Few more weeks and it should be warm enough to start work again

Winter is finally almost over, as soon as it is warm enough I plan to start work again.

Ordered the carriage bolts this week as well as some books on fiberglassing. Once I get the carriage bolts it will be time to pick up the wood for the sheers and battens.

Chines

I couldnt do too many pictures of the actual process as I was doing it myself. I started working on the chines now that they had a few days for the scarf joints to fully set.

I dry fitted the chines to each frame with clamps and then used a file and back saw to clean out the notches for a nice fit.

I started working from the stem towards the transom like the book I have says to do but I had a lot of issues with bending the wood that way, I tried going from the transom to the stem and it went a lot smoother.

Once the chine seemed to fit well on each from I epoxied it to the frames and stem. I also used some screws on a few of the frames where the bend was not very sharp, This was mostly just to hold it while the epoxy sets as I never seem to have enough clamps (I have been buying a few each week).

Here are a few pictures of the first chine.

The above picture is with the epoxy, I clamped on each frame, on the transom and first 2 or 3 frames I also used some screws to help hold it in place while the epoxy hardens.


Below I have included a pic from a few days after, the epoxy is fully hardened now and the clamps have been removed (mostly).

I started working on the other chine today, process was the exact same so I will just put some pics after I epoxied it. I will be leaving it clamped for the next few days for the epoxy to fully harden on this side now.

The clamp in the middle there was used like a handle to help twist and bend the wood.

Sorry for the bad angles, I cant really get a level straight shot of it as it goes end to end in the garage.

Scarf joining the Chines

So the boat is 16' long which is a very hard length to find in lumber. To make the Chines I am trying to join 2 pieces of mahogany which are about 10' long each.

Turns out scarf joints are a lot harder to get the hang of than I thought they would be. I made a few failed attempts but this time it is looking promising.

The 2 Chines are currently clamped and waiting for the epoxy to harden. I wrapped the joints in parchment paper and then clamped them with scrap pieces of plywood, For some reason the epoxy seems to let the parchment paper just peel right off, and if it doesnt its a lot easier to sand some paper than it is to break apart 2 pieces of wood that have epoxy on them (learned the hard way).

Frame 4 attached finally

Not a whole lot of progress tonight, I got frame 4 attached and epoxied in place now though finally, took a lot of time to make sure it was level and in the right spot.

Here are a few pics of it attached and the joints.

I will let the epoxy harden overnight and then tomorrow night I will finish cutting out the few notches for the Chine that have not been done yet.

Hopefully I will get the wood for the Chines in the next few days, Maybe even get all of the wood for the Chines and Sheers and at the same time if I find a decent supply.

Some progress over the last few days

I started testing out the placement of the stem so that it is ready whenever I need to attach it.

I cut the Keel to length and laminated a few pieces of 1/4" plywood to the inside of it to add some extra strength. This is not specifically needed or called for in the plans but it adds extra strength and doesnt take that long so I figured I might as well add it.

Brought out the layout board that I made previously and started putting together the last frame. The floor timber in the middle and the gussets are epoxied together and then a few screws are added to hold it together while the epoxy dries.

The Keel has been epoxied to each frame and then screwed to the frames to hold it in place. The Stem is also epoxied and screwed in to place now.

Just as a side note, I highly recommend the pumps for the epoxy. I would have wasted a ton of it without them for the proper 1 to 5 ratio. As well be carefull with it, I found out that it can heat up very quickly to the point of melting through heavy tupperware bowls and making smoke.


Here is a picture of where the Keel and Stem meet, The Keel sits a bit higher than the Stem but that will be taken care of during the fairing process.

Just using a hand file to start shaping the keel in to the stem.

Test fitting the last frame, it has a notch on the floor timber that slides right in to the stem. So far everything seems good, took a lot of filing but it is all fitting fairly snug and level now.

Here is a shot trying to get all of the frames in view (except the transom).

Not the best picture quality but here you can see the whole thing, it is definitly starting to take shape.

More work on Transom and Keel

Got a little bit more work in on the Transom and Keel today, The frame of the transom is now epoxied to the plywood transom.

The notches for the Keel have been cutout roughly on all of the frames except for frame 4 (I havent assembled that frame yet as the stem is not mounted to the rest of the frames yet).

Have not had a lot of time to work on it the last few days but I squeeze in half an hour whenever I can.

Stem and Transom progress

Started working on the Stem and Transom tonight. Here is a pic of the 2 pieces of 3/4" plywood stem being laminated together with epoxy and then clamped.

I started notching out the frames for the Keel, they are not fully notched yet though and the keel still needs an inch cut off of width and a foot off of the length. It is just sitting on top freely until everything is fully notched and cut.

I laminated the Breasthook and started to build up the block for the stem/breasthook. It is just freely sitting there for the current time (not actually level and centered yet)

I epoxied the Transom frame to the Transom, it is currently clamped and waiting for the epoxy to set. I will probably add the motor board to it once the epoxy hardens.

Here is a picture showing how the breasthook and stem get notched together, there are 2 layers on the breasthook laminated together and the stem just slides into it. I will epoxy it once everything else is ready.