Day 6

Day 6...

Cut out starboard main bulkhead. Ground all the tabbing off the aft side on the hull, but left the little leftovers on the front side to serve as a visual indicator (fancy speak, eh...) for my template.
Fit my pattern I cut out in, and used it as a story board to fix the couple spots I missed with the paper template. I then got the passageway (door frame? no door going back in...) to an 1/8th inch all the way around... plane down here, plane down there... then pondered... "Self... aren't you going to put a foam pad under this bulkhead?"

It was at that point I decided I wasn't going to cut a 96 dollar sheet of plywood undersize by the wrong amount... today. (Grin, gotta leave room for future expectations!)

I glued up my trial mast beam. Used mini pumps on west systems... slow hardener. 12 hours later it was bubble gum. Mixed up a test batch, kicked in three hours. Decided I'd try again after dark... hardener came out of the can creamy, moisture. I need to figure out what the cause of the moisture is, as the drum at the boat yard is a new one... I blamed the last dregs on my side deck bubble gum a few weeks ago....

Though it is perhaps possible that it's the cosmos way of telling me not to spend time and energy making stuff with poor materials.

After that discovery it was time for a shower and dinner.

Went back to Noel afterwards to check on my test batch, that kicked... and decided to rip my 4 inch PVC down to size. 2 fences on a band saw, and a line drawn on the top following the text did the trick. I didn't run the fences parallel to the blade, 4 1/4 at the front of the table and 4 1/2 at the back... dropped the top guide down just close enough to the top of the tube to have some clearance... and went to town. If this evil plan works out, I'll use PVC pipe in a way other than directed... grin.

With that done, I headed over to Pylasteki and tested out my new carbide scraper. Read about it on the forum somewhere.... quite nice. A decent workout, but not a whole lot of dust, and it peeled off T.P.S. without melting it.. grin.

Zach - Has had one of those days...

Pictures: top 2 are a trick to transfer lines on large radius circles. If you've ever played with computer models, you know a radius can be broken down into a lot of straight lines... so a straight line smaller than whatever width that would yield a polygon that has a smooth curve, will follow the curve. I hate compasses (Have I said that before?) for doing anything but making small circles, so here you add the width of the scrap piece of wood (nice to have a scrap that was cut on a table saw on a few sides) and a carpenters pencil. Hold the two together, the pencil can float side to side a little, as your tool is a triangle... 2 points rubbing on the outer line. With that short of sides on the triangle, you can't measure the difference without breaking out a steel rule that is finer than folks use for wood working.

Curved spline thingie. Blew a pay check on it and a few other things at Woodcraft the last time I went. Not so hot for doing small boat work, but big boats its nice to have a 72 inch batten that holds its place for you... I'm using it as a weighted spline here, broke my skinny batten the other day.

(I will hang my head in shame and admit that my mind works in decimals better than fractions, and that I planed the stock for my mast beam with a dial caliper in hand...)

Day 5

Day 5

I started out my day doing some work on Noel till about 10:00.

Then went to Atlantic Veneer (NC locals... They stock Marine Grade plywood... BS 1088...) and bought two sheets of 3/4 Marine Ply. 96 bucks a sheet... and 14 board feet of ash. I planed it down to 3/8ths thick, and ripped two strips 6 feet long by 3 1/4 wide out of it. I've got 31 board feet of ash invested in this mast beam, as you can't get flat cut lumber... but you can cherry pick straight vertical grain pieces out of boards. With my wallet much lighter...

Then I went back to Pylasteki and did some vacuuming, then measuring. I'm widening the passageway through the main bulkhead by two inches. My shoulders get stuck going through, without the door frames on. Stock it is 19 3/8ths wide. Wandering through lowes the other day, I saw a roll of thick brown paper... 35 inches wide. The stock bulkhead measures 36. I took a straight edge and marked off an inch with a sharpie... and taped it up. Last night I ground off all the tabbing on the hull and bulkhead on the forward side... minus the rotten spot where the wood behind it is missing, there it is just down to the mat... Then I took an exacto knife and trimmed out my pattern. I cheated... Grin.

