The Slow Saga of Zip Frame #4 — part five

In part four of this "Slow Saga," we left off with a pretty substantial gap in the first glued lap joint.

The gap, as of the last post.

Yesterday, I filled the gap with thickened epoxy, then forced the gap closed with some substantial clamp pressure.

The lap joint clamped back together, as the epoxy cures. I used scrap plywood to protect the wood from the strong clamp pressure.

After leaving it to cure for 24 hours, I removed the clamps. Thankfully, the closed gap held.

Clamps removed.

I wanted to drive a second screw through the lap joint, so I drilled a pilot hole, then countersunk it with a larger drill bit.

My attempt at countersinking the 1-3/4" #10 screw wasn't that great. The second attempt, on the other side of the frame was better.

Unable to leave well enough alone, I removed the screw from the first side, re-drilled the hole with a slightly larger bit, and drove a new screw through it. Much better.

The Slow Saga of Zip Frame #4 — part four

Sometimes, the damnedest things go wrong.

I had decided to attach one of the side ribs to the floor beam, using thickened epoxy and screws. Seems simple enough, right?

Epoxy and screw the rib to the gusset: Done. 

Epoxy and screw the rib and gusset to the floor beam: Done. 

Drive one two-inch screw all the way through the lap joint. Well now, that's where we developed a problem. The screw actually pushed the rib away from the gusset some, rather than pull the whole thing together.

In hindsight, the simple thing to do would have been to remove the screw, and re-drive it. However, that's not what I did. I put nine clamps on the joint, and drove the screw as tightly as possible... until it broke.

No problem, I thought. I had more than enough clamps on there to do the trick. Or, so I thought.

You'd think this would be enough clamps. It wasn't.

Once the epoxy cured, and I removed all the clamps, however... I realized that reality was a bit different from my expectations. 

Yep...

that's a big enough gap, you can see daylight through it.

The reality was that there was a substantial gap between the frame rib and the gusset. This is, of course, unacceptable. It must be fixed.

Fortunately, it looks like the gap can be pushed together, if I apply enough clamp pressure in the right place. So, my plan as of now is to fill the gap with more epoxy, and clamp it together forcefully.

Fortunately, enough pressure from the right kind of clamp will close the gap.

All this helped me to realize the weakness in my approach to the lap joint: Using only one screw through all the parts. I won't repeat that mistake on the other side. In addition to the one 2" #10 screw that's already in place, I will add one or two additional 1-3/4" screws that I bought recently. 

Here's part of the problem: only one 2" screw through the lap joint. I'll add one or two screws to this side, to avoid the same mistake. The best thing may have actually been to use carriage bolts. I used what I had, however.

The Tedious Tale of Zip Frame #2 — part three

Attaching The Shims.

The shims were cut from some scrap mahogany.

I used epoxy, thickened with mahogany wood dust, to glue them on.

Held them in place with a lot of clamps for a day.

Waxed paper kept me from gluing the floor beam to my work surface.

Clamps removed.

A few passes across the planer/jointer to smooth the sides.

Next step will be to shape the bottom of the floor beam to its proper dimensions.

New year. Old trailer.

Happy New Year!

In the last post, we left off with the holes I drilled in the transom as preparation for bolting the motor to the boat.

However, before I can bolt the motor to the boat, there are a few other things I need to do. One is to seal the inner diameter of the holes with epoxy in order to water seal them and protect the wood. Also, I wanted to do some work on the trailer. This work would require lifting the boat. Obviously, that is more easily accomplished without the added weight of the motor.

New bunks for the trailer

I have never been fully satisfied with the bunks I built for the trailer, back in July 2015. At 4 feet long, they are longer than the bunks that came on the trailer when I bought it. However, after building and installing them, I still felt they were too short to sufficiently support the boat. In time, I also began to dislike the way they only supported the boat on the narrow end of the boards.

I decided that I wanted longer bunks that were also wider. 

The first set of bunks I built for the trailer back in 2015.

So, my kids helped me raise the boat and prop it up on a 2x4. I removed the old bunks, and tore the carpet off of them... and decided that I could reuse it all.

The boat lifted up onto a 2x4

The new 5' 7" bunks in position

I cut some new 2x4's to a length of 5' 7" to use as the new bunks. I used the old bunks as supports, since they were in perfectly usable condition. That's not to mention they're already measured and drilled for the brackets. I screwed the new bunks to the old ones in a "T" fashion, so that the wide end of the board would support the boat.

Between the repurposed carpet and the leftover I had from the original roll, there was enough to cover the full length of the new bunks. I stapled it on with stainless steel staples.

After re-attaching the bunks to the trailer brackets, I also replaced the center roller with a new one. The old roller had hardened and gotten rather grimy.

New center roller

The old roller had marked up the underside of the hull pretty badly.

Another of my goals for this work on the trailer was to lower all the supports enough so that the bow would fit into the "V" of the bow roller. Even with the roller's bracket raised as much as possible, the bow never actually rested on it.

