Have You Ever Spent Too Much Time Sanding?

Checkout the eyebrows on this!

I fabricated and sanded Mist's aft bunk support today.  My mind wandered off to the thoughts of Halloween.    For years I've decorated my young girls pumpkins with sailboat eyes or a sailboat nose.  Now things have come full circle, our i550 is looking like a jack-o-lantern.

More Stringers and a Compression Post

All hull stringers are installed except the two just in front of the rudder, which will also support the aft cockpit floor. 

The compression post is installed and the bow sprit is hanging there temporarily.

The post was great fun to make. I cut eighteen strips of Douglas fir 3/8" thick with a ten degree angle on each side.  I laid each stick on top of masking tape, sticky side-up.  With all eighteen sticks stuck to the tape I applied ample epoxy to the sicks, rolled the sticks into a tube.  Lastly I wrapped the sticks in ten layers of clear plastic packaging wrap.  All joints between the stick are tight and the post is beautiful. The photo below is a remnant of the post and shows its cross-section.

I've decided to turn my attention to the back of the boat and hopefully get the cockpit assembled soon.  Cooler weather is in the future and the stern is right next to the garage door.

Bunks and Fwd Stringers are Installed

Though I haven't posted anything in awhile I have been working on the forward compartment of Mist.  A modified bunk is installed on each side.  I  doubled up the plywood on the underside of each cutout.  The purpose of the cutouts is to provide access to remove any accumulated water with a sponge or handheld pump.  Additionally, air can freely flow in and out to allow the bilge to dry when the boat is not in use.  

I really look forward to putting Mist through the paces and the Chesapeake Bay can really kick up some waves / wind so I feel hull stringers in the forward compartment are a must.

Meredith has been a great help!!! and her epoxying/filleting skills are very good.

So far for this project I've been cutting my own bi-axial tape.  The two photos above show my method.  First, I unrolled the fiberglass cloth at a 45 degree angle and align it with the edge of the fiberboard.  The fiberboard is the same stuff one uses for a pegboard only without the holes.  Second, I align a straight edge, cut from the same fiberboard, at the appropriate width of tape I desire.  Lastly,  I cut along the straight edge with an Olfa Rotary Cutter.  The cutter is slick and has yet to fail with providing a clean cut on the first attempt.  Once, the tape is cut I need to be careful to prevent tugging on the tape.  It will lengthen significantly and if it does stretch it's width reduces.  Handle the cut tape as little as possible and delicately.

Eye-Spy! Can You Find The i550?

I'm delayed with the building of Mist. I have several sets to build for my daughters upcoming 'Beauty and the Beast' musical theater presentation.  I was desperate for space, so up in the overhead of the garage was the only choice.  I'm looking forward to getting back to the build.

Sheer & Bunk Supports Installed

If you're building one of these boats and don't own a Dremel with the flexible drive shaft you need to go get them.  I've been dreading notching out the the frames and sanding the twenty plus limber holes of the bunk supports.  My neighbor showed me the flexible drive and I bought one on-line that night, both tools were less than $100.00.  Since I purchased these cutting the small notches and sanding the tight corners have been so quick and easy.

It so happened we misplaced our camera while we were installing the sheers.  I missed a few great shots as Josie and Meredith mixed and spread the epoxy, installed the sheer, and clamped the assemble together with very little help.  They had a truly great time and it is installed as clean and straight is if I had done it myself.  Of course a few days later we found the camera for the shot above.

Fames in Final Form / Chainplates Planned

All of Mist’s frames are installed, filleted with epoxy, and taped with 9 oz S-Glass.  The next step is to glue in the bunk supports into the bottom of the hull.  Bunk supports are installed between frames 53 and 169. These serve two functions; they are bunk support, and they’re hull bottom stringers.  I’m choosing to have large lightening holes in the supports to allow air to move through to assist drying any water that may enter the boat.  I'll have photos of the bunk supports on the next update.  The photo below shows the boat with all frames installed.

I finished designing the chain plates for Mist but have yet to assemble them.  I spoke with Colligo Marine to determine 5mm Dynex Dux is adequate synthetic rigging for the i550.  After determining the breaking strength of this Dynex Dux,  I used 'The Gougeon Brothers on Boat Construction' book Chapter 14 'Hardware Bounding' as a guide I determined the minimum length of G-10 tubing needed to support the mast's loads.  Four inches of 3/4"D G-10 tubing epoxyed into the stem and hull sides is a conservative length hold.  The Dynex Dux will pass through the center of the tubing and will terminate with a large stop knot.  I was hoping to be further along with assembly.  Suppose I've been over optimistic!  I'll keep working at it.

Epoxy/Fillet/Cloth-Tape Details

Itamar, Dan #185 left a comment on my last post requesting more detail on why gluing both hull side top hull bottom joints and the transom in one go was a mistake.  First let me explain I'm new to the blog thing and don't know how to reply solely to him, so I'll just post what I know.  Also, although I've wanted to build a boat for years this is my first build so I'm still on a learning curve too.  Here I go, I've read the West System User Manual several times plus I know a very experienced builder who is always willing to answers my questions.  The manual is free at any West System supplier and available on the net at their web-site.  After studying this manual two principles keep going through my mind: 1) a chemical bond between layers of epoxy is much better than a mechanical bond , and 2) clean-up the blush before applying another coat of epoxy.  With these two thoughts in mind I plan my glue jobs such that I will apply a new coat of epoxy to 'already cured' layers of epoxy as few times as possible over the course of build.  This assures I achieve the chemical bond and avoid the blush.  These are the steps I take to glue a joint: 1) prep the joint, sand the wood with 80 grit and brush/vacuum to remove all dust, 2) wet out the joint with only mixed epoxy, let it soak into the wood, 65-70 degrees F with slow hardener allows the glue to really soak in. 3) once the wet coat tacks-up apply the fillet, that's another discussion, 4) once, the fillet tacks-up apply another wet coat of epoxy, without delay neatly lay the cloth into the wet epoxy, 5) apply additional epoxy where the cloth looks dry, I especially concentrate on the filleted area where most of the stress is on the joint, 6) let the three layers of epoxy tack-up, and apply one more layer of epoxy to fill the weave of the cloth, 7) now, I place release fabric over the fresh coat of epoxy to minimize blush and prevent having to sand any cloth fabric fibers, 8) when all exopy is cured remove the release fabric, you'll be pulling any blush off with the release fabric.  When we glued the hull's joints in one go temperature was alittle over 50 degrees so the epoxy wasn't as liquidy as I like so I had to message it into the wood, and cloth, Time Consuming! I also used fast hardener, more pressure to move fast! On top of that your just about standing on your head, all-day!  It was an accomplishment but I'll plan differently next time. It's well worth the effort and expense to practice this on a few scrap pieces of plywood before doing it to the boat.  Then break this practice piece and see if the wood is failing and not the glue joint. If the wood is failing you must be doing it correctly.  It's all FUN!