The boat tapers from the bow out to amidship... The forward side is tighter than the aft side of the bulkhead... So I wanted the pattern off of the forward side of the bulkhead to get a tight fit.

Once I had this... I folded it up and stuck it in a trash bag... and raced back to the truck to go to the hardware store and get a jelly roll of 2 part epoxy putty. One of the holes I filled on day three, wasn't... and in the deluge turned into a solid stream of water. I had to practice some boat builders yoga to keep the paper dry while folding it up. I ran back to the boat, and filled the hole... and tapped the starboard chain plate up and out. Pylasteki is blocked funky, she is sitting a touch bow down, so there is water sitting on the chain plates... I will need it dry there for tomorrow as I cut out the bulkhead.

I then went back to Noel and unloaded my sheets of plywood, and one piece of 3/4 inch press board underlayment.

I took my luan fishbone... and laid it on a sheet of 3/8ths plywood. I then played connect the dots, as the largest gap was about 3 inches... and did away with the need for bending a fair curve with a batten.
I cut it out with my jig saw, set as fast as it'd go. I try to shave my pencil lines, but leave them on the piece... Meaning a Stanly sureform plane will take off the high spots, and I don't often have to wish for anything to grow back.

I laid it up against the bulkhead and decided it was ok. You might have noticed that the new pattern is pictured on the front of the bulkhead rather than the aft side... I'm moving the mast forward a smidge, and doing some interior redecorating. (grin)

Once I had my pattern... I went to the band saw and made a block 2 and 7/8ths wide, with a lip on one side... My carpenters pencil out of the handy dandy sharpener has the lead an 1/8th inch away from the side... with some repeatability. I don't much care for trying to hold a compass 90 degrees off a curved surface, so this is an easy one to transfer a line... Worse yet is having to sharpen said pencil in compass, and radically change the radius, tough to erase a line off a dusty piece of scrap plywood... grin.

Why did I have to redraw the line? Well... The new beam will be a smidge over 3 inches thick... but my jig goes on the inside of the curve... which is a smaller radius.

Then I cut out my pattern and made a 3/8ths thick mast beam. Weee. If I tab it in real good it'd do...

Then I took my paper pattern out, and laid it on a piece of junky AC 3/8ths. It was at this moment I discovered I only needed one sheet of 3/4 ply for both bulkheads. Oops. Well... If I screw both up I've got spare lumber. Grin.

After that I carried my saw horses down the stairway to heaven as the florida bow thruster guys called it... It's the most rickety stairway in the history of sawn timber... and ripped my underlayment into two pieces. I don't have a flat floor or work space resembling plumb, level or anything else... So I have to create it when I need it. The great thing about press board it is that its flat. Always, until you get it wet and turn it into a pile of mush... 2 pieces screwed together it doesn't wobble around. I then carried my saw horses back up the stairs, and my half sheets... Then laid a piece of 3/4 ply (not marine grade... it's my work bench!) on top of the horses, followed by the underlayment. Noels deck is curved, with about 6 inches of rise in the center over 16 feet. She's sitting on a railway at the moment, so her stern is running way down hill... but it does that anyway in the water. I sighted down my saw horses and shimmed them till they were inline... then lifted, prodded, pushed and fiddled with the stack of three sheets till my 8 foot straight edge had 6 feet of flat. I then screwed the three together, and transferred my lines from the pattern.

After some goofing around, I discovered that my 53 inch wide beam was evenly divisible by 9 inches. Well... close enough for it to click that I could use 3 1/2 inch spacing anyway. So I marked it out and adjusted the curve slightly till it looked right, and started screwing down bits of 2x4. 2x4's have gotten junkier lately, as I had to pre-drill the holes... so they didn't explode... I think I'm becoming a snob for higher grade materials. Once I had a few down I decided to test out my clamps. This is where I goofed. I bought two pounds of 2 inch screws, not 1 pound of 2's and 1 pound of 3's... So my blocks wanted to shift.

