New Toys and Decisions Made

No physical progress on the boat over the last month or so, but the project in general has sort of had a couple if wins.

My current "challenge" (they're never problems) is two fold. Firstly, a significant chunk of my "dedicated" boat funds has found itself diverted to household revenue (i.e. sucked up by urgent bills). My wife has promised me that I will get it back ASAP, but it's meant that I can't get my cedar just yet and the project has therefore ground to a frustrating halt. It's not all bad though because the second part of my "challenge" is the fact that I've been struggling to nail down a price/supplier for the cedar anyway. I never thought it'd be so confusing to get this stuff, even in such small sizes. Plus the money most places have quoted so far, all seem pretty high to me.
So I've been searching in the phone book, on the internet and asking just about everyone I could possibly ask for tips/solutions. I wasn't keen on cutting the stock myself, in case I stuffed it up and I dreaded the cost in setting up machinery to do it. I've now come to the conclusion that cutting the planks myself will have to be the way I'll go. From my estimates, it'll cost me about the same (maybe slightly less), but at least I'll then have the machinery to use on future builds, and I'll learn heaps plus there will be the satisfaction of knowing that I did it all myself. Ironically, whilst comparing prices in Bunnings this morning, I came across a "flip combination Mitre/Table saw". It was a clearance sale as it was the last one. Retail price was $399, clearance price $200. I went home to think about it and promptly made the decision that I wrote about in the lines above. I flew back to Gosford, snapped it up & it's now sitting in my (now quite crowded) shed.



I still have to order a thin Cerf blade for it, as well as track down a reasonably priced trimmer, along with bead & cove bits, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Another little gem that I bought today was something I'd ordered ages ago. It's a wet stone sharpener. When I did a night course in boatbuilding some years back, the necessity of razor sharp tool became obvious. I've got a bench grinder, but apparently they bugger your blades by overheating (spin too fast), so I was on the lookout for something proper for the job. I came across this interesting little unit in the Gasweld catalogue and so I ordered one. Seems cheap enough at $99. Anyway, it'd arrived so I went & picked it up this morning as well.



So that just leaves me to solve the initial problem of cash flow. The good news there is that once I sell my cat, I should have plenty to carry on with. I have just about finished repairing the rudders (which has been an adventure in itself).



Now, if I can just get a few non-rainy days off, then I can sand/paint the rudders and wash/polish up the rest of the cat and finally get it advertised for sale. I'm so looking forward to having the funds and getting this boat built. My severe lack of time and money has meant I haven't been able to do anything with my local outrigger club for months and I'm gagging for a paddle. To make things worse, they're hosting a huge regatta this weekend and I'll miss it due to having to work(as usual).

Oh well, enough whinging. Hopefully my next post will detail heaps of progress on the actual boat.

Setup Milestone

Yesterday was a huge day. I didn't finish till late and so didn't have time to post, hence this brief description today.

I embarked on a mission to get all of the molds set up on the strongback. A number of the cleats needed modifying, to make the all important WL3s line up. This took up the first hour or so, but no major problems emerged.

Once done, I carried everything to the strongback & got sorted out. As a precaution, I checked the strongback levels and was less than impressed to find the feet loose again. Annoyed, I releveled the strongback and drove about 10, 000 screws into both feet. Seems pretty steady (again). Hopefully it'll stay that way now.

That little frustration behind me, I set about mounting each cleat into it's proper position. For this job, my weapon of choice was some big-arsed, hex drive, bugle headed, self tapping screws. I drilled a pilot hole as best I could first, trying to keep it as straight as possible. They drove well through into the vertical side panels of the strongbox, meaning that at least these bits shouldn't move unexpectedly.

Happy that all the cleats were as accurate as possible, I turned my attention to setting up a stringline, so as to align the top & bottom centerlines for each mold. Gary's book says to nail a bit of timer to the molds backing onto each stem mold, but I didn't want to start hammering stuff into these, so instead I fiddled around with clamps until I came up with the set up shown in the photo below.

This worked a treat, because I could change the angle of the line by simply sliding it up or down at one of the ends, meaning that I could get the line to meet up with the centerline precisely for each station. This also meant not messing around with a plumb bob, which I discovered I quite suck at using.

At last, all fitted. It's exciting to start to see her shape for real. What's even more exciting (and scary), is the fact that from now on, everything I do will become a very permanent part of the boat.

I then duly dragged my long suffering family out to the boat, and prompted them to "oooh & ahhh" at it whilst I enjoyed a nice cold glass of chardonay, with my nose in the air & my chest puffed out.

