The Last of the Lower Fillets

 Finally, the last of the lower fillets are laid and sanded.

Masking up.........

The area is wetted out, fillets laid, and peel ply applied over the wet fillet. A dry foam roller is used over the peel ply to make a smooth even finish.

Removal of the peel ply reveals a smooth fillet requiring minimal sanding.

Work has slowed down for a while due to illness.

After a couple of weeks in bed its back to the build........slowly

The area is thoroughly sanded

Glassing Time. A paper template is made, and a pencil line drawn around the outside.

 

The area is masked up and the glass is smoothed in place,

Resin squeegeed into the glass, when the resin is green set the glass is cut around the masking tape. 

One more down, 15 to go.

Template reversed and port side glassed in.

Two more down, 14 to go.

Another paper templet for the next section.

The next section of glass layed overlapping on the keel and hull bottom.

Two more down, 12 to go.

And so, the glassing goes on & on & on. but it is fun. Definitely recommend using knee pads……

Update from the glassing contortionist, I'm still having fun.....

only six more to go.

Yahoo, finally all the glassing is complete up to BH 2

Here I'm laying reinforcing fiberglass tape with peel ply to reinforce the hull to BH 2 & BH7.

But being a sucker for punishment I am laying an additional strip of glass tape along the chine fillets. This will be a total of 4 layers on the chines areas that have overlapping glass and 3 between. This extra layer is purely for strength and will require additional fairing and sanding to provide a smooth finish inside the cabin area.

BUT my reason for the additional fiberglass tape is to provide peace of mind when sailing my local coastline which is mostly cliffs causing rough seas.

Now for some fillets in THAT AREA, so with a sturdy box to stand on, a noodle on the hull side, its head down (literally) and Ar.. up. I wish my arms were about nine inches longer.

That's the end of the seventh month of construction............

More Filleting

 More Filleting 

Well after a four-week break I'm back to the build and that means more fillets. It can't be underestimated the time you spend making fillets, did I mention fillets.

So armed with the following arsenal of filleting weapons it was time to attack the frames and bulkheads. I'll leave the bottom to hull side fillets to last, I should have them down pat by then.

After many hours and many beers, the frame and bulkhead fillets are done.

Now it's time to do the larger bottom to hull side fillets. I'll take extra care making these fillets as they are exposed and seen from inside the cabin. 

The sections are thoroughly sanded, cleaned and masked up.

The joint is thoroughly wetted out prior to laying the fillets and peel apply rolled over the fillets.

Thats the end of the Sixth month of construction...........

First time using peel ply

Two further overlapping glass tapes were added over the fillets between the transom and hull sides. Blue peel ply was smoothed over the wet glass tapes. As this was my first-time using peel ply, I chose a location that is hidden inside the lockers.

Well, the jury is out.....peel ply is the way to go. For the little extra labor involved in applying, the results leave a very smooth clean finish that requires minimal sanding. Yes, minimal sanding, oh glorious sanding.....sorry I just had to quote Mads from "Sail Life" on You Tube.This guy is a very good DIY boat renovator, go back to  his early Vlogs on You tube he is  passionate and very clever, I picked up lots of great building tips from Mads, check it out click the link below.

Sail Life - YouTube

 

And that’s the end of the Fifth month of construction.

Progress will slow for a few weeks due to other commitments, but I’ll be back with a-vengeance in the middle of July.

Cheers

Filleting Time

For the first fillets I decided to start in the aft area between bulkhead eight and the transom.

This is how I make fillets:

• Lightly coarse sand the area and remove the dust.
• Mark the fillet radius with a compass.
• Clean joint with methylated spirits (please note this is the recommended cleaning agent for Bote-Cote)

• Mask the area.
• Check the radius of the filleting tool or paddle against the masking tape.
• Do a couple of trial runs with the filleting tool.
• Paint a thin coat of epoxy to ensure good wetting out.

The wetting out of the joint prior to making a fillet produces a strong bond and prevents a dry joint.

• Mix the epoxy and filleting powder to a peanut butter or vaseline consistency.
•  Apply to the joint with a mixing stick or piping bag.
• Hold the filleting tool at an angle and press firmly while drawing along the joint to smooth it out.
• Clean up the edges with a flat spatula.

• Once the epoxy has slightly hardened remove the tape and with a wet gloved finger smooth the edges.

That's the first fillet down, many many more to go.

 I decided to fillet, sand and glass the transom area between BH 8 and the transom first. I thought that would be a bit easier on the old body to do one section at a time.

 

• The fillets are sanded.
• The area thoroughly vacuumed and wiped down with methylated spirits.
• Masking tape is located to allow the glass cloth to overlap at the edge.

• A paper template was made for the glass cloth.

• The glass is wetted out with a rubber squeegee

The glass is fully wetted out with the top edge overlapping the masking tape.

After an hour or so when the epoxy is "B" staged the excess glass cloth is trimmed along the masking tape line with a Stanley knife and removed leaving a neat clean line.

My Thoughts for the future.

I will add two additional layers of glass tape over the transom fillets to provide additional strength in this area. My decision to do this is to strengthen the area for future additions I may add. I have been considering modifying the boom gallows to support solar panels and radio aerial. As I intend to live aboard the Pocketship for up to two- or three-week periods. Well, that's my thoughts.................

Thats the end of the Fifth month of construction...........

Epoxy Welding Everything Together

It's time to bring out the piping bags and weld all the BH's and floors to the hull bottom and sides. 

Once the epoxy is cured it's time to remove all the stitches. 

I definitely recommend heating up the stitches with a heat gun for a few seconds prior to removing the stitches, my trusty old Ozito did a fine job, the stitches easily slip out from the softened epoxy.

