2005 building logs

3rd November 2005 Still gluing the panels

After about 2 weekends of work doing about 5 hours each day, I have nearly completed all of the 16mm panels which comprises all the full length hull panels (and some furniture panels). I have cut out some of them (in the last picture from October you can see some of the full length hull panels stacked along the back wall on the floor, behind the last of the 16mm panels waiting to be glued together) and will cut the rest next week as this weekend is Schionning's annual muster and it is a good opportunity to actually sail on a cat for the first time! That's right, I have never actually been on a cat that wasn't tied to a marina! I hope I like it!!

Another tip is to keep the reasonably sized off cuts of duflex if you have the storage space as there could be times when you will fabricate parts with them, you can always cut them up and throw them away later.

The next batch of panels are the bulkheads, the method of gluing is the same but the panels are 25mm.

I found that liquid citrus cleaner is great for washing sticky glue off your hands. It is better than using acetone as that just spreads the stickiness around. Citrus really works and you smell like oranges!

Click here to see the page on mixing glues.

7th November 2005 Enlightened

The Schionning Muster was fantastic!! We took a leap of faith when deciding to build a cat before ever having sailed on one. We had made our decision based solely on what it felt like to move around on one at a marina, in other words, in the same way someone would choose a house by visiting a display home to "imagine" what it would be like to live in. We figure that only about 10% of our time will be spent in actual sailing so in effect we are choosing a house more than a boat. Anyway, having inspected about 5 different boats at the marina and sailed on 3 different boats of varying lengths, we now know that we have made the right choice. We loved it and can't thank Schionning's and the owners of the boats that attended enough for the invaluable contribution they make to those that are contemplating building or have just started. And the motivation it provided to finish is incredible. We also got some great ideas of what works on other boats that we may apply to ours.

On Friday, we went on a leisurely sail on a 1030 Wilderness called Lots of Knots (thank you Goetz) with another 14 other people, so that is over a tonne (1000 kg's) of human cargo, and we didn't at any stage feel cramped for room. But what is more astonishing is that we hit 10 knots in 12-15 knots of breeze and consistently sailed at 8 knots with that many people on board and it wasn't being pushed to get that speed, in fact if not for the onboard gauges and my hand held gps, I wouldn't have believed we were doing that speed. To give you an idea of what it felt like to us, have you ever got into a new car for the first time (one more powerful) and glanced at the speedometer and thought, wow it doesn't seem like we are going that fast. That is what it was like. There was a moment when Jo and I turned to each other at exactly the same time (it would be spooky but we do it all the time) and both said "we have made the right choice".

On Saturday morning I crewed on "Le Tigre" a 1430 Cosmos. Now that is a fast cat. I say crew but I was more like ballast as I didn't actually do anything but feel exhilarated for the 2 hours I was out on her, thanks Chris. No-one quite knew where the marks were so "racing" is a very loose term here. In the afternoon I crewed on "Lawrence 11" an 11mt Wilderness. Thanks to the owner Neville and to Bruce the skipper on the day. He taught me heaps. My job was on starboard mainsheet and traveller. I loved being a part of the action and learnt heaps.

They were all excellent cats and all easily made 10-12 knots with over 10 people on board. I have a benchmark that I would like to exceed on my boat. If I do we will have a fantastic boat and home. Thanks again to all the owners, we also got to see "Hooks" (our favourite) and "Cats Chorus" both Cosmos 1320's, all the boats were extremely well finished and anyone would be proud to own any of them.

There is now only one test left and that is an ocean sail in heavyish weather, but I live by the motto, "what others can do, we can do".

I glued together the first of the 25mm bulkhead panels today. It takes a little longer. The surface area to coat with glue is about 50% more so it stands to reason. But I found that on my own, and given the humidity, the thickened mix was getting tacky towards the end of 2 edges (1 panel) so I could only just coat 1 panel at a time before placing it and screwing it down, whereas on the 16mm I could do 2 easily. I will finish the 25mm tomorrow before starting on the 19mm bulkheads. (4 of the bulkheads span the entire boat and need to be stronger, the rest of the bulkheads only support one hull and are 19mm).

8th November 2005 A break from gluing panels

Today rather than gluing panels again I spent the day cutting hull panels out of the 3 layers of sheets attached to the strongback so as to free up some space in the warehouse. We have a small space to both build and run a small importing/wholesaling business from and the 3 double pallets of panels took up 6 pallet spaces that would otherwise be able to store stock. I am now down to 1 double pallet of panels left after I glue the last of the 25mm sheets (6 left standing against the wall). I can then start work on the last pallet. So in order to have things stacked against the wall in the order I will need them, I decided I would spend the day cutting out the full length hull panels. I had been cutting out the top sheet each day before gluing the next one (between 6-10 panels) leaving the first 2 layers I have glued left on the strongback as a table to work on. They are strong enough to walk over which is better than walking around the whole thing all day. But as I need to stack all the panels against the one wall and I am now on to the bulkheads it made no sense for them to be behind the as yet uncut hull panels that would be needed after the bulkheads. So nearly the whole day was spent cutting. It was a stinking hot humid day and I think this idea was a mistake. The heat caused lots of perspiring and the cutting caused lots of tiny airborne fibreglass splinters wanting to find the most irritating place to rest. My forearms. You know the tender, soft, sensitive underside of your arms, man did it itch!! And foolishly I scratched. Try to resist that. I think the idea of cutting a few panels and moving on to another job was a better idea. Less irritating anyway. When I got home I had a long shower and rubbed some vitamin e cream (moisturiser) in which gave some relief, but found that "stingoes" really worked. My scratching did cause a minor rash for the night but it went quickly. I may try to wear some kind of sleeve protector on hot days, as it is too hot to wear overalls even the thin white disposable type. I even considered "gladwrapping" my forearms next time but dismissed the idea as silly, but then the itching is annoying so I may yet try it! I promise to post a pic if I do.

