Boom Glue-up

I spent just over an hour this morning gluing up the first stave on the main boom. Surprising how much time everything takes. I drilled what I'll call alignment holes for the 1/8" dowels to go in each end (my technique to help keep things straight), mixing pure epoxy to "paint" onto the surfaces, thicken some epoxy, "stick" it on, mix a little more, and a little more, put the clamps on, see some gaps, rub some epoxy into it, rub off squeeze out.... There's more to it than meets the eye.

Here's the stave set up.

Next I'll figure out the internal blocking and glue those in. Then I'll have to figure out how to make the other stave bend around the taper. I think I'm going to sand or plane down the diameter a little at those turns to make the stave a little more flexible. 

Main Boom

Friday I took the time to cut out the main boom plywood panels. Here are a couple shots of my marking the taper with a batten and using a 1x4 as a cutting guide. I did make a mistake on one of the pieces. I read the plans wrong and cut one of the tapers too short. I had to remake that piece. 

I've got enough plywood for small mistakes, BUT not for any big ones. Better be careful!

I also had spent some time working on the staves that will complete the "box". I was trying to use left over Douglas Fir for that job. I actually had two pieces that looked pretty good and would only need a little "resawing" to make them fit. 

Today I wanted to start the glue up process. I started by looking at the staves. One was just too crooked so I cut some more wood. It would need a scarf but that wouldn't be too hard.

Here is a pic of two pieces being glued up into one of the two staves. I used the front edge of the workbench as a "straightedge". 

When I went to scarf the two sides of the plywood portion of the boom, I realized that I had cut two of the matching pieces short!!!! They needed to be 6'2" long. I cut them 62". Duh! Should have been 74". There's the old adage: measure twice - cut once. I measured twice but forgot what our math teachers taught us in elementary school. "Show your work" and "check your work". My math was wrong. I guess it was easy enough to be thinking 6'2" and measure 62". Oh, well. No harm really done. Just an extra half hours work. I used the piece I messed up earlier for the fix. 

What to do? I was going to have one scarf anyway, so I decided to just insert an "extension" into the two pieces leaving two scarfs each. I decided to take the chickens' way out and used butt blocks. They'll be on the inside of the boom and there is no curve, so it should be just fine. 

A couple pics of the "fix".

I used small nails to put pressure on the joints rather than weights or clamps. That way I was able to wipe away the squeeze out. The reason the butt blocks do not go all the way to the edge is to make room for the 1/2" staves. 

I'll start gluing the pieces together the next session. 

Just 1 Hour Today

I just put in one hour tonight. I sanded the rudder head and blade and then put a coat of epoxy on the blade. It's all coming along nicely; however, I'm not quite sure I like the looks of the tapered blade which is made from meranti ply. The dark lines look burned. I may wind up painting the blade and leaving the head, which is okoume, bright. We'll see. 

The blade is coated on both sides. It's sitting on a board with nails in it. It will leave small impressions in the epoxy on the underside, but they'll sand out.

I'm real happy with how the head turned out. The Rotozip did an excellent job. Do I see some finger marks on that blade? LOL. I guess that's where I handled it gluing it up yesterday. No matter, I'm going to coat it with epoxy anyway.

It Worked!

It's time to cut out the rudder head. It has an arc on the end around which the rudder blade with a matching arc will rotate. My skills with the jig saw are a bit lacking and the attachment I have for the Rotozip doesn't open enough to make an arc 6&3/4" in diameter. So I cut a piece of scrap plywood, cut a hole in it the size of the Rotozip (fortunately I had a bit that fit it perfectly), cut out a piece big enough for the adjustment knob to also fit, and gave it a try. Worked wonderfully!

Here's the jig:

And the jig in operation:

And the two matching halves to the rudder head:

I had wondered whether the bit would survive. I had previously broken several in trying to learn how the Rotozip worked. They seem to snap off easily. I ordered some new bits and decided it was worth a try. I was able to set the bit in it's deepest setting, meaning the tool was close to the board. I turned it on with no contact with the board and eased into it. Worked! I believe what snaps the bits is binding it in the board when you turn it on. Anyway: presto! I have a rudder head. 

I took a breakfast break and went back out. I needed to shape the rudder blade. I Used the same jib to cut the curve in the blade. It is supposed to have a 1/8" larger arc which is the diameter of the bit. The rudder used the inside of the arc and the blade uses the outside. There you have it. I drove a nail through the hole in the head and lined up the blade with it. Clamped it down and then put the zip jig nail through the same hole. Easy peasy.

