[bolger] Re: Fldg Schnr Update
ple-@...wrote:
original article:http://www.egroups.com/group/bolger/?start=348
forward hull and the forward end of the aft hull. These bulkheads are
at the widest beam and deepest cross section of the hull. The plans
show cut outs which are 9" in radius or 18" in diamter giving access to
this commodius space. Fixed to the deck and sides are billetts of foam
12"x12"x24". Still looks like room for a cooler between them on the
floor. On the plans you can easily imagine reaching in and patting
these big foam billetts. The foam is actually fairly expensive. It
looks like maybe $60 to $70 for the whole job. That would be if we buy
a dock billett which is 10"by 20" and bring it up to spec by laminating
on a piece of 2" blue insulation. I have been looking at small
rectangular watertight hatches say 10" high by 4" wide. The aft brdige
deck has the mainmast going through it. Getting a watertight collar
around the mast looks very tricky to me and you would still have the
problem of access to the mainmast step. So we may have only the
forepeak and forward bridge deck to work with anyway. I like your basic
rationale but am a little nervous about our ability to make such a
large area watertight.
Regards,
Leander
I am
original article:http://www.egroups.com/group/bolger/?start=348
> Sounds like you are looking at some large hatches for that price.There is a bridge deck in the Folding Schooner in the aft end of the
forward hull and the forward end of the aft hull. These bulkheads are
at the widest beam and deepest cross section of the hull. The plans
show cut outs which are 9" in radius or 18" in diamter giving access to
this commodius space. Fixed to the deck and sides are billetts of foam
12"x12"x24". Still looks like room for a cooler between them on the
floor. On the plans you can easily imagine reaching in and patting
these big foam billetts. The foam is actually fairly expensive. It
looks like maybe $60 to $70 for the whole job. That would be if we buy
a dock billett which is 10"by 20" and bring it up to spec by laminating
on a piece of 2" blue insulation. I have been looking at small
rectangular watertight hatches say 10" high by 4" wide. The aft brdige
deck has the mainmast going through it. Getting a watertight collar
around the mast looks very tricky to me and you would still have the
problem of access to the mainmast step. So we may have only the
forepeak and forward bridge deck to work with anyway. I like your basic
rationale but am a little nervous about our ability to make such a
large area watertight.
Regards,
Leander
I am
> building watertight, glass-taped, epoxy-sealed, voids fore and aft,gets
> provided with o-ring sealed inspection ports (deck plates) in my
> modified June Bug. Advantages of a void: 1) storage space, 2) when
> trailer born, inspection port covers can be removed (keep covers on
> lanyards) and condensation can evaporate, 3) you can check the
> integrity of the space, 4) you can repair a leak if one develops, 5)
> you can keep it clean (US Navy trained :) ). The foam I have seen
> dirty and is weak. To me this seems like a nice place for debris towatertight
> accumulate and rot to start. If the void is totally filled with foam,
> eliminating air and condensation, we still can neither check
> integrity nor repair it. In my paradigm, I can not see how one couldcapsize.
> get pieces of foam out of a void space through a hatch, after
> If I remember correctly, the 6" hatches with o-rings were less than$20
> each from Jamestown Dist. Of course we must compromise.the
>
> I applaud your rapid progress!
>
> Phil Lea
> Russellville, AR.
>
>harding-@...wrote:
> original article:http://www.egroups.com/group/bolger/?start=344
>
> > .....Still puzzling over foam vs waterproof hatches. The hatches are
> quite
> > expensive in these parts about $40 for one that looks the right size
> > and would let you really use the bridge deck space. She who seldoms
> > interferes in these matters says she would like to be able to see
> > flotation so she can grab ahold of some of it when the boat sinks.
> > Also thinking about filling the forepeak with 2 and 1/2 gallon water
> > jugs sealed with epoxy. My son thinks they have more flotation than
> > foam and are also free. .....