That was 7:10... So I went to lowes. 40 minutes or so round trip driving. Had dinner... and bought some 4 inch PVC sewer pipe, as I've been dreaming of adding some longitudinal stringers to Pylasteki... that don't stop and start at the bulkheads.

Back to the boat I unscrewed all the 2 inchers, and added the 3's. I did a trial run, and ripped my scrap pieces of ash into the same size as the real deal... I figure I'll glue up the junk and give it a try to test for spring back and fitting before using the good stuff. First laminated beam I've done, so I want the one going into the boat to be right.

I then assembled and disassembled my rig, till I had the right clamps in the right places... and added 2 blocks to keep the ends tight. The secret is to put the big motha's on the outside, and the wimpy ones in the middle. Start out with the clamps all the way unscrewed, and slide them till they are tight. The outer edges get re-adjusted to take up the slack, as there is more curve than they have threads.

Day 4

Day Four:

I started out today with the threat of impending thunderstorms... So in a clear patch I glassed in the three through hull fittings. It was only about 85 degrees, and they were in the shade with slow hardener.
2 I did pretty much in one shot. 6 or so layers thick... Start off by taking a 2 inch wide chip brush (cheap if you buy them bulk...) and wet out the bevel you ground in the hull a few minutes before you get started. The key to getting a lot of layers to stay together is to wet them out in something flat... I use a paint roller tray with a plastic liner. Wet out each disk, flip over and hit resin on the back side. Stack them up three or four deep, and roll them out in the pan, lightly. You want them gooey when stacking, and once rolled act like a cohesive layer. Drawing out your circles with a sharpie helps too... as wet out glass is clear enough that it is hard to see without a mark.

Now stick them to the hull with a gloved hand. Those sleeve covers help to keep the epoxy from drooling down your elbows... Roll out one corner, from the center up or out. Work from the left and right, so drips don't hit ya... You should have a fair bit of drool... you've got enough resin to push the air pockets out, and once the excess resin is out, you can hit it with acetone and wipe it up.

I goofed, and forgot to tape over the backside of 2 of the holes... so I've got one that I did pretty nicely, and one thats a 1/4 inch tall mound coming inside the boat... If I had been on my toes I would have done it from the inside out, as there would be less fairing to do afterward. Shrug...

When that was done, I took a vacuum to the inside. I donned my respirator and tyvec suit... There was so much dust it was starting little avalanches sliding down the sides of the hull.

After it was slightly less dusty, I got started removing the mast beam. I pulled down the front block, that the mast step bolted to. Then I unbolted the beam from the bulkhead. Well, the bolts snapped off... then I tapped them back through with a bent screwdriver and a hammer. (What ya think this is a high budget operation do ya... drift pins... sheesh. Grin.)

The mast beam came off in two pieces. I did not pry hard enough to crush any wood or damage the paint... I believe I may have been sailing with mast beams, plural, and not singular... Though there was a nice steel reinforcement that someone added in the past carrying the load.

After that I pulled the curve of the cabin top. I use luan plywood, or what are known as door skins... as they have one good side, and wind up on real crappy hollow core doors. I run them through a table saw into 2 inch wide strips. Generally I have a stack of strips that I have cut down into 2 and 4 foot lengths... along with a load of small cross cuts 2 and 3 inches long. This beam needed one 53 inches wide, and a lot of long pieces... Joined with a hot glue gun, and glued lighty to the bulkhead. See picture... No math required, no tick sticks... and the pattern has enough points of contact to pull a smooth curve. Sweet! (Thanks go to my friend Matt who shared that idea with me...)

I then went over to Noel and finished planing a bunch of Ash from half inch down to 3/8ths. It started out 13/16ths... I've been working it down when I get the chance. Only been planing one side though, allowing nature to induce some curve in the direction I want to go. Planning to do a dry run one day before the final gluing, and wet them down nicely so they'll take the curve even more... I don't like to work hard.

