[bolger] Fldg Schnr cont.
Spent an amazing amount of time fitting the forepeak deck. It was a
challenge to mark it out because it sets in from the angled edge of the
gunwale by an inch.. We had many good suggestions for this but finally
while studying it one night my oldest son wet down the gunwale flat and
pressed a piece of carboard scrap over it. The outline was very clear
and we cut out a pattern. Getting the deck to lay flat took several
hours of fussing and fitting. We took our time and got a fit we are as
proud of as anything we have done on the boat yet. Found a belt sander
a very effective tool for finishing the gunwale flat. At the very end
we used a long board with flooring sandpaper on it. The decks on the
forward hull are temporarily screwed in place, so they can be removed
for painting etc.
Dry fit the aft hull sides and bulkheads together with 1 1/4" ceramic
coated #6 deck screws. Three in each side frame. We found it tricky to
line up the frames with the limber holes with the side panel bottoms.
We clamped a scrap piece of framing stock level with the bottom and ran
it out to the side. I held everything in place and one of the boys
drilled it home.We became very impressed with the significance of dry
fitting after we put one of the frames in backwards. It is easier than
it sounds. The are two frames which are made from 1 x 4s and small
gussets. You don't have the plywood bulkhead to give you a visual clue.
You have to remember to look at the side bevels. I kept wearing out
helpers with this stage of the work.It is very fussy and slow progress.
Everything looked good except the fairness of the side panel between
#14 and the stern transom. #14 was the bulkhead for which the bevels
were not given on the plans. Between this bulkhead and the stern
transom there seemed to be low spot in the fairness of the sides.
Either we made #14 too narrow or the bevel too sharp or made the
transom slightly too large. Took most of it out by planing the sides
of the transom. When I couldn't decide if there was still a pinch or I
was just dealing with the natural waviness of the plywood, I let my
anxiety about taking off too much of the transom rule and called it
good. Based on experience with the forward hull I think that putting on
the chines and gunwales will fair the boat a bit as well.
It was near 60 here today and warm enough in the shop for epoxy.After
scraping Polyeurathane glue off the frames I decided to stay away from
Poly anything including 3M 5200. Even after it has dried I find the
foaming glue gives off a strong odor and creates a nasty dust when
being scraped. I was not ready to smell one of its cousins, In terms of
odor epoxy is still one of the least volatile of the glues I have used.
I found stainless steel 1 1/4" deck screws in #8 and used those for
final assembly. It took a while to get a good system for assembly
going. It was hard to find the original screw holes and even when we
did the frames seemed to move a little. When we double checked the
bottom alignment we had to reposition two frames. After a little of
this we hit on unscrewing two of the three screws, pulling the joint
apart and smearing thickened epoxy on the frame edge with a mixing
stick. Screw that back together and then take out the remaining screw
and glue up the rest of the frame. Messy but we didn't have anymore
problems with the height drifting off. After fastening through the
orignial screw holes we added additional screws. I wiped down the
spills and drips with vinegar when we were all done. Everyone involved
wore gloves but we tried to keep the person running the drill, glue
free. This assembly step would be hard to do solo.
We now have both bays of our garage filled with two hulls. Now we have
to figure out where to put the partially assembled aft hull while we
mill out the chines and gunwales.
More later
Peace,
Leander
challenge to mark it out because it sets in from the angled edge of the
gunwale by an inch.. We had many good suggestions for this but finally
while studying it one night my oldest son wet down the gunwale flat and
pressed a piece of carboard scrap over it. The outline was very clear
and we cut out a pattern. Getting the deck to lay flat took several
hours of fussing and fitting. We took our time and got a fit we are as
proud of as anything we have done on the boat yet. Found a belt sander
a very effective tool for finishing the gunwale flat. At the very end
we used a long board with flooring sandpaper on it. The decks on the
forward hull are temporarily screwed in place, so they can be removed
for painting etc.
Dry fit the aft hull sides and bulkheads together with 1 1/4" ceramic
coated #6 deck screws. Three in each side frame. We found it tricky to
line up the frames with the limber holes with the side panel bottoms.
