Thursday 26 January 2012

La Nina' is at it again!

I just checked the blog and realised I've done quite a bit of work since my last post. Anyway started off with a major flood a few days ago (second so far this summer), roof leaking, floor awash etc, luckily no damage as I got the boat covered so it only required a small bail out. Took almost two days to clean up though.
Ok, bunks are finished except for a fillet and tape to seal the bunk/hull joint. I added some vertical stringers between F18 and F53.5 to get rid of some bowing in that section. Seems to have sorted the problem.


Don't try ramming this baby
I have glassed in the cockpit floor supports. I just made mine full height instead of building a beam as I have seen on other boats. I wanted lots of support for the cockpit floor which I think I have achieved with the minimum of weight. I am now setting up all the framing in the cockpit. I still have a small bit of glassing to finish and I'm glueing bits in at the same time so the whole cockpit area is a bit chaotic at the moment. I'm working most of it by eye as I wanted a wider cockpit at F110 and I'm trying to get everything looking smooth and neat. It means a lot of experimentation which takes an inordinate amount of time. Still musn't complain. I've only been working on this project for a touch over 2 months so I guess things are going quickly compared to other builds.





Chaos reigns

Wednesday 18 January 2012

Slowly but so slowly

Well it seems to be taking an eternity but the frame taping is just about finished. I have been following Jeff Dalsin's approach in easing the hull off the frames for a more rounded shape. I let the zip ties go and have been using my laser level, plumbob and 1m steel ruler to check the side-to-side measurements for symmetry.
I have also been working on the bunks, fitting the support panels and shaping the tops. I will fillet and tape tomorrow so that job will be out of the way.
I have made my F124 solid so will install the floor section as I build the keel box. I may have to open F124 (a hatch?) to allow access to the traveler fixings. I have also added an extra reinforcement piece on the front of F110 for the keel box. I'll add one to the back of F124 as well.

I have also started boxing in the stern section. I am considering building storage compartments below the cockpit at the stern so I have only cut the forward lightening holes.
Everything seem to take an age to get done but the cutting and shaping sucks up lots of time so I just need to keep plodding on.

Most Annoying Situation: I cannot reach down into the bottom of the boat but when I get in the boat I'm like an elephant in a shoebox. Thank god there is not much to the bunks. I am definitely not sleeping in this boat.

Tuesday 3 January 2012

Christmas comes but once a year -Thankfully

Christmas has slowed things down a bit but I have managed to get the shear clamps glued in and I am in the process of shaping before finally taping all the frames. For reasons unknown my frame heights seem to vary a bit and not all of them meet the lip of the hull.  I'm having to sister a few pieces as I'm shaping the shear clamps.
I used a triangular section 30mmx30mm for the shear clamp which I ripped from 70mmx35mm board.  I made some small blocks to help with the clamping and the whole operation was pretty straightforward. Once the shear clamps are shaped the size looks about right.
Scarfing was a pain but if you space your joints carefully the load is reduced. I used two scarfs per side keeping the scarfs forward of F89 and aft of F124. This resulted in the scarfs being in fairly straight sections of the hull.
I have rechecked all the levels on the boat (incl the cradle) to make sure the boat is accurate. I set up my laser level at the stern and worked my way down both sides of the boat checking hull and chine heights at the frames and remeasured all the frame centres athwartship.  All seems good but I will do a quick recheck before the final taping.
Hopefully I'll have the shear clamps and taping finished by the end of next week.


My patented i550 shear clamp block (vastly expensive!) - will save your sanity guaranteed!