Tiller Slot

I felt like I needed to cut out that tiller slot before painting, so I tackled that last night. I used a 2” hole saw, jig saw and some sandpaper. Dumb me did some poor math in my head (remember your math teacher insisting you check your work?). My first two holes were an inch too close. So to cut another two holes. I made a guide to hold my hole saw in place, since I was only cutting out part of a hole. Worked pretty well. 

I also tacked down a guide when I did my jig cut. 

After an hour and a half it turned out reasonably well. 

I also took the belt sander to my daggerboard where I had added that epoxy. It squared off the top end. Not sure how I will paint that though??? I was thinking I would paint the board and leave the keeper boards bright. The top edge might look funny. Ummm?

Hoping to get the skeg done later this week and begin the 6-7 coats on the hull next week.

Christmas

I didn't try to do much over Christmas week. Tiffany and the grands were here and just overall busy. I did slip downstairs for about 40 minutes and tried to finish off the outer stem. I did some planing and sanding. I think she's close to ready.

I may try to sand her a bit more on the left side. I didn't bevel that side quite as much as the right. It doesn't look bad. Doubt anyone would ever notice. 

 

Outer Stem is On

I cut out the outer stem today and glued it to the bow. The fit wasn't perfect and I'm afraid I messed it up more trying to "fine tune" it. Some thickened epoxy should solve the issue though as it does in other situations. 

The first thing I did was transfer the pattern to the stock which I had glued up earlier and which turned out just the right size and shape.

Then I cut out the stem with the band saw. There were a couple gaps which I tried to close by cutting out some "high" spots. Didn't work too well, but the epoxy should take care of it. 

Then I planed a bevel on the stem. The two sides don't match up perfectly but I'll try and dress it up a little once the epoxy cures.

The leading edge of the bow was not completely uniform. I cut the width of the outer stem to cover the widest part. The rest I'll fill in with thickened epoxy. I think it will do just fine. 

Here are two pics of the stem glued up.

Overall, I'm reasonably pleased. 

Update: went down this morning and added some epoxy to the joint. I came up with a pretty good transition.

I took the left over epoxy and added it to my daggerboard. When I made the board, I rounded the upper edge. I shouldn't have done that. The "keeper" boards will cover that top part, so I decided to build it up to square again. The board will be painted so no problem.

 

Stem Etc

I've been able to spend a little time on the boat this week. With Christmas coming it's difficult to make time - an hour here... an hour there.

After making my plywood pattern, I have cut out and glued up the rough timber for the outer stem. I tried to get pieces without knots. My resawing went ok. I'm trying to save myself from unnecessary planing though that shouldn't be too tough with the power planer. You can see the pattern in the second picture. It's rough. I plan on adding some more tickler sticks to the form and trying to get a more exact cut when I actually cut out the stem from my stock. 

I also fiberglassed my transom. Not sure it was necessary, but I will feel better doing it. Just not sure about that glue in the Lowes glued up board. I used the old epoxy (11 years old!). Some of the old epoxy has crystalized. The hardener seems ok though it may have turned a little darker. I did use the old once earlier in this build for something small and it seemed to work fine. I know I'm going to need more than the 3 gallon pack of epoxy that I ordered for this build, so I thought I could use the old on non-structural things. From what I've read, age shouldn't hurt it except maybe weakening it a small bit. If this works on the transom, I'll probably use the old to coat the hull. 

I used my extra epoxy to do some filling.

300 Hours

I passed another milestone this week; I passed 300 hours on the build. Am I half way? Who knows?

This week I worked on filling holes (covered in the previous post) and later some sanding and working on the outer stem.

I did not laminate the outer stem over the inner stem when I made it. Many do that. Others laminate it strip by strip over the inner stem once it is in place which I thought I might do. I have decided to craft a solid stem from 2 pieces. Larchmont Jim did that in his build as have others.

Here's a pic of my form that I'll use to get the shape correct. These are called tickler sticks.

I cut out the shape in a scrap piece of ply so that I could use it to cut out the stem from a 2x6 that I have. It's not exactly exotic wood, but it'll have to do. It's going to take some work to get it right. Once it's cut out, I have to plane it down and bevel it a little bit. 