> > Leander
> >
>
Sounds like you are looking at some large hatches for that price. I am
building watertight, glass-taped, epoxy-sealed, voids fore and aft,
provided with o-ring sealed inspection ports (deck plates) in my
modified June Bug. Advantages of a void: 1) storage space, 2) when
trailer born, inspection port covers can be removed (keep covers on
lanyards) and condensation can evaporate, 3) you can check the
integrity of the space, 4) you can repair a leak if one develops, 5)
you can keep it clean (US Navy trained :) ). The foam I have seen gets
dirty and is weak. To me this seems like a nice place for debris to
accumulate and rot to start. If the void is totally filled with foam,
eliminating air and condensation, we still can neither check watertight
integrity nor repair it. In my paradigm, I can not see how one could
get pieces of foam out of a void space through a hatch, after capsize.
If I remember correctly, the 6" hatches with o-rings were less than $20
each from Jamestown Dist. Of course we must compromise.
I applaud your rapid progress!
Phil Lea
Russellville, AR.
harding-@...wrote:
original article:http://www.egroups.com/group/bolger/?start=344
building watertight, glass-taped, epoxy-sealed, voids fore and aft,
provided with o-ring sealed inspection ports (deck plates) in my
modified June Bug. Advantages of a void: 1) storage space, 2) when
trailer born, inspection port covers can be removed (keep covers on
lanyards) and condensation can evaporate, 3) you can check the
integrity of the space, 4) you can repair a leak if one develops, 5)
you can keep it clean (US Navy trained :) ). The foam I have seen gets
dirty and is weak. To me this seems like a nice place for debris to
accumulate and rot to start. If the void is totally filled with foam,
eliminating air and condensation, we still can neither check watertight
integrity nor repair it. In my paradigm, I can not see how one could
get pieces of foam out of a void space through a hatch, after capsize.
If I remember correctly, the 6" hatches with o-rings were less than $20
each from Jamestown Dist. Of course we must compromise.
I applaud your rapid progress!
Phil Lea
Russellville, AR.
harding-@...wrote:
original article:http://www.egroups.com/group/bolger/?start=344
> .....Still puzzling over foam vs waterproof hatches. The hatches arequite
> expensive in these parts about $40 for one that looks the right size
> and would let you really use the bridge deck space. She who seldoms
> interferes in these matters says she would like to be able to see the
> flotation so she can grab ahold of some of it when the boat sinks.
> Also thinking about filling the forepeak with 2 and 1/2 gallon water
> jugs sealed with epoxy. My son thinks they have more flotation than
> foam and are also free. .....
> Leander
>
One thing to remember on floatation chambers is that if they are not filled
with foam or absolutely air tight which is extremely hard to do, they will
eventually collect water through condensation. As the air heats up during
the day the air somehow will escape, as it cools at night it will somehow
invade the chamber causing condensation. Though it takes a very long time,
eventually it'll start to collect and could damage the wood somehow. Best
bet is to fill with foam so no air can move or use a water tight hatch that
can be opened when not in use to allow the moisture to evaporate.
I like the idea of empty sealed jugs in combination with a home made hatch.
Best of both worlds. Wished I had thought of that before buying my round
inspection hatches at $30.00 a piece.
with foam or absolutely air tight which is extremely hard to do, they will
eventually collect water through condensation. As the air heats up during
the day the air somehow will escape, as it cools at night it will somehow
invade the chamber causing condensation. Though it takes a very long time,
eventually it'll start to collect and could damage the wood somehow. Best
bet is to fill with foam so no air can move or use a water tight hatch that
can be opened when not in use to allow the moisture to evaporate.
I like the idea of empty sealed jugs in combination with a home made hatch.
Best of both worlds. Wished I had thought of that before buying my round
inspection hatches at $30.00 a piece.
We planed and sanded the bottom until it was flush with the chines and
then put a slight radius on where the bottom joins the chines. Started
out with a belt sander but that got a little nerve wracking and I
finished it up by hand using one of the 50 grit belts for the sander.
We were going to radius the upper edge of the chine using a rounding
over bit on the router but lack of foresight intervened. Couldn't get
the bit exposed far enough with the chines on the boat. Knocked the
corner off with the router and finsihed the radius with a plane. I was
woried we might expose some screw ends( we used 1 and 1/4) but
everything went well. We found a sureform tool handy for smooting the
endgrain plywood. Luan dust is itchy. My oldest son did a work of art
sculpting the ends of the chines and gunwales using the belt sander.