I glued the transom in rather than epoxy welding to ensure a strong bond.

After a bit of a cleanup it’s time to start filleting.

In preparation for the next stages of the build I ordered the hull and sailing hardware package from Denman Marine the Aussie distributor located in Tasmania.

Here is their website:

https://denmanmarine.com.au

Back to the Build, Stitching Time, The Transom

 

Back to Boat Building after a Holiday Road Trip.

After a couple of weeks holidaying around the southern state of Victoria with renewed energy it's back to the workshop and boat building.

The blanks for the hull bottom and sides are scarfed. 

Here is a close up of the scarfing tool attachment screwed to the bottom of my 30 year old Black & Decker circular saw (still going strong) On thin ply I find this scarfer attachment very quick, easy and accurate to use, The saw is fitted with a forty tooth blade which leaves a perfect finish that does not require any further clean up.

The blanks are aligned by clamping to a timber straight edge, the scarfs are glued with plastic between and held together with weights until the epoxy is cured.

The two bottom blanks are clamped together and the bottom pattern is smoothed over the blanks.

Strips of carbon paper are placed under the plan and I trace the outside outline and the bulkhead locations with a lead pencil. Whilst this is a time consuming process I find it very accurate.

I carefully placed the (heavy) keel into the cradle not wanting to damage and have to redo the keelson again. It lined up with the front and rear of the centerboard case. As indicated earlier I installed wheels to the base of the cradle to make it easy to move the complete unit around. 

Stitching Time

This is my first experience at the stitch method of boat building and I have to say it works really well. The sections went together nicely and aligned perfectly.

The starboard bottom panel is wired stitched to the keelson.

 

Now the port bottom is attached.

I found a good method of stitching the bottom panels together was while twisting the wire with vice grip plyers gentle lever the jaws of the vice grip up from the face of the plywood with a small crowbar. Be careful not to go too hard and break the wire or pull the wire through the plywood.

Large clamps were used to pull in the  forward section of the bottom panels together. Small "G" clamps were fixed to the edges to prevent the larger clamps from slipping as pressure was applied.  

Wire stitches are inserted and slowly tightened while simultaneously pulling the clamps together to slowly pull the nose section together. 

It all worked without any problems and the bow section aligned perfectly.

The port and starboard sides are lightly sanded prior to glassing.

 

Both hull sides are glassed, once cleaned up the sides will be sanded between two more coats of epoxy to a paintable finish, much easier to do on a flat surface prior to installation.

The hull sides are stitched to the bottom.

Another view of the hull sides.

The Transom

Two 9mm pieces are cut for the transom, I picked a section of ply with nice grain formation as I intend to have a highly lacquered timber transom.

After a little research and helpful advice from Dave at "Boatcraft NSW"  I decided to apply a light Mahogany color to the transom and rudder cheeks. I purchased some spirit based proof tint. This will be added to the first coating of resin which is diluted with TPRDA  (Timber Preservative and Reactive Diluent Additive). This will enable the resin with stain to penetrate more deeply into the timber surface. But this will be done further down the build on some test pieces first to ensure the correct shade of stain color.

The transom pieces are glued together and held with weights. 

The transom sides and bottom edges are cut with a jig saw at the appropriate angles so as to neatly fit the hull sides and bottom. The transom is temporarily held in place with screws. 

I temporarily clamped the lower breasthook in place to give the bow shape prior to stitching in BH one.

A temporary timber filler piece aft of the  breasthook maintained the bow shape and provided access.

The BH's and floors are stitched in place, this is quite a challenge but if you take your time it all fits together quite well. To enable access into the hull I clamped a board onto the floors so I could kneel down and reach the bottom of the hull. 

This section of the build is quite the challenge, I think I lost a couple of kilos from climbing in and out of the boat. 

Finally all stitched together, the astute may have noticed I have not cut out the cockpit floor section on BH eight. I intend to widen the foot area, inspired by Brent's blog to relocate the footwell sides out by the width of the cleats.

       Stand back and admire the progress

That's the end of the Fourth month of construction.

More Plywood, Keel Catastrophe, Start Building a Boat, More Scarfing, Epoxy Resins & Gluing Techniques.

 The Last 11 sheets of Plywood.

At last a window of fine weather allowed me to pick up the plywood from Sydney. The last 11 sheets of Okoume are loaded onto the roof racks and a few other goodies in the boot. When back at the workshop I stored the plywood vertically on a raised floor and secured tight against the storage frame.

More work on the Keel.

I thought It would be easier to add some extra layers of cloth to the very bottom of the keel before installing the bottom and sides. This would provide extra protection when beaching and loading onto the trailer. I removed the keel assembly from the building cradle and placed upside down on two sawhorses. 

I taped up the centerboard opening to prevent epoxy flowing into the centerboard case.

I applied a second layer of cloth wet on wet.

When cured I trimmed the excess cloth, sanded and cleaned the area and proceeded to place the assembly back into the cradle when............bang crash.......the keel assembly toppled off the wheeled trolley and the forward end of the keelson broke off, fortunately this was the only damage.

I recall reading a comment from another Pocketship builder who accidently broke off the forward section of their keelson and I admired their positive comment and attitude regarding the challenge to repair it. 

So now I've given myself that extra challenge to replace it.

"Oh the Joys of boatbuilding"

Here is my three-piece keelson, The challenge here is to firstly remove a large enough section above the nose block to be able to firmly glue the new piece in place. The section was removed using an oscillating renovator tool. The broken pieces are used as a template to make the new section.

Two straight edges are clamped to the centerboard case and used as a visual guide to ensure the new keelson piece is exactly midline along the keel. After a dry fit with screws and clamps the new piece is glued in place to the nose block.

The new keelson piece is cleaned up, now I can get back to the build.