Of course, I was eager to check on the mast this morning. I took off the clamps and had a look. I think it's going to be ok.
It's finally done! The mast is glued up!! Now all we have to do is wait and see how it turns out.
I've been nervous all day today, as nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs. I knew tonight I would be gluing up the mast and I knew a lot was riding on it. I've spent a lot of hours on this thing and I just hope it turns out ok.
It was a messy ordeal. I gooped her up good. A lot of squeeze out.
In the morning I'm going to take off the hose clamps and put my belt sander to it before the epoxy cures beyond easy sanding. I might try to get that bench plane going before the sander; or maybe that power planer - yea, that might be the trick.
I'm guessing I'll have a few gaps that will need filling. My first birdsmouth mast did. I never had trouble with it but then again, I didn't push it hard. Don't plan to push this one hard either but it's 70% longer than the first.
Fingers crossed.
Made final prep tonight for the glue up. Made the last plug which will go in the top of the mast and made some minor adjustments on the mast molds. I had used the chalk line (chalk long gone) earlier. It came to me in the night hours to put the line down the middle of the mast in 2 quadrants. Stretching the line along the top, it was fairly straight side to side because I had done that. When I put it down the side of the mast, it looked a little low in the middle, so I raised a couple molds. It will have to do.
I also added some OSB to the strong back to make it more usable as a work table. I'll actually use it to coat the staves on 3 sides with epoxy and then to slather thickened epoxy on them just before assembly. Hopefully Monday night.
It's unbelievable how long everything takes. Doubting seriously that I can do this build in 500 hours. (I just passed the 50 hour mark.)
I spent another 1 and 1/2 hours on the mast today; this time making the mast partner and end plugs. I had already glued up two pieces of 2x4 and made the first cut last night (which turned out to be difficult - maybe my saw blade is dull).
I made 2 or 3 cuts today with the table saw (which was actually double that because to cut through 3" I had to cut from top and bottom). Then I moved to the bandsaw to make the rest of the cuts. Since the mast is not completely symmetrical, the plugs will not be. (getting tired of hearing it ain't gonna be perfect?). After a long while I got it to where I think it will work. I'll be gooping it up bigtime when I glue up the mast. Of course, this may affect the size/shape of the mast step. Will cross that bridge when I get to it.
Cutting the deep "V's" was the easiest part. This will allow the mast to have a "soft spot" as it bends with the wind.
Well, didn't get the mast glued up. Got home late from church and went out to dinner. Then I came home and cut the backyard.
I did get in 2 hours on the mast. I decided it was worth the effort to dry-fit the mast again with the molds and do my best to align everything. With the variation in my staves (don't ask me how they come out differently cause I don't know) my diameters are not going to be exact, so Clint's method of alignment is probably not going to work. I used a string and then just "eye-balled" it. I'll look at it again with fresh eyes before I take it down to glue-up.
It ain't gonna be perfect. Keep saying that but it's true and I have to live with it. Question is can I be satisfied? You want a straight stick! We'll see.
Hopefully get her done is a few days.
Hopefully I'll get the mast glued up tonight. I cut out four more molds this morning and started work on the mast partner plug, which means I cut a 2x4 into 2 lengths 31" long, ripped the "dado", and glued the 2 pieces together. That glue will set up today and this evening I'll shape the plug.
This is big. A lot of work has gone into this mast. Keeping my fingers crossed that it turns out decent.
Went to the shop this morning. Just had to try and get that mast dry-fitted.
I needed a mold and a plug. Last night I glued 2 small pieces of 2x4 together with Elmer's Wood Glue so that I'd have something to cut a plug with. Just did a rough cut.
Then I changed the blade on the bandsaw to a 1/8" blade. Pretty simple. I cut a rough cut mold. Then I went to putting it together. I used zip ties to hold it together and then tried the hose clamps to see which sizes fit best.
It's not perfect (did we know this? Perfect is not in my woodworking vocabulary), but I think it will be fine. Looks like it will be a little out of round but planing and sanding will take care of most of that. I just want to be careful not to take too much off.
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