We clamped a scrap piece of framing stock level with the bottom and ran
it out to the side. I held everything in place and one of the boys
drilled it home.We became very impressed with the significance of dry
fitting after we put one of the frames in backwards. It is easier than
it sounds. The are two frames which are made from 1 x 4s and small
gussets. You don't have the plywood bulkhead to give you a visual clue.
You have to remember to look at the side bevels. I kept wearing out
helpers with this stage of the work.It is very fussy and slow progress.
Everything looked good except the fairness of the side panel between
#14 and the stern transom. #14 was the bulkhead for which the bevels
were not given on the plans. Between this bulkhead and the stern
transom there seemed to be low spot in the fairness of the sides.
Either we made #14 too narrow or the bevel too sharp or made the
transom slightly too large. Took most of it out by planing the sides
of the transom. When I couldn't decide if there was still a pinch or I
was just dealing with the natural waviness of the plywood, I let my
anxiety about taking off too much of the transom rule and called it
good. Based on experience with the forward hull I think that putting on
the chines and gunwales will fair the boat a bit as well.
It was near 60 here today and warm enough in the shop for epoxy.After
scraping Polyeurathane glue off the frames I decided to stay away from
Poly anything including 3M 5200. Even after it has dried I find the
foaming glue gives off a strong odor and creates a nasty dust when
being scraped. I was not ready to smell one of its cousins, In terms of
odor epoxy is still one of the least volatile of the glues I have used.
I found stainless steel 1 1/4" deck screws in #8 and used those for
final assembly. It took a while to get a good system for assembly
going. It was hard to find the original screw holes and even when we
did the frames seemed to move a little. When we double checked the
bottom alignment we had to reposition two frames. After a little of
this we hit on unscrewing two of the three screws, pulling the joint
apart and smearing thickened epoxy on the frame edge with a mixing
stick. Screw that back together and then take out the remaining screw
and glue up the rest of the frame. Messy but we didn't have anymore
problems with the height drifting off. After fastening through the
orignial screw holes we added additional screws. I wiped down the
spills and drips with vinegar when we were all done. Everyone involved
wore gloves but we tried to keep the person running the drill, glue
free. This assembly step would be hard to do solo.
We now have both bays of our garage filled with two hulls. Now we have
to figure out where to put the partially assembled aft hull while we
mill out the chines and gunwales.
More later
Peace,
Leander
Our cabel modem has been down for over a week. We have made some modest
progress on the Folding Schooner. We made up two frames that are a
different design from the typical Bolger frames of ply and nominal one
by framing material. Frames at #10 and #12 for the Schooner are made
out of 1x4 or 3/4 by 3 and 1/2. On the plans they looked quicker and
easier to make then the bulkhead type frame. If I had thought about it
I would have realized that you have to loft the frame out on ply or
something and then have the extra step of fabricating the frame and ply
gussets. Making the gussets turned into marathon. We tacked the framing
material to a layout we had developed on a piece of ply and that turned
out to be the best thing we did. It held the work steady while we tried
to cut some oversize gussets down with a flush cutting router bit. Our
bit got dull and slipped which we couldn't see because the bearing is
underneath the work and ruined one frame. So we had to start over. A
router table would haved worked much better. Finally made a pattern
gusset and then cut out three at one time with circular saw and sabre
saw. Trued them up on the belt sander. Should have been an easy detail
but was just one of those things where one thing goes wrong after
another. Having tacked the frames to layout lines we knew we had the
right angles. It would have been easy to get a little off depending on
the gussets for the right shape.
For framing material I bought some 1x4 tounge and groove fir flooring.
This is beautiful wood. These frames don't have the backup of the
typical plywood bulkhead and I thought they needed to br good and
straight and strong. The fir flooring throws out a lot of little
splinters when it goes through the saw and makes you glad you have your
safety glasses on. We cut off the tounge square and then cut the side
and bottom bevels when taking the groove of.