I took inventory of my clamps. So far I've bought nine of them to do the beam... Noel has mostly sawn frames, so I haven't had much reason for more than two or three... Ouch. This will be an expensive piece of wood...
Then I went to lowes. Twice. Supply runs... Thought I had a big piece of fiber board, but didn't... and had some ideas that you'll see tomorrow...

After that, it was back to the grind. Literally. I ground out the old tabbing on the front of the starboard main bulkhead. Still on my 36 grit flap disc... It ground out the V berth tabbing, 3 through hulls, did 1 side deck recore... and continues to look like new. I started out using my cut off wheel to get to plywood, as I always feel antsy about grinding near the hull into places I can't really see.

I ran into a load of barney powder. Purple thickened polyester resin... I have no idea what they added, but by golly it almost glows in the dark.

All for now...

Zach

Day 3

This is day 3 of my 10 day Grinder War of 2009. I have 10 days on the hard to fix everything that can't be done in the water... easily.

No before picture on that one...
Day 3... The saga continues...

So the weather report says today was my last sunny day.

I took advantage of it, and set up staging on the port side to recore the side deck.

Started up at 8 am, finished around 7:00pm... Cut off the top skin with a circular saw, snipped the edges it couldn't cut with a cut off wheel on the grinder. Peeled off the top skin. Pulled out the balsa, routed out the stuff under the lip. Fired up the Fein Multimaster with a scraping blade to get rid of the solid balsa at the aft end and under the edges.

Once that was done, I prepped the inner skin by grinding off all the old balsa remnants, and working sand paper under the lip on top and bottom. This is the most tedious part of the process... as you continually find another sliver of wood and have to resort to fishing a chisel or 5 in one tool under the edge to get the last of it...

Then I ground the bevel on the edge around the edge so that the new glass would have the same contour as the old deck, and there would be no hard spots to flex. I'm still on my original 36 grit flap disc... looks the same as when I started.

After that, I vacuumed everything and wiped down with acetone. I took out my sheets of end grain balsa coring, and cut them to fit with a fillet knife, notching the top by pushing down till the blade left an impression, then rotating the blade so it splits along the grain.

After that I cut my fiberglass to shape. 2 layers of 1708 biax, 8 feet long and 17 inches long at the wide end... but you have to start out with one almost two feet wide to follow the contour of the hull. I've never had luck starting with a straight cut piece and pulling it into shape... it always wants to bunch up somewhere or form a bubble that never wets out, so I make some scrap.

Then I cleared everything out, and started mixing pots of epoxy and cabosil filling the gap around the deck. I used a silicone spatula... sweeeet!

Once that was done I went back and took a chisel to any lumps that ended up anywhere so the balsa would lay flat.

I wet out the balsa with my cheapo 2 inch chip brush that I keep in a little bit of acetone... Gotta fill up all the joints in between blocks of balsa to get full strength and rot resistance. As each piece was wet out, I mixed up a pot of thickened epoxy with cabosil, and used a notched spreader to give some goop for the balsa to bed down in. I then went around with my fillet knife and trimmed any balsa that contacted the now filled gap...

More thickened epoxy went in around any gaps...

Then a layer of 1708... and another...

1 gallon and 11 hours on a 2 x 10 later... and she be done!

Zach

Day 2

Day 2:

Finished up on Noel at Noon... Had the mast pulled at 1:00.

Once the mast was down, I cut out a 12 x 24 inch section of the top skin. The inner skin was cut on each side of the deck beam by compression on both sides, I taped the crack to keep from gluing the old beam to the skin. I tacked a nail to hold down the junk inner skin flap (technical terminology...) and propped up the skin on both sides until it was in a fair curve. I pulled out the balsa core, routed out the punky stuff (starboard side) and cleaned up the good balsa around the peremiter. I packed the gap full of thickened epoxy (cabosil) and proceeded to lay in 4 layers of 1708. When that had kicked and was starting to cool off, I laid down 4 more layers. 8 layers is just a touch under 13/16ths of solid fiberglass and epoxy. Heavy, but compression shouldn't ever be an issue again...