They say problems come in 3's, well I had 3 things go wrong today (besides the itching!) I found a z joint that hadn't quite met so I have a gap the size of a match head down a 750mm section. It is the last part of the rounded window on bulkhead 6 that holds the cabin top and forms the wall between cockpit and saloon. I don't think it is a big problem and will worry about it when I come to that part of the build but I think injecting some resin into the joint until it is full and maybe glassing the section will be more than adequate. It feels like it is still a good bond but must be compromised by the balsa not being bonded.

When I was cutting the hull panels out I didn't have quite enough clearance between the sheet I was cutting and the one beneath (I have been chocking up the sheet I am cutting with lengths of 75mmx50mm or as we used to call them 4 by 2) but I mistakenly had it laying on its thin profile and I cut a 2" gash into the sheet below, it can easily be filled and taped over but my carelessness just added another job to do later. The lesson is be careful, don't rush, don't be lazy, check and double check - its faster.

Finally the other problem I had was a small 250mm section on one of the very bottom panels broke today as I was manhandling it against the wall. I can only assume that after being cut out of the sheet, a section as small as this didn't on its own have the strength to support the load I must have put it under because other panels in the same joint (glued strip) are very strong so it couldn't have been a bad joint, although the panel was near the edge of the sheet so I may have been running low on glue and skimped although I don't recall that happening. The lesson here is make sure all joints are butted up well and well glued.

I removed as much of the dry glue as I could and re glued it with lashings of glue. As this is part of the under hull it will also receive a layer of glass anyway so again I am not concerned.

12th November 2005 Last of the 25mm panels glued

I have now glued the last of the 25mm bulkhead panels, so today I will cut the bulkheads out and start on the 19mm bulkhead (the last pallet). You can see in the picture the bulkheads with the doorways still in place. I had to use clamps on the end of a few joins just to be sure that the panels were down as tight as they could be.

14th November 2005 Still on the panels!

First up today I cut out the last of the bulkheads and then I glued the last of the 19mm panels (the bridgedeck) well all except 4 which I will do tomorrow, leaving only the 13mm outside furniture panels still to be glued. We will glue those when we need to start fitting the furniture. I should probably glue them now while I have the room but I am a bit impatient to get the shape of a boat happening as soon as I can. There will still be room between the hulls when they are joined to glue panels together. I only worked on the boat for about 3 hours today and I spent about half an hour trying to work out what was going on with the bridgedeck.

Setting out the bridgedeck for gluing was a little tricky, as the panels didn't seem to make the correct shapes that the plan indicated they would. I realised after some head scratching that the panels were stacked on the pallet out of order, so I rearranged them and they now make the panels they should. I shouldn't blame ATL, perhaps I took them off the pallet in the wrong order.... although I can't see how, but if this is the biggest problem I face I will be well pleased! The lesson today was that the plans help amateurs like me sort out small issues such as that and not to panic.

15th November 2005 All panels glued (for now!)

I ducked in for a quick 2 hours to glue the last few panels and tidy up a bit so that when I next come in I just have to stand the huge bridgedeck panels against the wall before the next stage in the process.

Next job is to start standing the bulkheads ready for attaching hull panels. Then I am building a boat and not just gluing a stack of panels together! The first job will be to make the legs.

Our aim is to have the first hull bulkheads stood by Christmas so that we can start the hull panels in January. Brett has offered to help me again and will be available in early January hence the timetable. I have promised myself that I will try to work at my own pace but having Brett will be worth pushing myself on this occasion. I don't think it will be too hard to have them all stood in 4 weekends. I am able to put in a few hours on most days due to flexible work, but I will need some help for the next stages and Jo's brother-in-law Graeme (an engineer so that should be a bonus in getting the bulkheads straight and true) is going to help, and also going to bring a theodolite (dumpy level). That means only being able to work weekends for the next few weeks (maybe I will be gluing some 13mm panels now after all!). Graeme also thinks he can get me about 8 empty 44 gallon drums, which will be needed to make a scaffold to reach the top (bottom upside down) of the hulls when the bulkheads are stood as they are about 6 feet high and will probably stand about 3 feet off the ground (enough room to crawl under and inside to tape the inside of the hulls before turning).

That's what the bulkheads should look like stood ready for the hull panels.

