"This could be the last chine...

Okay. Since I badly paraphrased the Foreigner song when I posted about the very first chine lamination going on the starboard side, I thought I might as well badly paraphrase the Stones to announce the second (and hopefully last) chine lamination on the port side.

I scarfed the whole thing in-place.

Yep. That's a total of 64 clamps there. Every clamp I own.

Including two I made. I sheathed them in latex gloves to keep from gluing them to the boat.

See, these do work. I'd characterize them as light-duty, or at most medium-duty, clamps.  They can apply more pressure than a spring clamp, but less than a quick-grip bar clamp. The inverted carriage bolt tends to "walk" the clamp as you tighten it. But, they DO work.

The first starboard chine lam went on in October. Here it is, almost June, and I'm finally gluing on the 2nd port chine. It was a year ago when I attached the stem. Slow, slow progress... but, it's not a race.

Preparing the 2nd lam — port chine, Zip

With the first lamination down, and a new order of epoxy on its way from Glen-L (I'm completely out), I started preparing the second lamination.

This basically involves 3 steps:

1. Cutting one end to fit at the stem
2. Planning the placement of the scarf joints
3. Preparing the scarf joints

Here we go, with pictures...

1. Cutting one end to fit at the stem

After a little testing with some paper-thin wood templates, I found that the angle at the front tip of the chine was almost exactly 60°. Easy enough to cut.

Then, with a little trial and error, I cut the bevel so that the tip of the chine would fit against the stem as best possible.

2. Planning the placement of the scarf joints

Just as with the first lamination, what I have to work with are 4 strips of mahogany approximately 3/8" thick x 2" wide, and a little over 4 feet long. 

The three scarf joints on the first lamination lie between Frame #5-1/2 and Frame #4 (about halfway); between Frame #4 and Frame #2 (again, about halfway), and between Frame #2 and the Transom, approximately 16" forward of the transom. (These locations correspond with zones 7, 6, and 5 in the graphic below.)

My goal with the second lamination is to stagger the locations of the scarf joints, so that the joints on lam 1 will be backed by solid wood on lam 2. In doing so, I need to make sure that the scarf joints of lam 2 do not wind up directly over the frames.

The forward strip of lam 2, fitted & clamped onto lam 1. The 2nd strip is shown loosely in position. The joint between the two will have to be located forward of Frame #5-1/2.

The 2nd strip of lam 2, clamped loosely into place so that it is centered over the scarf joint of lam 1.

The scarf joint between the 2nd strip (shown) and the 3rd strip (not shown) will have to be located slightly aft of Frame #4.

The placements shown above will allow the scarf joint between the 3rd and 4th strips to be located approximately 1 foot aft of Frame #2. The 4th strip will then cover the aft-most scarf joint of lam 1.

3. Preparing the scarf joints

According to the Glen L. Witt's book, Boatbuilding with Plywood, the ideal ratio for a scarf joint is 1:12. I found that this roughly corresponds to a 5° cut. 

So, I made this cut on a scrap of 2x4 to use as something of a "sled" for my table saw:

Not Swiss-watch precision, but it works.

I made the cuts, and then lay the strips one on top of the other, aligned so that I could sand the surfaces for the best possible fit.

With all that done, I clamped all the parts into position to make sure everything will fit correctly.

This view shows the aft end of the 2nd strip, before I had made the 5° scarf cut.

Location of the forward-most scarf joint, just forward of Frame #5-1/2

(slightly closer view)

All the parts clamped into place.

Now, when that order of epoxy gets here, it'll be time to put all this together.

I may actually need more clamps.

Have a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend.

Port Chine: 1st lam glued & screwed

After letting the chine remain dry-fit for a week, I decided to take it off and reattach it permanently. I used small nails to align the holes. Other than that, it was pretty much a non-event. Still an important step in the process, though.

Chine-to-stem connection. Unlike the starboard chine, this time I added a couple more screws to attach the backing block. It was much easier to do this in stages like this, rather than fit everything together at once with only the 2 main screws.

If you look closely, you can see the backing blocks between the chine and stem, on both sides.

Connection at Frame #5-1/2. (I'll leave the clamp in place until the epoxy has cured for a full 24 hours. There is a LOT of tension in this joint.)

Update:

Here's a photo with the clamp removed after a 24+ hour cure time.

Connection at Frame #4. Early progress on the fairing.

Connection at Frame #2. Probably the easiest of them all.

Chine-to-transom.

Trying to finish those Utility updates I started

The last post I made about this season's updates to the Utility was in late March. We're now nearing the end of May, and those updates are still incomplete. I'm trying to change that.

I attached the new floor boards right around the end of March. What followed was a LOT of rain, (dare I say it... "April showers"), and a hectic schedule of business trips.

The result was too much standing water in the boat, with miscellaneous leaves and pine cones floating in it, for long enough to damage the freshly-applied paint & cause some ugly discoloration. 

A good bit of the new paint in the aft section cracked. Some of the new paint along the side of the keel peeled terribly. Oddly, the old paint held up just fine.