After cutting the arc I had to cut a couple more angles and then plane the foil shape. Not perfect but it'll have to do.

I went down after church tonight to do a little epoxy work. I wanted to laminate the rudder head and glass the blade. Here's the result of an hour and a half's work.

Not sure whether I'm going to put the rudder "cheeks" on just yet. It calls for 1/4" ply and I haven't torn into any of it yet. Will want to use scraps to do it. We'll see. 

Epoxy Work

I did some epoxy work this morning. Didn't take but an hour or so. I put a coat on the second side of the daggerboard and glued a piece of fiberglass to the bottom of the board.

I also glued the doublers on the bulkheads, put a second coat of epoxy on the inside of the trunk, and laminated the rudder blade. Here's a shot of the strongback/work table.

In the process one of the clamp handles came off. Hoping it's just a nut and bolt. I found what appears to be a nut on the floor.

Here's a shot of two doublers. Notice the 2 small holes. I used the technique of drilling a 1/8" hole through the pieces while clamped and before gluing and putting a dowel in the hole to assure proper alignment. Saves having to fiddle with an epoxy coated board and having any slippage. Works great.

That's all for today. Next I'll be finishing the cut out of the rudder blade. I bought a set of bits for my Rotozip. Hope it can be used to cut the curve in the rudder blade and matching curve in the head. I also want to finish the daggerboard including painting so I can glue up the trunk. 

 

A Pile of Work Lined Up

I finished cutting out the bulkheads and doublers this morning. Now I've got a pile of work waiting for me in the workshop. Next session will be epoxy/glue-up time. I'll be working on the daggerboard, trunk, rudder, and bulkheads!

Oh, and I went to Home Depot and bought a pack of jig saw blades. I started cutting the plywood with a metal blade with 36 tpi. It's working much better. I also slowed the speed down on my adjustable saw. It's all helping. 
 

More on the Bulkheads

Tonight I cut out the bulkheads all except the horizontal (there's no measurements on the plans - waiting on Clint to give them to me) and two of the doublers.

 Right now I have a lot going on: finishing up the inner stem, daggerboard, trunk, bulkheads. A few more pieces and I think I'll be ready to set up the molds!

One issue I need to think about: I used the jigsaw on the inside curve of the doublers and there was quite a bit of "tearout". It won't be too bad on the doublers, but when I get to some of the more obvious and visible pieces I need to keep that to a minimum. 

I also have a hard time seeing where the blade is cutting on the jigsaw. I can't afford to make any big mistakes. 

Bulkheads

I spent 2 hours this evening drawing the 2 permanent bulkheads. It's a slow process with lots of measurements. I do need to check with Clint. I'm not sure what the dimensions are for the "seat tops". Not sure what to call it. Monday I'll try to cut them out and also cut out the doublers. I'll be able to use the outline of the bulkheads to draw them. Should move quicker than the bulkheads themselves. If you look closely, you should be able to see the outlines.

 

First Cut on Marine Ply!

Milestone today. I cut my first piece of marine ply. I cut out my daggerboard trunk out of a piece of the 3/8" meranti. You don't want to make a mistake on that stuff!

Here are the two sides to the trunk after wetting out some fiberglass on each one.

I also glued up the doublers on the midship frame and put another coat of epoxy on one side of the daggerboard after sanding it smooth. 

A Little Motivation

Pete, one of the other CIY 16 builders is just about done. He's taken the boat out of his building space and is setting her up. A day or two and he'll be in the water. He lives in Maine: that's wooden boat country for all you land-lubbers. 

Here she sets. He's done a very fine job.

You might notice the floor is in the raised position which makes it an ideal sleeping platform, one of the reasons I chose this design. 

Midship Frame & DB

I spent an hour and 45 minutes redrawing the midship frame onto the lumber that I glued up yesterday morning. Yep, it took a while. I used a batten to draw the curved line.

Like the transom, when I glued it up, it got a little "off plane". I guess pulling on it with the small clamps did that. I don't think it will be a problem. I plan to put "doublers" over the joint. 

I also spent 5 minutes sanding off the fiberglass overlap on the daggerboard. A few imperfections that I can clean up. I think this board will be ok as well. Might not be as strong as better ply, but, again, I don't plan to abuse it. 