Turned the boat over. It really looks like a boat. The gap I expected
to form from lack of careful fitting when put on the sides didn't
materialize. The epoxy used to glue on the bottom took care of it
without any special attention.
Odered 10 oz cloth and one to one epoxy from Fiberglass Coatings.
Still puzzling over foam vs waterproof hatches. The hatches are quite
expensive in these parts about $40 for one that looks the right size
and would let you really use the bridge deck space. She who seldoms
interferes in these matters says she would like to be able to see the
flotation so she can grab ahold of some of it when the boat sinks.
Also thinking about filling the forepeak with 2 and 1/2 gallon water
jugs sealed with epoxy. My son thinks they have more flotation than
foam and are also free. I am thinking of using some kind of bedding
compound for the keelson and bottom stiffeners with the idea that you
might want to replace them if they become worn. Any experience with
bedding compounds sticking to epoxy surface?
This whole thing is a lot of fun.
Peace,
Leander
then put a slight radius on where the bottom joins the chines. Started
out with a belt sander but that got a little nerve wracking and I
finished it up by hand using one of the 50 grit belts for the sander.
We were going to radius the upper edge of the chine using a rounding
over bit on the router but lack of foresight intervened. Couldn't get
the bit exposed far enough with the chines on the boat. Knocked the
corner off with the router and finsihed the radius with a plane. I was
woried we might expose some screw ends( we used 1 and 1/4) but
everything went well. We found a sureform tool handy for smooting the
endgrain plywood. Luan dust is itchy. My oldest son did a work of art
sculpting the ends of the chines and gunwales using the belt sander.
Turned the boat over. It really looks like a boat. The gap I expected
to form from lack of careful fitting when put on the sides didn't
materialize. The epoxy used to glue on the bottom took care of it
without any special attention.
Odered 10 oz cloth and one to one epoxy from Fiberglass Coatings.
Still puzzling over foam vs waterproof hatches. The hatches are quite
expensive in these parts about $40 for one that looks the right size
and would let you really use the bridge deck space. She who seldoms
interferes in these matters says she would like to be able to see the
flotation so she can grab ahold of some of it when the boat sinks.
Also thinking about filling the forepeak with 2 and 1/2 gallon water
jugs sealed with epoxy. My son thinks they have more flotation than
foam and are also free. I am thinking of using some kind of bedding
compound for the keelson and bottom stiffeners with the idea that you
might want to replace them if they become worn. Any experience with
bedding compounds sticking to epoxy surface?
This whole thing is a lot of fun.
Peace,
Leander
Chuck,
Thanks for the encouragement. I have been trying to give as
unvarnished a version of our progress as possible and to include in our
building log some of the dumb mistakes and everyday frustrations that
we encounter at our skill and experience level. I actually worked in
the building trades when I was younger but my skills are pretty rusty
now and my boys are mechanically apt but we are often doing things we
have seldom or never done before. I am trusting that experience may be
relevant to some other folks out there. Hey these things really can be
built by amateurs.
My latest dumb mistake is that I went to the lumberyard which is some
distance off for another box of the fantastic stainless steel screws
that we found. Saw the same brand name and size but didn't see that
they were ceramic coated instead of stainless steel. They are okay but
if you sand them, they will rust. Turned out we had enough ss screws
to finish the bottom and so didn't have to mix fasteners.
Today we mixed up some "glue" of our own with one to one resin and some
silica thickener I bought at the local Marine store. I lingered a long
time, as I do over these decisions, torn between the West System
additive and the store brand,"Sea Lift" which was $1 less expensive for
slightly more additive. When we went to use the stuff we found the
paint can type container frustrating. Silica is very fine and dangerous
to breathe and blows around if you are not careful. Fussing with a
paint can type lid was with expoxy waiting was no fun. The nice West
System container looked well worth the extra $1. I have taken to buying
their gloves which be $1 per pair vs .50 for some of the cheaper
brands. They go on easy, fit and do seem less likely to tear. We used
some Stanley vinyl gloves for gluing and screwing and the ends came out
of the fingers from handling the screws. I have tried making my own
glue sticks and find the nice little West System ice cream sticks worth
the money. They are sanded smooth which makes a difference. The 1 to 1
Fiberglass Coatings Epoxy was pleasant to work with and had very little
odor and a very comfortable working time.
