Lots of work... no progress

I'll start with the success before what went wrong.  I was able to follow the instructions for cutting down the keel nose block.  It went well and looks good.

I ran into problems when I tried to shape the long piece of milled lumber that goes on the back bottom of the keel.  I just couldn't get it milled square and then when I tried to cut the taper in it I found a way to mess that up.  I'll try again tomorrow.  Did coat the inside of all the keel parts with epoxy.  I'm altering the hours that I've worked vs the hours that I have yet to go to reflect the problems I had today.

Hours this session: 5
Hours total: 20
Hours remaining: 382 (3 hours worked 2 hours wasted)

Short Pause

Sorry, no progress for the last few days.  FL is in the middle of summer again and it's been way too hot to work in the garage.

Keel Nose Block Milling

First was to mill the large block down to the dimensions that are required before shaping begins.  That process went easy on the table saw.

The problem started with the first mounting notch.  Classic case of measuring from the wrong side of the table saw blade!  First notch was way too deep laterally.  I thought I'd have to start all over again.  Fortunately, all I had to do was remove the stencils and turn them over.  The cut didn't go deep enough that I couldn't use the same block of wood from the other side.

After getting the notches cut and the general shape milled on the table saw I continued shaping with a jack plane and then a low angle block plane.

Finally finished with a foam sanding block.  It turned out very nice if I do say so myself.

Hours this session: 2
Hours total: 15
Hours remaining: 385

Keel Nose Block Lamination

I didn't have a piece of wood the correct size to mill the nose block.  So just like they do in the manual I glued a couple of pieces of scrap together.  These were a couple of 18" long 2X6s that I scavenged from the palate that the plywood came on.  Here it is drying.

Hours this session: 1
Hours total: 13
Hours remaining: 387

Sanding the C/B trunk

Ok, no picts on this one because it's hard to tell what you're looking at.  I opened up my new craftsman (have to give my wife attribution here since this was anniversary gift) belt-sander and gave it a work out.  It all went pretty easy except for the sloping portion of the front of the C/B trunk.  I had a great deal of trouble getting this square.  I was getting worried that I was changing the profile as I was sanding.  After I did get it square I pulled out the tape measure and assured myself that if I did change the profile, it was by no more than 1/8" (whew!).

Now that I've used the MAS epoxies for both fiberglassing and gluing/filling I want to put in a plug.  On the other builds I've done I've used either West or generic "Marine" epoxy.  I find the MAS system to be far superior.  Easier in every phase of the epoxy process.  It's very thin so it wets out the fiberglass VERY easily.  It's easy to thicken to any desired consistency and, best of all, virtually NO epoxy smell.  My wife's biggest objection to me building is new boat in our connected garage was the epoxy smell would get on me and into the house.  She hasn't complained one since I've started using the MAS epoxy, 'nuf said!

Hours this session: 1
Hours total: 12
Hours remaining: 388

C/B Trunk Framing Part 2

Now that the framing has dried on one side of the trunk I'll go ahead and glue the other side in place.  After a trial fit I went ahead as per the manual.  

First I mixed up some un-thickened epoxy and coated the exposed framing.  Then I thickened the remaining and brushed it on the mating parts of the framing.  Dropped the 2nd side in place and clamped.

It aligned perfectly.  A tribute to CLC's laser cutting.  I'll have some sanding and clean up but I'm happy with the result.

Hours this session: 1
Hours total: 11
Hours remaining: 389

C/B Trunk Framing

Finished milling the C/B framing pieces.  Had some issues with the band saw my wife bought me for my birthday.  The problem wasn't with the saw.  It needed adjusting and I assumed it would be close to correctly adjusted right out of the box.  Wrong.  Got some pretty ugly cuts but nothing that can't be sanded out.  Did I tell you I HATE sanding.  The glue up went great.  I've taken extra shots to show off.

I really do have quite a few clamps... The battery was because I didn't think ahead about how I was going to get the clamps on that piece of framing (doh! number 2).

Using the chip brush I was able to get a nice even distribution of thickened epoxy on the framing.

Squeeze out clean up was easy just ran an epoxy spreader down all the seams both inside and out.

Nice clean glue job!

Hours this session: 2
Hours total: 10
Hours remaining: 390

C/B Trunk Trimming and Milling

I let the epoxy set up overnight.  Next day I removed the peel-ply and it worked even better than advertised.  A perfect surface that doesn't require any more working!  Good stuff.  Wished I had used it on the other two boats I build before the PocketShip.

