Sunday, August 9, 2009

All my fault! (as opposed to July 23rd post)

I am not too ashamed to admit to some construction faux pas, maybe it will help other boat builders to not duplicate the same mistakes.
Presented for your inspection the first mistake of this past week.
What is wrong in this photo?

It is a nicely milled companionway hood side piece but something is wrong. You know the old saying measure twice, cut once? The mahogany piece has its proper bevels to fit the deck camber and I measured more than twice to cut the groove for the sliding part of the hood BUT if you cut the groove on the wrong side there is no way it is going to work! On the positive side I was much quicker and efficient cutting out a replacement piece; practice does make perfect or as I used to tell my basketball teams when I was coaching, perfect practice makes perfect.

And now for mistake #2 this week. This photo shows the 3 layers required to make the rubrails.
As documented in the last post the bend at the bow is no fun at all. The photo above shows the clamping I used to accomplish the last 2 feet of bending.

On the starboard side this was not good enough for the second layer and luckily I had some hex headed screws that I could use my socket set on to ratchet in the piece of mahogany at the bow.

Because of the clamping technique I was not able to glue a layer on each side at the same time but had to alternate back and forth allowing at least 24-36 hours for curing before gluing on a new layer. The epoxy appears to have cured with a strong bond but I still have fears of being at a dock one day and all of a sudden a rubrail springs off and kills an innocent seagull or maims a bystander. But onto the mistake. I milled and scarf jointed all of the rubrail layers at the same time but when I went to put the final layer on the starboard side it was 6 inches too short. I scarfed in an additional foot or so and will attach it tomorrow.
That's it for mistakes THIS WEEK but here are a couple of extra photos.

This a scary step, cutting holes in the boat.

Here is the port side rubrail partly sanded and it does add a nice line to the boat (and still looks straight even after all of the clamping and slippery epoxy that makes lining up the layers difficult).
You can also see a test fit of the dorade vent cowl and a brass deadlight. I think the brass deadlights will look really classy against the white hull and will be a nice upgrade over the flush acrylic ones used in the Pocketship construction manual.

The companionway hood is milled and has been test fitted. The companionway decking will be glued on and epoxied this week and after some sanding of the rubrails and cabin interior the boat will be ready for its first turnover ( time to get all the neighbours organized and to remember not to hand out the beer until after the boat is flipped over).


7 comments:

sang Barnacle Bill said...

I was always curiours about how the fordeck drains? Is there a drain that takes the water into the boat via the bilge and out the stern, or are there scuppers that you haven't put in yet?. In closing I have enjoyed your blog very much over the course of the year. I like the fact that your showed us your boobs as well as your success. good luck

Dave C. said...

There will be 1/2 inch drain holes in the lower corners of the Dorade boxes on the foredeck and then 1/2" drain holes through the topsides/hull of the Dorade boxes. There will also be drain holes for the companionway hood, tabernacle, seatback storage compartments, and large drains at the bottom of the footwell at the stern.

Unknown said...

WOW! That rubrail looks like a real bear. Did you through-bolt the hex headed screws through the plywood hull? How did you fill all those holes? I ask because I can't see any fillpatches in the picture with the sanded rubrail.

Plus, I wonder if applying the rubrails in thinner layers wouldn't be much simpler? (A note from the designer reading this blog would be appreciated)

BTW, I love the period-character that the brass deadlights add to the boat.

Dave C. said...

The rubrail was stubborn at the last 2 feet of the bow but once I figured out the clamp at the front it wasn't too bad. Perhaps if I had made the rubrails 2 feet longer I would have had more leverage at the bow.
The hex headed screws were just screwed in. The fill patches are visible if you look carefully. I will include a closeup in my next post. Because of the protective little pads of wood most of the holes are quite small.

jeff Hatch said...

Dave, I really like the brass port lights your using. Do they fit the pre cut holes in the kit or did you need to modify the hole size. Also where did you purchase them?

Dave C. said...

I'm not working from a kit so the cut out size was 4 1/2" and not 6" as in the kits. The outside diameter of the deadlight is 5 1/2" which means it unfortunately would not cover the score lines if you were working from a kit. The deadlights were ordered from GreenBoatStuff.com and manufactured by ABI. They have a limited supply of the 4" deadlights but none of the 5 or 6 because ABI apparently has gone out of business due to the downturn in the economy.

Anonymous said...

Dave, thanks for the info. Your boat looks great and your progress is amazing. Jeff