We had holes pre drilled for the Transom and Stem. We changed our
gloves after we got the epoxy on the chines and frames and the bottom
placed on the boat. This helped us work clean, w/o fingerprints but
protected from the odd stray bit of resin. Got the Transom perfectly on
the center line and the stem and wiggled the other frames in one at a
time. I was underneath the boat and my oldest boy was outside. I would
push on the frame and he would push on the bottom of the boat and I
would call it when the centerlines were lined up and he put the screws
in. We got it perfectly line up except for the #2 frame which off by a
pencil line. Just isn't much give in the geometry at that point in the
boat. Call it good. It looks fine. Went around and put in the 1 and
1/4 screws every 8 inches on the chines. We had marked on the chines
where the side panels were fastened to the chine from the inside. This
made it easy to see where the fasteners should go. My son did a good
job of eyeballing the chine angle with the screws. We had two screws
miss a frame and make a hole. Filled the hole with a little epoxy. The
forward hull is now the shape it is going to be and can be fairly said
to be a boat. We need to follow the chine around with the beltsander
and get the bottom completely flush to the sides.
I go back and forth on the subject of materials. The Luan bottom will
be very stiff and strong with a layer of glass and epoxy resin but
after all the work today I wished we had had the money to use the nicer
Philipine Mahogany Marine Ply all around. I picked up another sheet of
Luan this week for the aft hull framing and was dismayed at the quality
in the stack. The lumberyard has had a new delivery and this stuff just
isn't as good. Many of the sheets have big cracks and obvious faults
and act like they want to break on the stack as you handle them. I
picked out a couple of D Fir studs and that pallet load was awful as
well, crooked and big knots and hard to find a stick that didn't have
end splits. You can build a good boat with low cost materials but it
gets old every once and a while. Hit me that way today. I think we
will use the two sheets of MDO we have for the bottom of the aft hull
and maybe the Transom if we have enough.
It is a great feeling to have a complete hull instead of a pile of
lumber sitting in the garage.
All The Best
Leander
"chuck leinweber" <duckwork-@...> wrote:
original article:http://www.egroups.com/group/bolger/?start=325
Thanks for the encouragement. I have been trying to give as
unvarnished a version of our progress as possible and to include in our
building log some of the dumb mistakes and everyday frustrations that
we encounter at our skill and experience level. I actually worked in
the building trades when I was younger but my skills are pretty rusty
now and my boys are mechanically apt but we are often doing things we
have seldom or never done before. I am trusting that experience may be
relevant to some other folks out there. Hey these things really can be
built by amateurs.
My latest dumb mistake is that I went to the lumberyard which is some
distance off for another box of the fantastic stainless steel screws
that we found. Saw the same brand name and size but didn't see that
they were ceramic coated instead of stainless steel. They are okay but
if you sand them, they will rust. Turned out we had enough ss screws
to finish the bottom and so didn't have to mix fasteners.
Today we mixed up some "glue" of our own with one to one resin and some
silica thickener I bought at the local Marine store. I lingered a long
time, as I do over these decisions, torn between the West System
additive and the store brand,"Sea Lift" which was $1 less expensive for
slightly more additive. When we went to use the stuff we found the
paint can type container frustrating. Silica is very fine and dangerous
to breathe and blows around if you are not careful. Fussing with a
paint can type lid was with expoxy waiting was no fun. The nice West
System container looked well worth the extra $1. I have taken to buying
their gloves which be $1 per pair vs .50 for some of the cheaper
brands. They go on easy, fit and do seem less likely to tear. We used
some Stanley vinyl gloves for gluing and screwing and the ends came out
of the fingers from handling the screws. I have tried making my own
glue sticks and find the nice little West System ice cream sticks worth
the money. They are sanded smooth which makes a difference. The 1 to 1
Fiberglass Coatings Epoxy was pleasant to work with and had very little
odor and a very comfortable working time.