We had a nice warm day and thought we better epoxy the 8"butt joint
which joins the two 8' panels to make up the material for the sides. I
thought about cutting the ply into 2' panels on the tablesaw and
butting those panels. I wish I had. The two sheets of Philipine
Mahogany Ply we had were very wavy. I thought cinderblock weights would
make then flat enough in the joint. We have made up about 4 16' panels
now on our garage floor and are finding this one of the most difficult
steps to do well. Our garage has a concrete floor and is reasonably
level but has some bumps and irregularities and is sloped toward a
central drain and toward the doors. We put some scrap ply under the
seam of the two sheets and brought the edges together and tacked the
sheets to the scrap. We put straight epoxy on all surfaces and
thickened epoxy on the butt block and put wax paper on top and
cinderblocks on top of that. All of the joints we have made are usable
but none of them have been perfect. When we turned thethis last joint
we made over it was really tight in the horizontal plane but we ended
up with a raised edge of about 1/32 toward each long edge. We will sand
it lightly with the beltsander before we put the glass tape on. It is
just really hard to get a good joint without a perfectly true surface
to work with. If I were starting over I would buy some 1/2" MDO or
other good stiff plywood to make a floor for gluing up these long butt
joints. Screwing straightedges to the plywood floor would help align
the sheets. I also think it would have worked better to work with the
more narrow sheets. The 1/4 ply is less bendy in these widths.
We layed out the side panels for the aft hull and started to cut them
out. All went well for about a foot and then our twenty year old
Rockwell circular saw died. We took it apart and found out that the
drive gear was completely smooth. I think we got our $39.99
moneysworth out of it. Went to Home Depot and got one of the new Porter
Cable saws with the blade on the left. Nice. We certainly made out ok
with our cheap saw the last time around but just got smitten with this
nice tool. The choices look like going really cheap or getting
something really good. The in between models are just the cheap saw
gimicked up. Finished cutting out the sides. They are pretty straight.
We just connected the dots on the top with a square where it is almost
completely straight. The bottom has a little more curve and we used a
batten for that.
Tomorrow we will make the transom and remaining frames for the aft hull.
Peace,
Leander
progress on the Folding Schooner. We made up two frames that are a
different design from the typical Bolger frames of ply and nominal one
by framing material. Frames at #10 and #12 for the Schooner are made
out of 1x4 or 3/4 by 3 and 1/2. On the plans they looked quicker and
easier to make then the bulkhead type frame. If I had thought about it
I would have realized that you have to loft the frame out on ply or
something and then have the extra step of fabricating the frame and ply
gussets. Making the gussets turned into marathon. We tacked the framing
material to a layout we had developed on a piece of ply and that turned
out to be the best thing we did. It held the work steady while we tried
to cut some oversize gussets down with a flush cutting router bit. Our
bit got dull and slipped which we couldn't see because the bearing is
underneath the work and ruined one frame. So we had to start over. A
router table would haved worked much better. Finally made a pattern
gusset and then cut out three at one time with circular saw and sabre
saw. Trued them up on the belt sander. Should have been an easy detail
but was just one of those things where one thing goes wrong after
another. Having tacked the frames to layout lines we knew we had the
right angles. It would have been easy to get a little off depending on
the gussets for the right shape.
For framing material I bought some 1x4 tounge and groove fir flooring.
This is beautiful wood. These frames don't have the backup of the
typical plywood bulkhead and I thought they needed to br good and
straight and strong. The fir flooring throws out a lot of little
splinters when it goes through the saw and makes you glad you have your
safety glasses on. We cut off the tounge square and then cut the side
and bottom bevels when taking the groove of.