So, after everything was installed, my son helped me lower the boat back onto the trailer. All that was left to do was to crawl underneath and tighten a few bolts. Everything seemed to go together pretty well. I'm definitely happy to have more support underneath the hull now.

With the boat resting on the new bunks, the bow fits into the bow roller.

The new bunks provide considerably more support to the boat.

New stainless steel bolts, waiting for the motor.

New Year's Eve.

The clock is ticking away the final hours of 2016. I, for one, will be happy to bid this year farewell, and begin anew in the morning. Here's to 2017.

In the meantime, what is an amateur boatbuilder to do on New Year's Eve? Why not drill holes in a perfectly good transom?

Hey...why NOT drill holes in a perfectly good transom? That sounds like a GREAT idea!

Okay, okay.... there's a little more to it than that.

Back in July, I had begun to consider bolting the boat motor to Perseverance's transom. The strain on my back from mounting and dismounting the motor on every trip to the lake was becoming a bit much. However, I hesitated, due to some questions that arose regarding weight distribution and the towing dynamics of my trailer. Simply put, I needed input from someone with more experience.

At the G10 Boatbuilders Gathering in September, I got exactly that. A fellow builder who I know and trust took a closer look at the whole setup with me. We decided that the axle on my trailer is far enough aft that adding a little more weight to the back of the boat doesn't significantly affect the tongue weight. It helps that I have a small 8hp motor.

Essentially, we unhitched the trailer with the motor still on the boat. Even with the front wheel jack extended a little higher than "towing" height, the trailer did not tilt back, at all.

So, today I decided to mark the end of 2016 by drilling holes through the transom so that I can bolt the motor to the boat.

I started off slowly, with a small diameter pilot hole. Due to the proximity of the motor's mounting brackets, I was unable to use regular-length drill bits. Fortunately, I had a few longer ones left from drilling the hole for the bow eye.

First drill bit for the pilot hole

Initial pilot hole

And, we're through!

Now, for a larger drill bit...

...and a larger diameter hole...

...all the way through the transom.

Now, for the 5/16" drill bit.

So far, so good.

Pilot hole on the port side.

And then, a larger hole.

All done.

After the holes were drilled, I removed the motor. I will need to seal the inner diameter of the holes with epoxy before reattaching the motor.

The transom has gotten pretty scuffed up after several trips to the lake... mounting and dismounting the motor, etc. I have debated on adding an outer motor board, just to absorb the wear and tear, and protect the transom. However, I don't think I will. The scuffs are really just cosmetic blemishes, and the motor covers most of them when it's attached.

Besides, the scuff marks give the little boat some added character.

Scuff marks on the back of the transom

There are also scuff marks on the top of the transom, where the paint and primer have both been worn away.

Motor board on the inner side of the transom

Just for fun, I also set out the miscellaneous parts for the Zip so I could get them all in one photo for the first time...

From front to back: Stem & Breasthook Assembly; Frame # 5-1/2; Frame # 4; Frame #2; Transom Knee, and Transom.

Alright, then. By my clock, we have six minutes left to go. Goodbye, 2016. Hello 2017.

Happy New Year!

The Tedious Tale of Zip Frame #2 — part two

After much sanding of the floor beam, I finally got one side of it mostly smooth.

Mostly.

I decided to wait until the strips are laminated onto the bottom before I finish sanding. After all, the strips themselves and the epoxy squeeze out will have to be sanded, anyway. What would be the point of sanding the floor beam down to perfection.... only to have to sand it even more once the strips are glued on?

Besides, there were other problems with the floor beam that needed to be addressed.

The point of the deadrise angle is not aligned with the centerline of the frame.

Namely, the deadrise point at the bottom of the frame was off-center, by at least a quarter inch. I wanted it to be as close as possible to the marked centerline on the frame. 

It only took 3 passes across my planer/jointer to get it pretty darn close.

Much better.

It isn't dead-on precise, but it's certainly close enough for what I'm doing. (The center point is going to be cut away for the keel notch, anyway.) My goal is for all the parts to be as symmetrical from the centerline as I can make them.

After I did that, I cut a narrow piece of mahogany that I will use to make the 2 strips for the bottom of the frame. Since I had the planer set-up, I went ahead and planed one side so it will line up well with the (mostly) smooth side of the floor beam.

But, before I cut the shim strips, I wanted to take a closer look at the angular misalignment at the bottom of the frame. So, I laid it out on my full-size construction drawing:

The point on the centerline matches up pretty well with the drawing.

However, at the port end of the frame, the gap at the bottom is pretty substantial.

By my measurements, the port side has a 3/8" gap at the end.

The length of the port gap is 23-1/2 inches.

The gap at the starboard end is 1/4".

The length of the starboard gap is 24 inches.

After taking some measurements, I decided on my plan. I'll cut the shim strips each 24 inches long. One will need to end at 3/8" thickness (or slightly more) for the port side. The other will need to end at 1/4" thickness for the starboard side.

Port end of Frame #2.

Starboard end of Frame #2.

I'll post another update once I make some more progress. 

Until then... keep on keepin' on.

"for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."     

— Galatians 6:9