We had holes pre drilled for the Transom and Stem. We changed our
gloves after we got the epoxy on the chines and frames and the bottom
placed on the boat. This helped us work clean, w/o fingerprints but
protected from the odd stray bit of resin. Got the Transom perfectly on
the center line and the stem and wiggled the other frames in one at a
time. I was underneath the boat and my oldest boy was outside. I would
push on the frame and he would push on the bottom of the boat and I
would call it when the centerlines were lined up and he put the screws
in. We got it perfectly line up except for the #2 frame which off by a
pencil line. Just isn't much give in the geometry at that point in the
boat. Call it good. It looks fine. Went around and put in the 1 and
1/4 screws every 8 inches on the chines. We had marked on the chines
where the side panels were fastened to the chine from the inside. This
made it easy to see where the fasteners should go. My son did a good
job of eyeballing the chine angle with the screws. We had two screws
miss a frame and make a hole. Filled the hole with a little epoxy. The
forward hull is now the shape it is going to be and can be fairly said
to be a boat. We need to follow the chine around with the beltsander
and get the bottom completely flush to the sides.
I go back and forth on the subject of materials. The Luan bottom will
be very stiff and strong with a layer of glass and epoxy resin but
after all the work today I wished we had had the money to use the nicer
Philipine Mahogany Marine Ply all around. I picked up another sheet of
Luan this week for the aft hull framing and was dismayed at the quality
in the stack. The lumberyard has had a new delivery and this stuff just
isn't as good. Many of the sheets have big cracks and obvious faults
and act like they want to break on the stack as you handle them. I
picked out a couple of D Fir studs and that pallet load was awful as
well, crooked and big knots and hard to find a stick that didn't have
end splits. You can build a good boat with low cost materials but it
gets old every once and a while. Hit me that way today. I think we
will use the two sheets of MDO we have for the bottom of the aft hull
and maybe the Transom if we have enough.
It is a great feeling to have a complete hull instead of a pile of
lumber sitting in the garage.
All The Best
Leander
"chuck leinweber" <duckwork-@...> wrote:
original article:http://www.egroups.com/group/bolger/?start=325
> Leander: I will take a shot at some of your questions, but first twoyour
> things: 1) I think I speak for the group when I say we are enjoying
> ongoing commentary about building this fascinating boat. Please keepit up.
> 2) The following opinions may not be worth even what you are payingfor
> them.are
>
> Subject: [bolger] Fldg Schnr Update
>
>
> >We decided to go with the relatively high quality Luan we have
> > and one layer of cloth and the stiffeners in the revised plan. We
> > still thinking of using the MDO for the aft hull w/o glass. Wonderif
> > the slight difference in hull thickness would mean anything? Itwould
> > cetainly give us an interesting side by side comparison.you,
>
> I say go for it. Upside: the comparison would be useful not just to
> but would add to the collective knowledge which these groups are.Downside:
> uneven weight distribution. This could easily be overcome byshifting crew,
> something you have to do occasionally anyway.have
>
> >wonder if using fasteners of
> > different metal in the same piece of wood will cause a problem?
>
> No direct experience here, Leander, but some thoughts: Some folks
> warned against using steel screws, even when encapsulated in epoxy,cause
> presumably because water and oxygen can infiltrate even epoxy and
> rust. Electrolisys on the other hand requires two dissimilar metalsto be
> exposed to a common conductor, and saltwater. Or to a lesser extent,close
> proximity in place of a common conductor, or to an even lesserextent to
> fresh water. I can tell you that without the salt (sea water) or(even more
> importantly) the common conductor (a metal boat, or the two metalparts are
> touching each other), the degree of electrolisys is insignificant.Add
> epoxy encapsulization and you can "fuggidaboudit"
>
> I hope the above isn't too convoluted.