We had a nice warm day and thought we better epoxy the 8"butt joint
which joins the two 8' panels to make up the material for the sides. I
thought about cutting the ply into 2' panels on the tablesaw and
butting those panels. I wish I had. The two sheets of Philipine
Mahogany Ply we had were very wavy. I thought cinderblock weights would
make then flat enough in the joint. We have made up about 4 16' panels
now on our garage floor and are finding this one of the most difficult
steps to do well. Our garage has a concrete floor and is reasonably
level but has some bumps and irregularities and is sloped toward a
central drain and toward the doors. We put some scrap ply under the
seam of the two sheets and brought the edges together and tacked the
sheets to the scrap. We put straight epoxy on all surfaces and
thickened epoxy on the butt block and put wax paper on top and
cinderblocks on top of that. All of the joints we have made are usable
but none of them have been perfect. When we turned thethis last joint
we made over it was really tight in the horizontal plane but we ended
up with a raised edge of about 1/32 toward each long edge. We will sand
it lightly with the beltsander before we put the glass tape on. It is
just really hard to get a good joint without a perfectly true surface
to work with. If I were starting over I would buy some 1/2" MDO or
other good stiff plywood to make a floor for gluing up these long butt
joints. Screwing straightedges to the plywood floor would help align
the sheets. I also think it would have worked better to work with the
more narrow sheets. The 1/4 ply is less bendy in these widths.
We layed out the side panels for the aft hull and started to cut them
out. All went well for about a foot and then our twenty year old
Rockwell circular saw died. We took it apart and found out that the
drive gear was completely smooth. I think we got our $39.99
moneysworth out of it. Went to Home Depot and got one of the new Porter
Cable saws with the blade on the left. Nice. We certainly made out ok
with our cheap saw the last time around but just got smitten with this
nice tool. The choices look like going really cheap or getting
something really good. The in between models are just the cheap saw
gimicked up. Finished cutting out the sides. They are pretty straight.
We just connected the dots on the top with a square where it is almost
completely straight. The bottom has a little more curve and we used a
batten for that.
Tomorrow we will make the transom and remaining frames for the aft hull.
Peace,
Leander
Our Expoxy and glass came. I didn't realize they had plastic jugs and
it came in gallon paint cans. I asked the clerk about pumps and she
suggested snap on lids with a pour spout. They are very hard to get on.
Took two of us, a couple of screwdrivers and I had to hold my mouth
just right but they finally went on with a satisfying snap. They have a
little pressure relief opening with snap cap and another snap cap for a
bigger pour spout. We got 6 yards of "50 inch cloth. Had a yard and a
half left over which we can use for a rudder or leeboard.
We had a graduated plastic container and made 8oz at a time. I just
poured in 4 oz of resin and filled up to the 8 oz line with activator.
I lost count but it was probalby three batches. First we used the rest
of our pre-thickened to fill the screw holes and then immediately put
the glass on and smoothed it out with a brush. We mixed epoxy and
poured it in a s pattern and forced it through the dry cloth with
squeegies working a section until it became transparent, working from
stern to stem and from the middle to the chines.
We bought two of the paper bunny suits and some of the large gloves
from Fiberglass Coatings. My oldest son who is well over 6 ft and has
very big hands liked the gloves from Fla best of all. I was really glad
we had the suits. The two of us had spots on our suits in places where
I wouldn't have guessed we might contact the resin.
It was an absolutely beautiful day. Just about 75 F. We opened both
garage doors and had two exhaust fans going. I thought the Fiberglass
Coatings stuff had more odor the the West System I used 7 years ago for
the Gypsy and last summer for the 6 hour canoe. But I am getting more
sensitive to chemicals in general as I get older. I think it might be
because I had a job working in a warehouse with a lot of herbicides and
pesticides when I was in college. For whatever reason I began to feel a
little "off" as the project went on. It took about two hours to do the
bottom of the forward hull. Didn't seem to bother my son at all. I was
glad to stop. Epoxy is my least favorite part of the project. The paint
cans make it hard to work clean and you can't fine tune the amount the
way you can with pumps.I would like to figure out how to pour our
supplies into some different containers that can take pumps.
We had some trouble with the chines. The cloth went over the bottom
and aound the chines fine at first. As we went forward we had left the
excess of the 50" cloth drape down the sides of the boat, probably 12"
on each side, figuring it would be easier to cut the excess away when
the epoxy was green. The weight kept pulling the cloth away from the
very top of the chine where it takes a turn into the side of the boat.