So there we are, all ready for inner stems & planking. There probably won't be much happening at this blog site for a little while now. I kind of didn't expect to get to this point so quickly and I've not got the planking sorted yet (not happy with the quotes so far & am trying to get it a bit cheaper). I also need to suss out what timber is going to be best to use for the inner stems.

Stem Molds All Set Up

Only had a few hours available this arvo, so got stuck in and worked on setting up both stem molds. Whilst I was getting started, I checked the level of the strongback again and was dismayed to find the whole assembly a bit unstable. I puzzled over it for a bit until I noticed slight movement at the points where the strongback legs attach to the feet. Looking closer, I was shocked to discover they were all a bit loose. I could have sworn I'd tightened them up, but obviously, I musn't have. I can assure you they're bloody tight now. I got a little carried away though, and sheared one of the bolts off completely. Anyway, it's all nice and steady now. Still very slightly out of level crosswise here & there but not so much that it'll be a problem (I hope).

I then proceeded to make 10, 000, 000 trips back and forward between the shed & strongback, carting all the bits and pieces as I needed them. Then fussed and obssessed over the bow stem mold.

All Done. Bloody good job too, if I do say so myslf. Seems pretty straight & level, WL3's are all exactly 200mm above the surface of the strongback (surprisingly). The only bit that didn't go perfectly to plan is a very slight twist in the stem mold, meaning that WL3 on station 1 for the side facing the camera in the below photo, is about 1 mm or so out (if that makes sense). But I'm not too worried, I've got a cunning plan to rectify it.

After that, it was on to the stern stem mold. Had to chop quite a bit off the cleat for station 16, but it all went on ok. It's also come up pretty well straight & level (agan, WL3's exactly 200mm above the surface). Same slight twist in this stem mold too.

Looking forward to getting a big day in on the project tomorrow. I hope to get all of the intermediate molds set up, ready for the inner permanent stems (prior to planking).

Can't wait until I've got something that actually looks kind of canoeish.

Assembly of Both Stem Molds

Another pretty productive day today I suppose, although frustrating again not to have gotten further.

Today I focussed on getting both stem molds assembled, ready to mount on the strongback. I'm paranoid about inaccuracies creeping in and the setting up of each mold is critical.
The first thing I did was to cut strips through the molds at stations 2 & 17, the exact width of the stem molds. I then transferred all of the stations & waterlines onto the reverse of each mold, to assisst in aligning everything up.



I also cecked the height of waterline 3 (WL3) on the stem molds, which must align exactly 200mm above the strongback's top surface (same as on all of the intermediate molds). It's a good thing I did too, because the bottom edge of the mold, as defined by the template, was from 2 to 5mm out & not completely level. I measured out 200mm from WL3 and marked it off, then used my trusty sanding station to get the edge down to the new line.



Once that was all done, it was a relatively simple matter to screw all the bits together. They seem reasonably stable & level. I'm going to sort out each cleat at each individual station as I go, to try and achieve acceptable accuracy. The photo below shows how much I'm going to have to cut/plane of the first cleat.



Below are the results of my day's efforts.

I had hoped to have these mounted on the strongback today as well, but I spent too much time being anal/fussy & ran out of time. I also don't think I'm managing my time very effectively. I didn't get started until 1030 this morning, then stopped for an hour for lunch and knocked off around 1515 (to take my daughter swimming, which got cancelled anyway). Now I won't get another chance to work on the boat until the weekend. In the words of Matchbox 20, "I wish the real world would just stop hassling me....".

Lots of Action, Not Much to See

Worked my tits off today. I feel tired but content, although it doesn't look like I've achieved very much in the end. This morning I got stuck right in and finished sanding the rest of the molds down to thier lines (I LOVE my sanding station).

Then I decided to get the mold extensions sorted out & (hopefully) attached to the molds, so I measured them up & cut them out. Keen to leave my childhood "RAG" brandname behind me for this project (refer previous post), I tried a couple of experimental production lines, striving to make each extension as accurate, square & straight as humanly possible.

Unfortunately, this approach was taking forever. Wanting to paddle this canoe before I'm 60 years old, I decided to just make sure that the top edge of each extension was straight. Then it was an easy matter to measure out the mid point and draw a centreline from that edge. Aligning the extension on each mold by eye & holding them together with both hands, I was able to put each assembly into my vice and tighten it up with my knee. Then I'd drill and fit the first two bolts, washers & nuts. Spin it over & do the same for the bottom two bolts and that's that station's mold/extension done.

It sounds pretty simple but it took me the rest of the day to get all of these done.

