it all along in the form of that long fir plank. Then, when the pumps come in I can glue and epoxy this piece all up.
frame the remaining bulkheads
glue together el bottom and el side-os. This will mean chine longs. I found a 17 foot long piece of cedar, but it was a weird dimension that was going to have to be ripped several times to make it the appropriate size. I have decided to scarf two 9 foot sections together. This will keep one side more uniform (less ripping) and it will teach me a new valuable skill. The scarf joint as spied by gimpslayer3000, but with cedar. This is going to be interesting, because it needs to come out tip-top. Sacramento GIS has built a scarfing jig, which is a fascinating idea, but I'm really not interested in that, but it would probably be the best bet for the cleanest scarf. I'm wondering about how precise I can get on my own...
and then at some point... the dreaded STEM.
That's it for now, on the road again. Waiting patiently.
I went back to the kick-ass guys at Maine Coast Lumber and got hooked up with some more cedar, primarily for the chine logs, so I can just keep moving on assembly. I also picked up extra cedar just in case. This hopefully is my last cedar purchase, the stuff is getting pricey. I also picked up a good piece of cedar for the STEM. I bought many feet so I can have many attempts, this I feel, is going to suck.
I also bought:
pumps for the epoxy, dammit, I forgot with my initial order.
inspection ports for the bulkheads.
the sail, holy cow, I just had to press the buy button and be done with it.
Next up:
finish the top frame on the transom, which is out of Douglas Fir, which meant that I had the wood for it all along in the form of that long fir plank. Then, when the pumps come in I can glue and epoxy this piece all up.
frame the remaining bulkheads
glue together el bottom and el side-os. This will mean chine longs. I found a 17 foot long piece of cedar, but it was a weird dimension that was going to have to be ripped several times to make it the appropriate size. I have decided to scarf two 9 foot sections together. This will keep one side more uniform (less ripping) and it will teach me a new valuable skill. The scarf joint as spied by gimpslayer3000, but with cedar. This is going to be interesting, because it needs to come out tip-top. Sacramento GIS has built a scarfing jig, which is a fascinating idea, but I'm really not interested in that, but it would probably be the best bet for the cleanest scarf. I'm wondering about how precise I can get on my own...
and then at some point... the dreaded STEM.
That's it for now, on the road again. Waiting patiently.