2005 building logs

Dec 1 Bulkheads ready to stand

I am finally ready to stand the bulkheads on the first hull, the port hull. Once they are stood and braced in place we can start attaching the full length hull panels and we will start to see things happening that look like a boat, and will give more of an impression of how big the boat is going to be.

Today I made a couple more sets of legs, I have 4 sets to go now which I will do tomorrow. I have only the legs for the lighter bulkheads to go so I should finish them tomorrow. I had done all of the heavy sets and today I also made a fairly heavy set for Bulkhead 0 even though it is the lightest smallest bulkhead because I was told (by Sean) that it gets a fair bit of pressure on it from the hull panels so it needs extra bracing so it doesn't move while the panelling is happening. But I spent most of the day joining the 2 halves of each of the mdf temporary bulkheads together ready for standing and fixing the pair of bulkhead 8's. As I have one of the first sets of plans and our kit is one of the first cut (its actually the second as Sean is also building the identical boat with the same rig on the Gold Coast and is about 6 months ahead of me which is handy because he gives me some tips from time to time, thanks Sean) there are a couple of minor errors in the kit.

The plot sheets are out on bulkhead 0 but the kit cut bulkhead is correctly cut, and bulkhead 8 is the opposite, the plot sheet is correct but the kit cut is wrong. I had to cut about 12mm off the top of the bulkhead to match the plot sheet, but I also had to glue a part on. The chamfer panel is the wrong angle on the kit cut so to fix it I layed the bulkhead on the plot sheet and made a cardboard stencil to fill the gap of the missing part of the bulkhead as per the plot sheet. I then went to my off-cut pile and cut 2 pieces out at the correct shape and the last thing I did before knocking off today was to glue them onto the bulkhead. Good as new! It also shows that even with little mistakes like this, it is not too hard too fix and nothing too worry about.

The mdf temporary bulkheads (like the real ones) are bigger than 1 sheet of mdf (the standard sheet size for most manufactured board in Australia is 1200 x 2400) so 2 pieces need to be joined. Like the Duflex they come pre cut to shape and just need to be released from the full sheets and joined. But they don't need to be glued together they just need to be joined well enough to build the hull over them, twice, then they can be discarded or re used for some other purpose. I joined them by using the strips of timber left over from the pallets (remember I am also making the bulkhead legs out of the pallets - nothing gets wasted!!). I tried first to run a length of strapping along the join and screwing them into the mdf either side and then flip it over and do the other side. Man those mdf bulkheads are heavy! And hard, as hard as any hardwood. So a tip here is soap the screws, just lick the screw then run the thread along a bar of soap, it makes them go in so much easier. The strip along the join method is not the best. It is much more effective to make 300mm or so straps and run them across the join. It is much stronger. Once I had screwed the straps across the joins onto both sides the bulkheads became quite solid. I may even re do the first bulkhead I did along the join. I will see if it looks like holding the way it is, if not I will re do it.

Jo's brother-in-law Graeme is coming over tomorrow with the 8 44 gallon drums (that will become a scaffold) in a borrowed truck and may also bring the dumpy level (theodolite) which we may use on Saturday when we start standing the bulkheads. I have squares, string lines and spirit levels all around so I probably wont need it but I am curious how theodolites work. And it is very critical to get the bulkheads stood perfectly, as the more accurate they are the less filling and fairing and the lighter, stronger and better the boat. So all the tools I can get to help I will try.

Dec 2 First Bulkhead Stood?

Today I managed to finish all the legs I need to stand all the bulkheads. It takes longer than it should because I first need to salvage the timber I used by dismantling pallets.

Is it?

Could it be?

I have finally stood the first bulkhead!! Well temporarily at least. I have only clamped it for now. Tomorrow I will secure it then move on to the next bulkhead and will use the laser guide to ensure it is level. I will also run a few more string lines to plumb it all from.

One little tip here. When you glue the hull panels to the bulkheads you will make a rounded fillet shape on the glue line where the hull meets the bulkhead so that the fibreglass you add next will not have a sharp right angle to glue to and would otherwise not sit perfectly flush. Therefore you will need to have an inch or so of peel ply removed (all the pre made fibreglass Duflex panels also have a protective removable layer called peel ply). It is much easier to remove the peel ply before you stand the bulkheads. Simply score the peel ply at about an inch in from the edge and peel it off. Don't score too deep as you don't want to damage the layer of fibreglass below the peel ply.