So, I've been at work sanding the cracked paint, and of course painting over it. That seems to be coming along pretty well.

More touch-up paint on the aft floor.

Another coat, a little later in the day.

Once I finish the touch-up paint on the floor, I'll finish the green touch-up paint on the transom. I also need to finish the varnish work on the mount for the trolling motor bracket. Then there's the matter of re-routing the wiring for the bilge pump. And, of course, touch-up paint on the keel..... 

Does it ever end?

No. No, it doesn't. 

Welcome to owning a boat.

Thank God I enjoy it all.

Dry Fit: Port Chine

The first layer of the port chine is dry-fit. Today's post will mainly serve as a record of where I put the screws... in case I need to know that later.

Now... pictures:

I kinda botched the chine-to-stem connection, but this will work. Part of the problem is that it's set a little too far back on the stem — slightly more so than the starboard side.

Just like the starboard side, I used one screw at Frame # 5-1/2 to hold down that aggressive bend and twist. I'd have preferred to use epoxy only at this joint, but I felt this was really needed. The clamp is still on there in order to "train" the wood to this shape for a few days (or until I'm ready for the epoxy.)

Joint at Frame # 4

Joint at Frame # 2

Joint at transom

Quick progress on the port chine

To be clear, what we're talking about here is the first layer of the port chine. 

It will be laminated, just like the starboard chine and the keel. Same will go for the sheers. The progress is coming along nicely so far. It's almost ready to attach.

It was at one of the first Glen-L boatbuilder gatherings I attended that a Malahini builder said to me, "If I had it to do over again, I'd laminate everything."

After I fought with bending and twisting the chines on my first boat, I had a better understanding of why he'd said this to me. Honestly, it makes a lot of sense. Thinner wood is easier to bend. It's that simple. So what if it just costs you a little more time and epoxy to get it right, with far less aggravation?

The port chine has no less than 3 scarf joints in it. I've had no problems at all bending and twisting it into place. The joints fall in-between the frames aft of Frame #5-1/2.

I'm using these blocks to help me position the chine where I want it to go.

Initial work on the Zip's port chine

When I finally made it back up to the lumber yard to buy some more mahogany, I was met with an unpleasant surprise. They were out.

That is, except for two pieces that were sitting in the office. 

I agreed to take a look at them, just in case they might be long enough — although I seriously doubted it. I wasn't wrong, either. Each piece was just over four feet long. That's not much help when you need 16 feet to build a chine log.

However, the longer I looked at them (hoping this would mystically turn them into something they weren't), it occurred to me that each board was just over 6 inches wide, and slightly more than 1-3/4 inches thick.

Hmmm. "I could cut each of those into three 2" wide boards, then rip the 2" boards into two or maybe even three 1/2" thick strips. Scarf all that together, and I'd have enough wood to make both chine laminations," I thought to myself.

Long story short, that's exactly what I did.

Here's a photo of the first 1/2" thick strips, scarfed together to form a 16' 9" board.

Here, the board is clamped loosely to the frames as I begin fitting the chine to the boat.

Fitting the chine to the transom and Frame #2 was simply a matter of cleaning the notches up a little bit. Frame #4, where the chine begins to turn and twist, required a little more work. 

First, I measured the angle of the chine relative to the frame on the starboard side. It was exactly 10 degrees from perpendicular.

So, I adjusted my angle finder for the opposite side of the boat, and drew the cut line for the notch.

Initial cut:

Then, I clamped a guide in place and cut it the rest of the way.

The resulting cut wasn't perfect, but it's a good start. I'll adjust the notch at Frame #4 as I make similar cuts and adjustments at Frame #5-1/2.

Home made tools for home made boats

A while back, WoodenBoat magazine did a nice article on making your own tools. "Interesting..." I thought, "but I don't really have the time to mess with all that."

My perspective on that has changed a little. It's not so much about the time involved as it is the high costs and lack of availability for some of the specialized tools I'm beginning to need.

Here are a couple of relatively common, "specialized" tools, and the way I went about making them:

DIY Longboard Sanding Block

Longboards are used in the fairing process, to help keep multiple surfaces of wood on pieces that aren't necessarily attached all on the same plane. This is to provide the best possible support and attachment points for the plywood planking that will go on later.

Basically, it's a really long sanding block.

For my DIY Longboard Sander, I used an off-the-shelf 3M drywall sander, a piece of 2x4, and a couple of extra bolts.

1. The 3M sander has a rubber pad glued to the base. This rubber pad also serves the purpose of holding in the 2 small bolts that are part of the sandpaper clamps. So, I first cut holes in the rubber pad, where the bolts are located. I removed the wing nuts and the clamps, and pushed the bolts out.

2. Then, I centered the handle on my piece of 2x4, and marked and drilled holes to correspond with the bolt holes in the handle. I countersunk the holes at the bottom of the 2x4, so that the bolt heads would not interfere with the sandpaper. Then, along with washers, I bolted the handle to the piece of 2x4 using the original wing nuts.

