Side Benches

 I worked on the side benches last night. I have already marked the line and glued up the cleats. 

BTW: those cleats on the starboard side were too high! I cut them off with my new reciprocating saw (a gift from a church member) and reinstalled them. Funny thing - as I glued up the replacements after remarking the line I checked them. They were too high!!! What am I doing wrong???? I remarked the line (the other one was 3/8" too high - just like the first one) and then glued them up correctly - double checking and triple checking their position. Got it right the third time. The port side was ok. 

On to the seats: I cut a piece of scrap and used tickler sticks to get the shape. 

My thought was to get the length correct with the scrap, get the hull-side curve with the  tickler sticks and get the inside curve with Clint's dimensions.

I used a light batten to get a fair curve and a heavier one to use as a guide for my 3.5" Porter Cable saw.

Then I used the inside curve to mark matching curves for a 1/4" spacer and 3/8" doubler which will also act as a ledge for the floor to rest upon when camping. 

The fit is pretty good. Part of the benches are permanently installed. The forward section is removable though. I'll cut when I get the three pieces glued together.

I have the second one halfway cut out. Hopefully get that finished tonight along with the two extra pieces. I'd also like to get the 1/4" spacers glued up. I'll wait until I can sand that smooth to the seat before gluing on the 3/8" piece. 

Addendum:

I did get to the other side tonight and all doublers and spacers are cut.

Getting Exciting!

This thing is starting to get exciting. With only the side benches left on the interior (except for the detail work, of course), you start dreaming of splashing your baby. 

I finished gluing in all the aft pieces with the exception of gluing the tops down. Here is the boat as she was of a couple days ago.

Since the last post, I glued in the stern posts. I did my best to make sure that the flotation chambers on each side would be sealed from water intrusion should the boat capsize. 

I also cut out the tank tops using the scrap ply/tickler stick method. I did let the part that hits the bulkhead overhang and then marked and cut that edge. They fit very nicely. 

I cut out the deck plates and the rings that go under them. I decided that I needed bigger rings than the first ones I cut. I figured I need more room for the bolts to catch. When I cut out the second ones, I absent-mindedly set the radius incorrectly. I cut it to the same dimension as the plate which, of course, would give the plate nothing to sit on! I had to cut them again (which made 3 times - ugh!). But I did get them and glued them on yesterday.

 

I marked the line where the side benches will go. I used the "stick" method. I laid two straight boards across the seats and took a third to mark points on the hull where the benches will go. Then I took a batten and drew a line through those points to know where to locate the cleats.

Yesterday I glued up everything: the rings, cleats for the side benches, cleat on the bulkhead for the floor, and had enough epoxy left over the glue up the daggerboard support. Here's that pic. Notice the rail on top of the work bench. That's sitting on top of two rings. The paint can and weight are on top of the third.

I started to put cleats all the way across the hull between the two seats. Then I remembered that the from portion of the bench is drawn up to be removable. This is to allow for the crew to sit on the floor if they so choose (which keeps the center of gravity lower). I had already clamped down 6 cleats on one side. I simply had to removed two of them to leave room for the removable portion. 

Now it's on to cutting out and installing the side benches. I have a big enough piece of the cheap, scrap ply left to make a template using tickler sticks. 

Addendum: clamps off, rings installed, plates sitting in place

One additional note: when I took the clamps off this morning, it looks like I may have installed the cleats on the starboard side a bit high - eek! I'll have to look at it closer later. 

Cleats, Cleats and more Cleats

There are lots of cleats in this boat. I'm still working on the aft section. Tonight I just simply worked on cleats. I'm trying to be very careful about getting everything on the same plane. I pulled out my 4' straight edge to help with that. Once I had the cleats set up, I double checked them. Good thing! Some were off. I guess the lines I drew were off. But I think I got them pretty even. 

The stern posts are not glued in yet. They are just sitting in place. I'd like to finish this up by the weekend. I think I'm going to leave the mizzen mast step until I take the boat out into the open where I can check the rake (probably main mast as well). We'll see. 