You can see from this photo (just squeezing in on the right) that the 44 gallon drums arrived today. Graeme brought them down. His wife Natalie (Jo's sister) came down earlier in the day and helped by buying me 2 bags of chipboard screws whilst they were out shopping. I had asked for them earlier in the day and mentioned the size I needed but whilst I got the size I asked for they may be too short for the job of attaching the bulkheads to the legs! Never mind I will need these and more to temporarily attach the hull panels to the bulkheads. I didn't have the heart to tell her at the time as she so wanted to get a mention on the website!!! Perhaps if she knew a little more than I do about my requirements she would get a whole page dedicated to her on the site. Thanks Nat. I would have included a photo of Nat but I couldn't get one of her when she wasn't yawning! Seems she yawns whenever I am discussing the boat??

Dec 3 Finally standing Bulkheads

Today I managed to get 4 bulkheads stood and braced, all square, plumb, level and at the correct distance apart. I know this because I checked, double checked and triple checked. These are the four lighter 19mm bulkheads but tomorrow I will find the going a bit harder on the heavier ones especially the mdf temps.

The procedure for each bulkhead is pretty much the same. Because I have made the legs the same height it is fairly simple to set them on the bulkheads in pretty much the correct position. I clamp the bulkhead in place and secure it with screws once everything lines up correctly. This way I can make any adjustments on the strongback if the legs are out at all. The same goes for the legs on the strongback, when I initially stand each bulkhead I clamp the legs in the correct position until I have everything correct and I then screw the legs to the strongback and release the clamps. The final stage on each is to brace each leg.

There are 4 axis that need to be correct, all are equally important. First the bulkhead needs to be at the correct height. I have all of the DWL lines at 2000mm above the top of the strongback. Then after bulkhead 0 which has no point of reference, each bulkhead has a set distance from the face of bulkhead 0. Then the bulkhead needs to be level along the waterline and the centreline (up and down as well as left to right) and finally the bulkhead cannot have any twist in it, so that it is the same measurement from bulkhead 0 at all places. If all of these are correct then the face of the bulkhead should also be square to the stringline that I have set at WL1200.

As well as the stringlines I have at centreline stringline above, I have a centreline on the strongback, a stringline either side at DWL (2000 above the level of strongback) and a stringline to the side at WL1200 but used to square the panels to. I will also run stringlines at WL1200 either side as one final check that all is well.

The theodolite turned out to be not so useful because it is so bright that you cant see the laser mark. We have a beeping thing that detects it and tells you via an LCD if you need to go lower or higher but we also have 2 other laser levels so we ran one down the centreline at WL1200 and made sure it hit each panel at the intersection of the 2 lines.

These images are placed in order of sequence to show the bulkheads stood so far.

 

Dec 4 2 more Bulkheads

It would appear that not much got done today but I worked really hard for 6 hours for just 2 more bulkheads stood. I managed 4 yesterday (in 8 hours) but had help from Graeme, so I guess 2 on my own in 6 hours isn't so bad. I am going to figure on 3 hours a bulkhead from now on. I thought I would have the lot up this weekend. I am learning now why people gasp when I tell them what I am doing. It IS a big job. It hot today too, so I am sure that contributed to the time it took.

There is not much to add by way of information, it was just more of the same as yesterday. I added a pic of the laser as it is turning out to be a handy tool, kind like having a cross hairs sighter. The only other thing to add in today's log is to reiterate how heavy the mdf temp bulkheads are. They are difficult to stand on your own. So if you can get friends to help then do so. Combined with their weight their size makes them awkward to handle on your own. The rest of today's log is more pictures in order so those interested can see the progress pictorially however small the progress.

Dec 5 Another Bulkhead

Because of work commitments I only had time to stand 1 more bulkhead today. I had to rush to catch a plane, I will be in Melbourne for a few days but I hope to be able to get more done this weekend. I didn't have time to take any photos today but will add them with my next post. It went fairly smoothly and I managed to get it up, plumb, square, level, straight, centred and in the right place in only 2 hours. Bulkhead 5 is another of the main structural bulkhead and separates the bedrooms from the saloon and is also where a mast is usually stepped on a traditionally rigged cat.