3. Similarly, I drilled and countersunk holes at the ends of the 2x4, and attached the plastic clamps with new bolts, washers and wing nuts... just as they had been attached on the original drywall sander.

You can also see from the photo that I cut away part of the thickness of the 2x4 at the ends. This was to make it easier to attach the ends of the sandpaper.

4. The sandpaper itself is simply a standard-sized sanding belt, cut and then stretched between the two end clamps.

No, it's not pretty. It has no finesse. But, it works. And with 30 grit sandpaper, it works really darn well. It's strong, simple, cheap, and effective.

DIY Deep Throat C-Clamps

Deep-throat C-clamps are designed to fit around longer spans, where standard depth C-clamps are inadequate. Deep throat C-clamps are also referred to as "deep reach" C-clamps, for fairly obvious reasons.

These types of clamps are very useful when attaching backing blocks to sheets of plywood, in preparation for butt-joining plywood panels.

Good clamps with any more than about 5" depth tend to be fairly expensive, and not readily available locally. (Not for me, anyway.)

My variation of these home made clamps aren't real pretty. But, they're not supposed to be. The idea is for them to be quick, easy, and inexpensive to make, with minimum (if any) gluing needed.

Also, of course, they need to be strong enough to do the job. I haven't used these on anything critical yet, but so far they've worked fine under light & medium-duty applications. Yes, they'll flex a little bit. That's why you use a carriage bolt that is longer than the 2 structural bolts.

1. You'll need 2 strips of wood, approximately 1 x 1-1/2 inches x 12 to 14 inches long. As you can see in the photos, I laminated together 2 strips of 1/2" thick red oak, using Gorilla Glue, for each 14" piece. Does that make it stronger? I dunno. Maybe. I guess it depends on the wood.

2. Hardware:

• One 6" carriage bolt (I've used both 3/8 inch and 5/16. They both work fine. The 5/16 tend to be a little cheaper & are strong enough.)
• Two 5" or 5-1/2" hex head bolts (full thread)
• 14 threaded T-nuts
• 6 lock washers
• 6 hex nuts

3. Align the strips of wood, one on top of the other. Using a drill bit the same diameter as the neck of the T-nuts, drill downward through both strips of wood. Make sure to keep the holes aligned. Preferably, use a drill press. Locate two holes at one end of the wood strips, with the holes spaced approximately 2" apart.

Similarly, drill a third hole through the opposite end of the wood strips.

4. Use a hole saw to cut a "wheel" out of a scrap of wood. A diameter of approximately 2-3/4 to 3 inches should be fine. This will become the clamp's handle. Once it is cut, drill a hole through the center, using the same drill bit used in step #3.

5. Fit the T-nuts into each side of each hole. (6 T-nuts for each strip of wood, and 2 for the handle.)

6. Thread the carriage bolt upward through the T-nuts in the single hole at the end of one of the strips of wood.

7. Thread a hex nut partially down the length of the carriage bolt. Add a lock washer, then thread the handle onto the end of the carriage bolt. Allow enough of the carriage bolt to pass through the handle so that you can add another lock washer and bolt on top. Tighten the nuts so that the handle is held firmly in place.

8. Thread the hex bolts downward through the 2 holes at the opposite end. (See photo). Continue threading the bolts downward until the hex heads are approximately 1" above the wood.

9. Onto the end of each hex head bolt, add 1 lock washer, followed by 2 nuts, then another lock washer.

10. Align the second piece of wood with the threaded ends of the hex head bolts. (Be careful not to lose those last 2 lock washers!) 

Continue threading the hex head bolts through both pieces of wood, until you can turn them no further.

11. Now, tighten the hex nuts and lock washers against the T-nuts, and you have yourself a DIY deep throat C-clamp.

Sometimes, you've just gotta go to the lake.

Sometimes, you've just got to put everything else aside, go put the boat in the lake, and float.

That's what I finally did last weekend. The weather was beautiful for it, too. Rainstorms the day before had temporarily washed away the mushroom clouds of pollen that hover over the south this time of year. So the air was clean, with the sweet scent of honeysuckle on the breeze to remind me that it's springtime. Lingering clouds kept it from getting too hot. Great day for boating.

I needed it, too. Lately, life had just become a blur of whirlwind business trips, sports tournaments, and the day-to-day chaos and drama of being a male "soccer mom."

Much better to simply float in silence at a serene little lake.

The lake I went to allows electric motors only, keeping the waters calm and peaceful for people fishing, kayaking and canoeing. So, it was a perfect opportunity to use only my trolling motor. Besides, the gas motor is still off of the boat, because I haven't finished the touch-up painting along the top of the transom yet.

Without the additional 90 – 100 lbs of the outboard & gas tank to push around, the little trolling motor did a great job of moving the boat around easily and quietly.

This was my first trip out with the new floor boards, which I immediately liked. They made getting in and out of the boat much more comfortable.

It was a wonderful, and quiet, day to get away to the lake. Today being a back-to-normal Monday morning... I honestly wish I was still there.