 

Little by Little

The aft section is a bit complicated. I decided not to try and glue up too much at one time. I felt it was better to get the cleats on properly on the stern posts, then we can proceed. 

Tonight I glued up the cleat on the forward and rear parts of the lazarette and the cleats on the upper portion of both posts.

A couple of shots:

Of course, the lid is already cut out. I'll being gluing up some more cleats and cutting out the lids for the two flotation chambers this coming week. Then it's on to the side seats!

Some Brain Work

I've started on the aft section of the boat. It is a combination of seat, flotation chambers and lazarette.  It has been a bit confusing figuring out how all the pieces should fit together and how to size them. Like some of the other "fitting" pieces, I'm usually off some fraction of an inch. 

I spent some time attempting to get the correct line where these pieces will land on the transom. Then you have the differences in thickness of the lazarette and the flotation chambers. There are bevels, angles, pieces to fit around etc, etc.

But I made good progress the last two days. Here I am cutting out the lazarette lid. I like to use guides to get a straight cut, especially in such a visible piece.

It fit very nicely. It hit the line I had drawn on the transom and was just about square to the transom. Wonders never cease!

Of course there has to be cleats, cleats and more cleats. Here are 3 that will surround the lazarette. I also cut out the stern posts. In the pic you can see a rough shape and tickler sticks. 

Transferring the points to the plywood.

Here's the lazarette cover. I used Clint's dimensions for the lateral measurements and my measurement for the length. 

Here it is dry fitted. I'll still need to cut a cleat which will run across the lazarette about 6" from the transom. It will provide stock in which to attach the hinges for the lid of the lazarette. The aft 6" is fixed and will be the mast partner for the mizzen mast. 

Still much work to be done on this part of the boat!

400 Hours!

I passed the 400 hours mark on Friday! Now the question is: can I finish by 500 hours? I think it will be close.

I got the midship thwart glued down last night. It looks good.

I also shaped up the stem and midship "horns" (not sure what to call them - maybe tabs). 

The boat is looking good!

I still have to finish the inside of the tank, but I'll wait and do that when I have the aft tanks ready to go. Oh, I also glued up the aft bulkhead repair which you can see if you look closely.

And for the first time I sat in my boat!!!! 

Thrilling! She feels so big compared to Little Bit.

 

More on the Interior

I was on vacation the past 8 days. I was able to get some good time in on the boat build.

On Thursday I worked on my deck plates. I asked on the WBF about some suggestions on how to seal the plates. A couple responses flatly stated that I should not make my own. Others said go ahead. This is a budget build and I can save about $50 doing my own, so here goes.

In the first picture I have cut out my plate using the same guide I used to cut out my rudder. The plate is sitting on some scrap ply which I used to cut out a ring which will give the plate a place to land.

In the second pic you can see the hole, plate and ring. The bit didn't break but it did burn the wood. I sanded the worst off which increased the differential between the plate and the hole. But it should work. I'll find something to use as a seal and make some "buttons" to hold it in place.

 I also worked on the midship thwart. I took some more scrap ply, cut some tickler sticks, clamped a 1x to stiffen it and got a fit. 

This afternoon, after returning from our mini-vacation, I actually cut out the center thwart, a doubler and a strip to go under that on which the floor will rest when used as a sleeping platform. I actually called Clint to get some clarification on how to set that up. The doubler is 6 mm ply, the next piece is 9 mm ply. The seat itself plus the doubler will equal the thickness of the floor boards giving a nice smooth sleeping surface (theoretically). The third piece extends about 3/8" beyond the seat edge giving the floor boards a place to rest.

This evening I glued up the pieces, the cleats for the thwart and the repair of the aft bulkhead.

The triangular piece of ply in the pic above is being used as a straight edge. It was a factory cut edge and perfectly straight. I was measuring the distance between the thwart and the top edge of the sheer. Nothing on this boat is quite square or plumb, so I felt that was the best way to set it up. 

The last pic shows all of the things I glued up this everning. You can even see my two rings for the aft deck plates. I cut them out while I had the guide and rotozip out. Note that the 1x2 across midship is only a temporary brace. It will come out as soon as the thwart is in place.

I plan to glue down the thwart in the morning.