That's 7 (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and tbh1) out of 15 so almost half way on this hull. There are 9 bulkheads 4 of which span the boat, and 6 temp bulkheads in all.

Dec 8 One more Bulkhead

I managed to get another bulkhead up today, another temp mdf (tbh2) and number 8 overall.

As I had to get away the other day to catch a plane and may have rushed a little, I decided to re check all the measurements. I had a thought whilst I was away that I am checking square against a stringline but I am not re checking that the stringline is actually square and sure enough it had moved. Probably because I had not braced the posts that the stringline is attached to. So I re adjusted and braced it. It had only moved by about 3mm probably because it did not take much (because of the lever effect) to move it a mm at a meter above where it is attached and that is enough over 12mt to put you out of square. I was about 3mm out.

I found one bulkhead that needed to be re positioned (out by about 3mm) as a result of the stringline being out (and one temp bulkhead but it was only out by 2mm and as it is a temp I decided I could live with this). I re positioned the bulkhead that was out, but a tip here, use new holes, as the bolts try to find the path of least resistance and go back down the existing hole and even though clamped, will just go back to the original wrong position if you don't.

So the 3 lessons for today, always brace anything that may move especially if it is important that it doesn't, always check and re check measurements and if re positioning use new screw holes.

Dec 9 Two day today

I got another two bulkheads up, adjusted to their correct position and braced. It took me around 5 hours, 3 hours for tbh3 and 2 hours for bulkhead 6. I have another 2 temps tomorrow. At least they start to get smaller from here on. Other than that, not much to tell.

Dec 10 Another two today

I got a really promising start today, before it all started to go pear shaped. I got the first bulkhead, tbh 4 up in just under 2 hours, so it had me thinking I might have tbh 5 and bulkhead 7 up by the end of the day, but unfortunately I killed the cordless drill and had to go out and buy another, and by the time I got back into it (and put up some curtains in the office for Jo) it was 6pm and I decided I wasn't going to get another up today so that was it. So tomorrow I have bh 7 and then 2 really small panels, bh 8 and tbh 6, so I should have them all up by days end tomorrow. Then Christmas celebrations take over for the next 2 weekends so I doubt I will start on the panelling until after Christmas.

Dec 11 Last 3 bulkheads stood today

I stood the last 3 bulkheads today and apart from a few more screws and a last final (and complete) re check of all measurements I am pretty much done with the standing of the bulkheads. But not before a minor drama (of my own stupidity!!) today. I got bulkhead 7, the last of the full bulkheads up without any drama and in less than 2 hours. Then I got to bulkhead 8 and found that even though it is small and really light it is hard to get into the correct position because it is up in the air high above my stringline for square, and a long way from my centre stringline and the tape measure that runs along the strongback to help me place each bulkhead exactly. Anyway, I used the laser levels to ensure it was in the right position and measured off the last bulkhead to ensure it was square, I made a rule to plumb each panel independent of the others because if you use the last panel as your guide and it is out you end up with 2 panels or more that are out and problems can get progressively worse with that method. But I had no choice because of the position.

But then on the very last bulkhead the fun and games started. The plans call for the top of tbh 6, the very last panel to stand, to be 357mm above DWL. So I duly measured and double checked then stood the legs, but it didn't look quite right. I saw it right away, the moment I got the legs up. Instead of following the slope that the last few bulkheads were on, the last one was heading in the opposite direction as you will see from the photo below. The mistake I made is that I forgot that the hull is upside down. I measure 357mm above my stringline which is at DWL, but of course with the hull upside down this made it 357mm below DWL!! I quickly adjusted the legs and re stood the bulkhead and all now looks as it should.

I re measured and adjusted (nothing more than a millimetre here and there) and screwed the last few screws in, and I took the opportunity to reinforce some of the bracing. I am satisfied that the bulkheads are stood correctly and as plumb and true as I can get them.

The next stage in construction will be to start attaching the full length hull panels to the bulkheads. Then I can say I have a hull!

Because of family Christmas commitments I am not planning on this happening until after Christmas.

Seasons greetings to all.

Time Spent: 50.00 Hours

Total build time so far: 129.00 Hours   Total Elapsed Time: 3 Months 2 weeks

January 2006 logs