Routine trailer repair keeps getting more expensive

As I was cleaning the grease off of the first spindle, I began to get the feeling that something was not quite right. Now, I'm no expert on trailers... but it would seem to me that a spindle should be round.

First hub off the axle

Cleaning grease off the spindle

This one wasn't. It had a substantial gouge cut into the underside surface. Actually, it had a couple.

I briefly considered just attaching the new hub and wheel anyway, and hoping for the best. I'd already bought them, after all.

Damaged spindle

Additional damage to the axle

However, I decided not to. I spent too much time building this boat to risk it. So, after some online searching, I finally found an axle that would fit the dimensions of my old trailer. I ordered it yesterday, along with new mounting hardware. There goes another $185. Better safe than sorry, I suppose. 

I'll also have to see about returning the hub and wheel I bought, and exchanging them for new wheels. These have a 4-hole pattern, and the new axle comes with pre-attached 5-bolt hubs. Hopefully I can get all this wrapped up in time for the G11 boatbuilders gathering in 3 weeks.

In other news, I got the first encapsulation layer of epoxy on the newly-widened stem for the Zip. I had enough epoxy left over that I also encapsulated the aft face of Frame #2.

The Tedious Tale of Zip Frame #2 — part seven

Finally. 

Structurally speaking, at least, Frame #2 is now complete.

All that remained to be done was to glue and screw the remaining pieces together, add bungs to the 2 countersunk holes, and grind off the tip of the screw that protrudes all the way through the starboard side.

Bung, cut and sanded on the port side.

The tip of the protruding screw on the starboard side sanded away easily.

I also filled in a couple of remaining gaps between the floor member and one of the lower shims I installed a while back.

I also wanted to encapsulate the aft surface of the deck beam, to get an idea for how the mahogany would look when finished. For this reason, I split my mixture of epoxy into two separate cups... one to thicken with wood dust, and the other "clean" for the encapsulating coat.

Once I had it all put together, I found I had way too much thickened epoxy left over, and nowhere near enough clean epoxy to finish the job. Most of the clean epoxy was immediately absorbed by the foam roller I was using.

Yet, I had already started, and I couldn't stand the idea of leaving it partially undone. So, not to waste the remaining thickened epoxy... I used it to encapsulate. Naturally, that created quite a mess. The mahogany wood dust had also colored the epoxy, making it double as a sort of stain. Still, I smeared it on, and meticulously scraped away the thickened mess with a putty knife. All things considered, I think the result looks pretty good. The mahogany wood dust gives the epoxy a deep, "smoky," appearance.

The epoxy "stained" and encapsulated aft surface of the deck beam.

Contrast between the deck beam and the meranti plywood gusset.

The epoxy "stained" and encapsulated aft surface of the deck beam.

So, from the time I started on this frame back in December, it has indeed been a "Tedious Tale." I'm happy to be done with this part, and ready to move on to the next.

The Tedious Tale of Zip Frame #2 — part six

I had been hoping to draw The Tedious Tale of Zip Frame #2 to a close this last weekend.

Almost. But, not quite.

After a seemingly unending amount of sanding, I finally got the deck beam to a point where I was ready to attach it to the rest of the frame. So, I drew, cut and sanded the pair of gussets, and laid out the parts on my construction drawing for fit & alignment.

The parts all laid out on my construction drawing.

The all-important centerline.

The all-important centerline

Making sure all the parts are arranged and aligned as accurately as possible.

With all that done, I marked one of the plywood gussets for the first set of holes to be drilled. Then, for the sake of symmetry, I aligned the gussets and drilled them both on my drill press.

With the gussets aligned and clamped back onto the vertical members of the frame, I drilled through them once again, into the mahogany.

Once the gussets were attached, I flipped the whole thing over, and realigned the whole thing once again on the drawing. Then I drilled and screwed the deck beam onto the gussets.

The last part of the process was to drill for the longer 1-3/4" screws to go through both overlapping pieces of mahogany. There isn't a lot of room on that lap joint for driving screws, so I only had space for one per side. On the starboard side, I accidentally drilled all the way through the wood.

After drilling for the #8 screws, I countersunk the holes with a 3/8" bit. I have to be very careful with this drill bit. It's quite aggressive, and when it bites into the wood, it'll go through it like butter.

Once those two last screws were driven in, the whole frame was officially dry-fit. By this time, however, it was almost 10:00 pm. So, the epoxy will have to wait for another day.

Zip Frame #2, all successfully dry-fit.

Trailer Parked

My summer boating activities quickly ground to a halt with that grinding sound coming from the trailer. Sure enough, the bearings are shot. 

One of the tires is also a picture-perfect example of dry rot.

So for now, the trailer is up on cinderblocks with the wheels removed, waiting for me to install new bearings & tires.

Not that there aren't other things to do.

I've been sanding away on the deck beams for frames 2 and 4.

Sanding away on the deck beam for frame #2. Note the big freezer bag full of mahogany wood dust.

In addition to those beams, at some point I will also need secondary deck beams to form the aft sections of both cockpits. I had considered laminating a couple of big scrap pieces from my last mahogany board, so that I'd have a board wide enough for one of these additional beams.

Scraps clamped together for a (hopefully) even run across the planer.

It would probably work.

I clamped them together and ran them over my planer to make good mating surfaces. The result looks like it would work.... however, I've changed my mind. The seam would go right down the middle of the deck beam, potentially making weak points in the arcs at either end.

Think I'll just wait.

Hmmm. Yeah, maybe not.