I did some sanding. I went over the entire hull with some coarse sand paper paying special attention to the holes that I filled. It's going to take some more work filling in a couple of those holes and the countersunk  screws in the bow. I may try to find some shorter screws to put into the transom as well. Once that's all done, I'll go over the hull again with 120 or 150 sand paper.

I also went over the transom after doing some filling the other day.

Last night I finished my work with a little cleanup. Cleared off the work bench and vacuumed the floor.

I'm going to need that work bench, especially when I turn the hull over.

 

Filling Holes

Now that the planking is done, it's time to prep for painting: that means I have to fill dozens of holes. I have a lot of nail holes that were made when I tacked down the batten when I was cutting out the planks. I also have holes from the screws that went through the batten when I glued up the planks. 

It came to me one night (a lot of ideas can come in your sleep - ever heard of "I've go to sleep on it"?) that I could fill the holes with dowels and toothpicks coated in epoxy. I pondered that for quite some time - a couple of weeks at least. Which would be better, this method or just trying to fill the holes with thickened epoxy? I decided on the former method.

I measured the screw holes with a toothpick, since it would fit all the way through and each hole had its own depth. Then I cut the 1/8" dowel with a coping saw which has very fine teeth. I drilled out the holes with a 1/8" bit, dipped the dowels in epoxy and then tapped them into the holes nearly flush with the hull's surface.

One thing I'm concerned about - as I measured the depth of the screw holes, I was feeling the inside of the hole with my finger. It feels like the screws split the plywood a bit. That may requite some "repair" work when I get to the inside. We'll see how much of an issue that is. 

With the nail holes, I simply dipped the tip of a round toothpick into epoxy, pushed it into the nail holes as far as it would go and broke it off. Any protruding bits will be easy to sand off. 

Most of the toothpicks broke off closer to the surface. 

I also countersunk some screws into the planks at the stem. This was recommended for added strength.

I tried to fill in over the screws with epoxy but I had it too thin. I'll have to sand it down and add some more epoxy, next time with a little thicker epoxy.

Here's a pic of the one side of the hull that I've worked on so far.

Now I have to do the other side of the hull. Oh, yeah - I also touched up the scarf joints in the planks. Some of them were a little rough. I want to make sure they are smooth before painting.

I worked on the transom a little. The transom is two pieces epoxied together. The joint needed a little filling, as did a couple small places at the plank/transom joints. As you can see, when I glued up the planks, some of the joints needed a lot of epoxy. Guess I won't be leaving the transom bright! I hadn't planned to anyway. 

I do plan on putting a layer of fiberglass over the transom. I want to make doubly sure it's sealed very well. I'm not sure how that glue that was used by Lowes to make the board would hold up to moisture.

Now it's on to the other side.

Planking Complete!!!!

 I glued up my last plank this morning!!!! 

It was not without some difficulty however. After doing the front half of the plank, I looked back at the aft portion and it wasn't hitting right. Ugh! Why? Why? Why? It sat very nicely on the "arms" beforehand. Anyway, I took it loose and redid it.

One issue I had with this one that was exactly the same as the other plank #5 is that it didn't hit the midship frame. It was 1/2" inch off. Since both were identical, I guess this should have been expected. In the end, I'll fill the gap with epoxy and try to forget it. It will be ok. 

Now on to filling a zillion holes, sanding, sanding, and a little more sanding, then primer and finally a couple coats of finish paint. I think I'm going to roll and tip like I did Little Bit. I've given some thought to spraying. We'll see. 

Friday: after giving the epoxy a little time to cure (I'm using slow hardener), I went out and removed the batten, trimmed the bow and hit the rough edges with the the sander. Here ya go:

I have a boat! It surely doesn't qualify as the GOAT, so I have no rights to gloat; but I do believe that she'll float!

Last Plank!

Last night I cut out the last plank! 

 The two #5 planks are identical. I was able to cut out the one and then copy it for the other. I figured this would work. This means my sheer planks and sheer line will match exactly. Here are the two sitting and ready for glue up.

Here's the first #5 glued up.

I should be able to glue up the final plank on Thursday. 

And my planking table is empty!!

The only thing left from my scarfed plywood is scraps; some of which I'm sure I'll use.