19th November 2005 Setting out the plot sheets

Today I set out the full size plot sheets so as to mark the CL (centre line), DWL (design waterline) and 1200 WL (waterline + 1200 mm) onto the bulkheads in preparation for standing the bulkheads on the strongback.

Before marking the lines on each bulkhead I had to first remove all the tab overhangs I left when jigsawing the panels out of the sheets. When cutting out the panels I worked on the theory that it is easier to take the excess off than to add filler later so I was conservative with my cutting, erring on the side of safety. It is relatively easy to re jigsaw the tab if too much is left on, but usually it is just a case of running a rasp (course file) over the tab until the panel is straight (as if no tab was ever there). To finish you can use sandpaper on a long block (get used to that there will be a lot of that later!!).

I layed out the plot sheets the night before and put weights (a drill, a hammer, etc) on each corner overnight to ensure the sheets didn't roll up as they come to you rolled up like wallpaper.

I then layed them out on the 3mm chipboard that came as a protector sheet on top of each pallet of Duflex (it pays to never throw anything away, you never know when it will come in handy) and sticky taped them in position, using a small tab of tape first until it is all correctly aligned then I fully taped each join and also taped the edges so that nothing could catch on them and tear. I will be laying heavy panels on and off so it needs to be robust. To line up the sheets you have arrows printed. You can cut the edge of one sheet to make it easier to line up but you can see the arrow through the sheet easily enough. When all sheets are in place you have a full size plot of each panel you have cut out, now it is just a matter of placing each bulkhead on the sheet and marking in the lines (CL, DWL, WL1200). I placed the 3mm chipboard with plots attached onto Duflex sheets (13mm furniture that I will glue later) as a sturdier base.

You can scribe a mark from the sheet to the panel and then finish the mark across the edge using a square, then around onto the face on each side. As you mark each bulkhead from the plot sheet you can mark its twin (other hull) using the one you have just marked as a stencil rather than setting it out on the plot sheet (I found it easier) and you can clamp them together to make this job easier, but be careful with the first marks as any mistake on the original will also go across to the twin (I checked each one by placing the twin on the plot sheet and doing a quick check that the marks line up). As well as the line marks (CL, DWL, WL1200) I also marked the number of each bulkhead (starting with 0), an arrow toward the in board of the hull and also the word "front" (I know, I should have marked forward, or even fo'ard if I was being nautical!) on the forward face of each panel so that setting out is easier. Be careful when sliding panels on and off because corners can tear the sheets. You can repair by taping over the tear.

Once all the bulkheads are marked (I marked 8 today, there are 18 bulkheads, 9 in each hull plus the mdf temporary bulkheads but they are already marked when they are made) they will be ready to be stood. I will need to make legs for them to stand on, which I plan to make out of the 19mm x 70mm pine but to make them strong enough to hold the bulkheads without moving I plan to make "T" joins in them (2 lengths for each leg).

 

21th November 2005 Marking all the bulkheads

Today I marked all but 2 of the bulkheads I didnt finish on Saturday, I just have bulkhead 5 for each hull to go. I filed down the tabs as I went and found that if you hold the file down with just one hand with leather gardening gloves on you can take off the high spots and you will feel when the file starts to file past level, remember it is only balsa and 2 one millimetre layers of fibreglass so it comes off fairly easily. When the file starts to work on the whole length of your stroke you are done.

I didn't get any work done yesterday, I went for a sail on a small mono on Lake Macquarie, I enjoyed it but who likes heeling! Give me level sailing any day.

27th November 2005 Making legs for standing bulkheads

I took my time this weekend and didn't get too much done despite spending about 4 hours each day. I have made legs for standing the bulkheads out of the pine and mdf used to clamp the panels during gluing but they are not sturdy enough on their own so I have screwed 2 together in a T joint which gives them enough rigidity to stand, and used parts of the pallets that the sheets were delivered on as the feet that will span the strongback. I have more time than money so I salvage any materials I can and re use rather than buy more purpose ready material. It took a while to make these legs (they are just screwed together so I can take them apart and re use them for any other purpose that might arise) but it is far cheaper than buying timber I didnt already have nor would need again. They are probably over built but that's ok.

I will need enough height to get inside the hull to fillet so the legs are all exactly the same size and the DWL will all be at exactly 2 meters above the strongback. With the legs all the same length it is just a matter of screwing the legs in place on each bulkhead with the tops level with the DWL mark and the centre lines aligned from the bulkhead to the legs. When ready to stand the legs will meet with the centre lines marked with a stringline on the strongback which in turn will mean that the tops of the bulkheads (bottom of the hull) will line up with the stringlines set at 2 meters. You can see in the picture that there are 3 stringlines in place at 2 meters, one for centre and one to line up each side of the bulkheads. There will also be stringlines at WL1200 so that in all there are 6 stringlines to align the bulkheads, 2 centre lines top and bottom, 1 each side of hull at DWL and 1 each side of hull at WL1200, all of the bulkheads have these marks. I have clamped levels to the stringline stands to ensure it is all level. The big panel in the background of the picture of the level is part of the bridgedeck.

Time Spent 54.00 Hours

Total build time so far: 77.00 Hours    Total Elapsed Time: 2 months

December logs