Here are a few pics of the board with the imperfections. Trying to glass both sides at the same time presented its challenges.

Came back this evening and cut out the midship frame and the "doublers" to cover the joint and one of those knots. The one on the left is a bit longer because it's covering that knot. They're ready to be glued up in the morning.

I also sanded out the rough spots on the daggerboard. I'll probably put a coat of epoxy on it in the morning also. 

Budget

I set a budget of $3000 for this build (the kit cost $9500). This would include everything: trailer, boat, sails, hardware, rigging, paint, epoxy etc. That was a tall order! I'm up to about $2600. Not much left to buy except rigging, hardware and "incidentals". It's going to be close. A $20 here and a $30 there: it adds up quick. Will probably go over a little bit. Who knows? With Christmas, a birthday and another Fathers' Day, I might get enough help to make it! LOL!!

Daggerboard and Midship Frame

Yesterday I started the day by drawing the midship frame on one of those junk pieces of plywood. That enabled me to see what kind of lumber I would need to fashion that frame. Turns out that a 1x6x8 would do it. I picked that up in route to church.

Last night I cut the lumber to size and it's ready for glue up this morning. I'll cut out the "dummy" frame and trace it onto the glued up lumber when it's glued and dry.

I also sanded the daggerboard and cut the fiberglass cloth which I plan to wet out this morning. It's heavy cloth so I'm hoping this will give some added strength to the poor piece of ply.

This morning I've gone ahead and glued up/wetted out yesterday's work. That piece hanging over will be coming off as will the ragged edges. I was going to lay the board on a couple nails but the kept wanting to come off on the lower side. I went and got my step ladder and suspended a board with a nail through it and hung the daggerboard. Only issue, I drilled a hole and the dust from the hole got all over the board and glass. Wiped it off as best I could. The sander will take care of most of it along with a couple more coats of epoxy and paint.

I will probably reinforce those joints on the frame with a short piece of leftover plywood (which I'll certainly have when I begin cutting up the good stuff). Guess you'd call it a "doubler". Most of those knots you see will get cut out except for one. That will certainly need a doubler. 

 

More Work on Daggerboard

I spent a couple more hours working on the daggerboard today. My efforts went into shaping it and filling needed areas with epoxy. 

The simple truth is the two pieces of plywood I bought the other day to use for the daggerboard are just JUNK. I should have known since they were off of pallets. I've put several hours into the board, so I'm going to finish. I had to fill with epoxy several places that tore out when planing and sanding. I started to trash it and start over. I'm going to coat it with fiberglass and epoxy. That will help. I don't plan on being hard on the boat so it should be ok, at least for a while. If it breaks, it won't be hard to build another one and you can sail without a board. 

I also opened an old can of Glidden Porch and Floor enamel. It had a half inch of hardened paint on the surface, but when I got that off, the rest seemed ok. I'm going to paint the daggerboard. 

Hopefully tomorrow I'll get it glassed. 

Here are two pics. The first is the whole board. You can see the beveling of the trailing edge and the rounding of the forward edge to create something of a foil shape. The second is a closeup of one of the spots with epoxy filling. 

Here are two pics of the stem. Today I just marked the lines where the approximate bevel will be. I also cut each end. The closeup is of the lower end where the garboard will hit it. It's lying on the piece of cloth that I'm going to use for the daggerboard. 

Daggerboard

I started on the daggerboard. Clint's layout on the plywood did not allow for the daggerboard. His plans suggest solid wood for plans builders. I've decided to make it out of plywood. My SD 11 was fine with box store plywood sheathed in glass. 

I bought two pieces of plywood from a guy who disassembles pallets. The sheets are not a full 4x8 and they are cheap plywood. I bought them for $15 each. One sheet of good ply would have been $50. They are not perfect by any means. I see some voids and they are just rough. I'm going to use the best one out of the two. I will not be out much if it breaks and I'll make another stronger. As little as I sail, I'm willing to give it a try. Trying to make that $3k budget.

Here is the daggerboard cut out in 2 matching pieces getting laminated together. I tried to put some weight on the 2 pieces but it wasn't enough, so I used clamps and screws. I screwed it right down to the table. It's sacrificial anyway.

A closeup of the screws through the 2 layers. I put a bunch in. I think they'll come out easily enough. I'll have to fill the screw holes with epoxy, but that's easy enough. I'll be painting the daggerboard. Of course, it gets shaped into a foil and sheathed in epoxy/fiberglass.