>
> Chuck
>
>
Leander: I will take a shot at some of your questions, but first two
things: 1) I think I speak for the group when I say we are enjoying your
ongoing commentary about building this fascinating boat. Please keep it up.
2) The following opinions may not be worth even what you are paying for
them.
Subject: [bolger] Fldg Schnr Update
but would add to the collective knowledge which these groups are. Downside:
uneven weight distribution. This could easily be overcome by shifting crew,
something you have to do occasionally anyway.
warned against using steel screws, even when encapsulated in epoxy,
presumably because water and oxygen can infiltrate even epoxy and cause
rust. Electrolisys on the other hand requires two dissimilar metals to be
exposed to a common conductor, and saltwater. Or to a lesser extent, close
proximity in place of a common conductor, or to an even lesser extent to
fresh water. I can tell you that without the salt (sea water) or (even more
importantly) the common conductor (a metal boat, or the two metal parts are
touching each other), the degree of electrolisys is insignificant. Add
epoxy encapsulization and you can "fuggidaboudit"
I hope the above isn't too convoluted.
Chuck
things: 1) I think I speak for the group when I say we are enjoying your
ongoing commentary about building this fascinating boat. Please keep it up.
2) The following opinions may not be worth even what you are paying for
them.
Subject: [bolger] Fldg Schnr Update
>We decided to go with the relatively high quality Luan we haveI say go for it. Upside: the comparison would be useful not just to you,
> and one layer of cloth and the stiffeners in the revised plan. We are
> still thinking of using the MDO for the aft hull w/o glass. Wonder if
> the slight difference in hull thickness would mean anything? It would
> cetainly give us an interesting side by side comparison.
but would add to the collective knowledge which these groups are. Downside:
uneven weight distribution. This could easily be overcome by shifting crew,
something you have to do occasionally anyway.
>wonder if using fasteners ofNo direct experience here, Leander, but some thoughts: Some folks have
> different metal in the same piece of wood will cause a problem?
warned against using steel screws, even when encapsulated in epoxy,
presumably because water and oxygen can infiltrate even epoxy and cause
rust. Electrolisys on the other hand requires two dissimilar metals to be
exposed to a common conductor, and saltwater. Or to a lesser extent, close
proximity in place of a common conductor, or to an even lesser extent to
fresh water. I can tell you that without the salt (sea water) or (even more
importantly) the common conductor (a metal boat, or the two metal parts are
touching each other), the degree of electrolisys is insignificant. Add
epoxy encapsulization and you can "fuggidaboudit"
I hope the above isn't too convoluted.
Chuck
We laid the two pieces of 3/8ths MDO we had over the bottom of the
front hull for a couple of days with a couple of cinder blocks on it
and it straightened out nicely. In the meantime we got a lot of
information over the net on this material. All good news and no
problems getting tape and cloth with epoxy to stick to the resin coated
face papers. A local carpenter came by who is also a boat builder and
pronounced MDO "primo" material. Then we started to think about folding
and unfolding our folding schooner. We lifted the front hull with the
two sheets laying on the bottom and then went up and lifted our Gypsy
built with 1/4 ACX Fir and one layer of cloth and West Epoxy. The whole
boat is a little lighter than the forward hull with the two sheets of
MDO. We decided to go with the relatively high quality Luan we have
and one layer of cloth and the stiffeners in the revised plan. We are
still thinking of using the MDO for the aft hull w/o glass. Wonder if
the slight difference in hull thickness would mean anything? It would
cetainly give us an interesting side by side comparison.
We pushed two sheets of the Luan together on the flatest floor we could
find and made some reference marks so we could see if it moved and used
a square to put a center line in each end. Then we stretched a tight
chalk line using the lines we put in with the square to double check
our work. (We have had some experience with chalk lines which has been
less then inspirational.) Being as careful as possible to pull straight
up and let go smartly, we ended up with a center line down the whole 16
feet that checked out. We put the two sheets on top of the turned over
boat and trued up one sheet to the transom and screwed it down. We then
spent about an hour and a half fussing with the frames and the bottom,
lining up all the center lines. We screwed it down a couple of times
but were not satisfied when we double checked it. After some pushing
and pulling we had it all except for one frame that was out less than a
1/16. Called it good.