Anyway, this is the result of my day's (sweaty) labour. Doesn't look like much, does it? Oh well, now I've just got to adjust some of the cleat heights and I can finally start fitting these things to the strongback.

Outstanding Purchase

Finally, a day to work on the boat. It's been a fun day too, although I wish I'd gotten more done. First up was a trip to Gasweld at Gosford, to pick up my new sanding station, which had arrived at last. I unpacked & set it up as soon as I got home. After a quick lunch, I took it down the back & had a bit of a test sand on one of the first molds (it works like a cracker).

Then I went and sussed out the strongback after it's unplanned change of venue. It was slightly low at the uphill end, so I propped it up on a couple of sare bits of 19mm ply and it came up perfect. One thing that's worring me a bit though, is the fact that the top surface of the strongback now seems to be very slightly out of level crosswise at various points. After fiddling around for ages, I decided that there's not much I can do about it now. Even if I was to completely start again, the same thing might happen. Never mind, I resolved to try & make sure that each mold is properly vertical with a plumb bob and level with the spirit level at each station. Besides, it's not out by much.

Anyway, I was keen to get back to my molds (and my new toy). It's an absolute beauty and I was able to quickly and precisely sand each mold right down to the lines.

I managed to get through about half of the molds. Tomorrow I should be able to finish the rest & hopefully start getting some cleats attached to the strongback.

As for the anomally with the alignment of cleat/extension/mold assembly. I emailed Gary with my query and he immediately emailed me back to tell me that I was right and that a few of the cleats have to be a bit lower. Can't tell you how good it is to not have stuffed that bit up already.

Mold Cutting Time

Mold Cutting Time

Loads of rain yesterday but at least the strongback seemed to stay dry this time.

Wish I'd set up this way in the first place. Oh well, live & learn. I've still got to suss how far out of level the strongback is now, but I was anxious to make some sawdust today, so I launched straight into cutting out the molds instead.

I'm not going to be able to proceed with the project for the next few days (bloody work), so I wanted to get this bit out of the way today. I'm also still waiting for a sanding station that I ordered last Monday (said it'd only be two or three days). I want to it use to get the edges of the molds & mold extensions straight and accurate. In my next sessions, I intend to focus on getting everything perfect and then start mounting it all onto the strongback. I'm at the point where I need to become pretty anal with precision. It's so easy for inaccuracies to creep in (especially for a numpty like me), so I plan to slow right down and try to get everything as right as I can.

One bit that I think I might've stuffed up already is with the glueing of the templates to the ply. It didn't seem right to use heaps of the spray ashesive, so I was a bit girly with using it initially. Ironically, I was worried about the templates wrinkling up. Dissatisfied with the results, I got progressively more heavy handed as I went along, but I never truly applied lots of glue to the entire surfaces. Now, pretty much all of the templates are wrinkled to some degree and the photo below shows the worst of the templates (first one I applied glue to).

I stuck the remaining stern stem tempate down onto the last bit of ply today & absolutely drowned it before sticking it down. It seems ok and I was even able to cut it out straight away as well. It's too late to do anything about it now, except to measure out all of the waterlines on the really suspect molds to verify the outer edges before sanding down to the lines.

Be warned if you plan to do something like this: Use shitloads of glue with templates!

At least there didn't seem to be much waste once the molds were all cut out.

All done & ready for Mr Sander.

I also measured out & cut a mold extension (as accurately as I could). Wanting to avoid further cockups, I tentatively set up one of the stem molds to check alignment with the mold extension and strongback cleat.

Perhaps its a good thing I did because I'm not sure if there's a bit of an error somewhere. The cleats in the book/plans specify 50 x 50mm. Apparently this isn't a stock dimension & therefore needs to be milled. I was told this at the timber place (Walker Bros, Gosford) that it'll be closer to about 46 x 46mm in the end (which is pretty much what I got). The problem is that even this looks too big (by three or four mm). The result of this could mean that the rest of the molds would sit too low and the waterlines wouldn't line up properly. I'm about to email Gary Dierking to clarify this.

It could be that everything's ok and that the station molds are meant to sit slightly lower than the cleat's top surface. Oh well, see what Gary reckons.

On a totally separate note, over the years whist mentally working out how I'd go about building a boat, I was worried as to how I'd go with obtaining all the clamps that all decent boatsheds obviously require. On investigation the hardware stores' clamps looked rediculously overpriced, however, during my many cash dispersal expeditions to Bunnings, I found that there are often cheaper ones on offer. I grabbed a few each time I went to deposit large sums of cash on other items and now seem to possess enough clamps of various types and sizes,to last me a lifetime.