There was no neat or easy way to cut it at that point. We decdied to
let it lie where it wanted. It is well lapped up on the chines but not
completely to the top of the chines, maybe 1/4 to 1/2 inch short. If I
had to do it again I would make sure I had just a slight bit more cloth
than needed to cover. Chalk one up to the learning curve. Another
annoying but less than mortal mistake. We also forgot to make a little
slit where it takes the corner around the bottom of the transom. We
were able to fix that after the cloth was wet with a sharp utility
knife. It looks good, so far no wrinkles or big bubbles. It is quite
transparent but with plenty of texture showing. Tomorrow we will roll
on another coat and fill the weave. The 10 oz cloth looks like it might
take two more coats to achive a smooth surface.
I have been thinking of what Dave of the $200 sailboat says about
epoxy coated Luan being nearly as expensive as good Marine Ply. This
bottom with glass, resin and stiffeners will be as much or more than 2
sheets of good 3/8" Marine Ply and a lot more labor intensive to put
together. It might not be as abarasion resistant.
Peace,
Leander
it came in gallon paint cans. I asked the clerk about pumps and she
suggested snap on lids with a pour spout. They are very hard to get on.
Took two of us, a couple of screwdrivers and I had to hold my mouth
just right but they finally went on with a satisfying snap. They have a
little pressure relief opening with snap cap and another snap cap for a
bigger pour spout. We got 6 yards of "50 inch cloth. Had a yard and a
half left over which we can use for a rudder or leeboard.
We had a graduated plastic container and made 8oz at a time. I just
poured in 4 oz of resin and filled up to the 8 oz line with activator.
I lost count but it was probalby three batches. First we used the rest
of our pre-thickened to fill the screw holes and then immediately put
the glass on and smoothed it out with a brush. We mixed epoxy and
poured it in a s pattern and forced it through the dry cloth with
squeegies working a section until it became transparent, working from
stern to stem and from the middle to the chines.
We bought two of the paper bunny suits and some of the large gloves
from Fiberglass Coatings. My oldest son who is well over 6 ft and has
very big hands liked the gloves from Fla best of all. I was really glad
we had the suits. The two of us had spots on our suits in places where
I wouldn't have guessed we might contact the resin.
It was an absolutely beautiful day. Just about 75 F. We opened both
garage doors and had two exhaust fans going. I thought the Fiberglass
Coatings stuff had more odor the the West System I used 7 years ago for
the Gypsy and last summer for the 6 hour canoe. But I am getting more
sensitive to chemicals in general as I get older. I think it might be
because I had a job working in a warehouse with a lot of herbicides and
pesticides when I was in college. For whatever reason I began to feel a
little "off" as the project went on. It took about two hours to do the
bottom of the forward hull. Didn't seem to bother my son at all. I was
glad to stop. Epoxy is my least favorite part of the project. The paint
cans make it hard to work clean and you can't fine tune the amount the
way you can with pumps.I would like to figure out how to pour our
supplies into some different containers that can take pumps.
We had some trouble with the chines. The cloth went over the bottom
and aound the chines fine at first. As we went forward we had left the
excess of the 50" cloth drape down the sides of the boat, probably 12"
on each side, figuring it would be easier to cut the excess away when
the epoxy was green. The weight kept pulling the cloth away from the
very top of the chine where it takes a turn into the side of the boat.
There was no neat or easy way to cut it at that point. We decdied to
let it lie where it wanted. It is well lapped up on the chines but not
completely to the top of the chines, maybe 1/4 to 1/2 inch short. If I
had to do it again I would make sure I had just a slight bit more cloth
than needed to cover. Chalk one up to the learning curve. Another
annoying but less than mortal mistake. We also forgot to make a little
slit where it takes the corner around the bottom of the transom. We
were able to fix that after the cloth was wet with a sharp utility
knife. It looks good, so far no wrinkles or big bubbles. It is quite
transparent but with plenty of texture showing. Tomorrow we will roll
on another coat and fill the weave. The 10 oz cloth looks like it might
take two more coats to achive a smooth surface.
I have been thinking of what Dave of the $200 sailboat says about
epoxy coated Luan being nearly as expensive as good Marine Ply. This
bottom with glass, resin and stiffeners will be as much or more than 2
sheets of good 3/8" Marine Ply and a lot more labor intensive to put
together. It might not be as abarasion resistant.
Peace,
Leander