While we had it fastened down temporarily we took a thin flush cutting
bit on the router and followed the chine. This gave us a bottom that is
about 1/16 larger than it needs to be due to the bevel on the sides.
Also due to the bevel on the sides the little washer below the bearing
on the flush cutting bit, bit into the chine and scribed a slight
indentation down the length of the chine. Should sand out alright. Took
the bottom off turned it inside out and put it on the floor and put an
eight inch wide butt block on with thickened epoxy. Put some cinder
blocks on it.
We are now trying to think through the bottom assembly. Our plan is to
use our predrilled holes to get the transom and stem and then fuss the
frames into line. After we get the bottom fastened to all the epoxied
frames we will fasten the epoxied chine edges. We have 1&1/4 ss screws
which will work if we are careful to follow the bevel. We also have
some bronze silicon ring nails and wonder if using fasteners of
different metal in the same piece of wood will cause a problem?
As of now we are figuring on doing as much of the finishing work to the
forward hull as possible before starting on the after hull. We don't
have room for both hulls in the shop at the same time until they can be
hinged and stacked. Anyone have a slick way to cut the gunwales down to
receive the decking?
Peace,
Leander
front hull for a couple of days with a couple of cinder blocks on it
and it straightened out nicely. In the meantime we got a lot of
information over the net on this material. All good news and no
problems getting tape and cloth with epoxy to stick to the resin coated
face papers. A local carpenter came by who is also a boat builder and
pronounced MDO "primo" material. Then we started to think about folding
and unfolding our folding schooner. We lifted the front hull with the
two sheets laying on the bottom and then went up and lifted our Gypsy
built with 1/4 ACX Fir and one layer of cloth and West Epoxy. The whole
boat is a little lighter than the forward hull with the two sheets of
MDO. We decided to go with the relatively high quality Luan we have
and one layer of cloth and the stiffeners in the revised plan. We are
still thinking of using the MDO for the aft hull w/o glass. Wonder if
the slight difference in hull thickness would mean anything? It would
cetainly give us an interesting side by side comparison.
We pushed two sheets of the Luan together on the flatest floor we could
find and made some reference marks so we could see if it moved and used
a square to put a center line in each end. Then we stretched a tight
chalk line using the lines we put in with the square to double check
our work. (We have had some experience with chalk lines which has been
less then inspirational.) Being as careful as possible to pull straight
up and let go smartly, we ended up with a center line down the whole 16
feet that checked out. We put the two sheets on top of the turned over
boat and trued up one sheet to the transom and screwed it down. We then
spent about an hour and a half fussing with the frames and the bottom,
lining up all the center lines. We screwed it down a couple of times
but were not satisfied when we double checked it. After some pushing
and pulling we had it all except for one frame that was out less than a
1/16. Called it good.
While we had it fastened down temporarily we took a thin flush cutting
bit on the router and followed the chine. This gave us a bottom that is
about 1/16 larger than it needs to be due to the bevel on the sides.
Also due to the bevel on the sides the little washer below the bearing
on the flush cutting bit, bit into the chine and scribed a slight
indentation down the length of the chine. Should sand out alright. Took
the bottom off turned it inside out and put it on the floor and put an
eight inch wide butt block on with thickened epoxy. Put some cinder
blocks on it.
We are now trying to think through the bottom assembly. Our plan is to
use our predrilled holes to get the transom and stem and then fuss the
frames into line. After we get the bottom fastened to all the epoxied
frames we will fasten the epoxied chine edges. We have 1&1/4 ss screws
which will work if we are careful to follow the bevel. We also have
some bronze silicon ring nails and wonder if using fasteners of
different metal in the same piece of wood will cause a problem?
As of now we are figuring on doing as much of the finishing work to the
forward hull as possible before starting on the after hull. We don't
have room for both hulls in the shop at the same time until they can be
hinged and stacked. Anyone have a slick way to cut the gunwales down to
receive the decking?
Peace,
Leander