I pulled out the through hulls in the head. One was a ball valve threaded onto a flush mount through hull fitting. (boo hiss on ball valves) Since I'm flying solo... I unthreaded the backing nut, gave it a whack with a hammer to generate some clearance and slipped in a sawazall... The other was a 60's Pearson special... solid 13/16ths or so block of mahogany, fiberglass encapsulated over a fiberglass tube/mound with the sea cock smushed in to the polyester resin and stuck forever...

I used a cut off wheel on my angle grinder to cut through the fiberglass around the edges. I used a chisel to clean off the area around the bolts. 3 came out, 1 broke. Then I used my chisel to wedge the old fiberglass off of the wood. Once it was free on one corner, I put a pipe over the end of the through hull, and performed a ABYC (American boat and Yacht Council) test... to see if I could hang my body weight off of it without it breaking loose. It did...

Then I used my sawzall to cut the rest of the fiberglass off of the block, and a chisel to clean out the wood. I changed my angle grinder from a cement cutting disc (They last forever on fiberglass...) to a 36 grit flap disc, and cleaned up the inside... Then went outside and ground down both holes prepping them for glass in the morning. I've got it in my mind to set up a wet out station and do all four at once, wetting out on the bench and carrying over to the hole... my glass is all pre-cut, did that earlier this week.

Also got the old speedometer fitting out. That little plastic booger was really in there. Wouldn't budge... so I cut off the flange on the outside, cut off the guts on the inside... and cut the tube into 4 pieces. I'm not sure what sealant was used... but it took almost as long to clean that out as it did to remove the fitting.

Then it was 10:00 pm, and I decided the day was done.

Zach

P.S. I love my full face respirator and carbon filters... beats the heck out of the N95 and P100 cartridges I've used on a 3m half face up till now.

Day 1

=

Side Decks... Impending Haul out.... Main bulkheads...

The benefit of working late, is the occasional after dark money shot. Yeah, I had to lay down on the dock in a boat yard... covered in fiberglass dust... eaten alive by no-seeums... the things we boat nuts will do to satisify the voices inside our heads...





So... You may have noticed that I start and stop projects devoting 100% on each one for the moment... a day here, a week there...

Pylasteki gets ten days starting tomorrow. She will be hauled out, 9:00 am impending no set backs...

Starboard side deck is done with the exception of the last few inches of old balsa... did it floating, so had to have somewhere to rest my foot to reach the middle... Not suggested, but I wanted to have the cabin top stay stiff while I pull out the bulkheads. Yeah, a pain in the lower back but it can be done. I put in a 2x4 prop under the cabin top to keep it from going anywhere with my weight laying on it.

This is a lot more fiberglass than it looks like:

I spent the afternoon cutting tabbing for my bulkheads, and discs for through hulls, and the 12 x 24 inch stuff is to go under the mast.

How to cut Bi-ax fast without a mess:

Cutting Bi-ax... Stand farther away from your rotary cutter (Fabric store = Walmart) than you think you need to. Look at the cutter, not where it was, or where it is going. Pick a line of stitching and follow it... Set up side lighting from the left if you are right handed, so your hand isn't casting a shadow on where it's going.

Go back and cut the little stitches holding the piece to the rest of the cloth, sliding the two apart just wide enough to slip in scissors. Pick it up from the stitched edge, at least a few inches away from the ends... and roll starting from that point back towards the end, and then roll it up just barely tight enough that friction holds it put. To tight a radius and ya end up with wrinkles... to loose and it flops out of the roll and is hard to deal with.

Alrighty... Wish me luck, I've got 10 days to prep and paint the bottom, fill 4 through hulls (well... maybe 6, depends how adventurous I'm feeling) Replace the main bulkhead, laminate a new mast beam, redo the coring under the lower dog house, and figure out how I want to move the chain plates outside.

Pictures and such as they come... Epoxy mixers and helpers would be spectacular, if theres anyone out there in driving distance to Beaufort, NC.... grin.

Zach