Above is the centerboard trunk pieces all cleaned up with the peel-ply and excess fiberglass removed.

So now I need the dimensional for the trunk framing.  In the spirit of being green, cheap, conservative and slightly lazy I noticed that the palate that the plywood came on had some nice pieces of lumber.  So I got my daughters boyfriend to tear it down for me.  I milled down one of the 2X4 to the required sizes.  They turned out pretty nice.

Hours this session: 4
Hours total: 8
Hours remaining: 392

Trunk Interior Fiberglassing

This went pretty easy.  Rolled out and cut the fiberglass and the peel-ply.  I'm using peel-ply for as much of this build as possible.  If I've learned anything from my prior two builds it that I HATE sanding.  It's probably my own fault.  I'm a little anal about getting everything smooth so I end up sanding spaces that I would probably never see again.  The peel-ply works well for anything that doesn't have curves.  I was also able to get the peel-ply locally for a good price.

Here the fiberglass is in position over the centerboard trunk.  The pile of material at the close end is the peel-ply.  The process is to use about 15% extra epoxy to wet out the fiberglass.  Then lay the peel-ply over it and squeegee it out until there is no air trapped and the peel ply is completely wet out.  This will fill the weave of the fiberglass and eliminate the need to sand (hopefully).

Here is the final wetted out fiberglass and peel-ply.

Hours this session: 2
Hours total: 4
Hours remaining: 396

First Cuts

Do to family commitments I wasn't able to do anything on the build during the weekend.  I wish I could have as the weather here was beautiful.  Living in orlando all building must be done in the winter.  I'd never be able to take my un-air conditioned garage in the summer.  I was able to get in a couple of hours this evening.

I unpacked the epoxy and installed the metered pumps.  The tubes on the pumps come a little (about 1") too long and need to be snipped.

The first step in the manual is to build the centerboard trunk.  So that's what I'm cutting out first.  Originally I started by cutting the outside of the tabs and leaving them on the piece to be trimmed off later.  Turns out this is a time consuming way of releasing the pieces.  The trimming should be carefully done to the edge of the piece.  That way there's not much to go back and clean up.

Note above that I said "carefully".  My first (of I'm sure many) PocketShip flubs.  Wasn't watching closely enough while trimming one of the tabs.  Luckily this is only about 1/2" long and in an area that will be rounded out later anyway.  I'll fill it with putty and it won't be an issue.  Doh!

The manual instructs to fiberglass the inside of the C/B trunk.  These are the side that I choose to be the insides.

The plywood on one of the C/B trunks has a small void in it.  I've placed this on the inside of the trunk and will fill it with some putty before I fiberglass it.  BTW when I mention putty I mean epoxy thickened with wood flour and silica.

I'll probably be able to get to do some of the epoxy/fiberglass work tomorrow night.

Hours this session: 2
Hours total: 2
Hours remaining: 398

Epoxy Arrives - Plywood Unboxed

The epoxy products arrived today and I opened the plywood box.  I did a count of the plywood and everything appears to be there.  In the picture you can see the particle board building cradle, the sapelle transom and bow hook.  You'll also notice the stringers that I purchased separately from, but shipped with the kit.  Lots of epoxy and fillers.  Looks like I've got everything to get started this weekend.

After my wife looked at the kit she said I was "ripped off"!  I don't share her sentiment.  The kit is top notch.

Plywood has arrived

The UPS Freight truck arrived around 1:00 today.  It was a little tough getting the palate off the truck but between the driver and I we were able to do it.  Only waiting on the glue products.  CLC said that they "drop ship" separately from the rest of the order.  I'll post some picts as I break down the palate.

Preliminaries

I should probably tell you a little bit about myself and my setup.

By day I'm a 52 yo. software engineer for Pentaho an open source business intelligence company.  I'm retired from the US air force and living in Orlando FL.  I own a West Wight Potter 19 sailboat but want to down size (down size from 19'?!).  That's why I'm building the PocketShip.

I've already built two small stitch and glue sailboats that I eventually sold.  I'm looking to build the PocketShip for my personal use and eventually sell the WWP19.

In preparation for this build I cleaned out my 2 car garage and installed new lighting (it's amazing how bad a paint job can look when you do it in semi-darkness).  I also bought or upgraded several of my power tools.

I've mounted most of my power tools on their own base that I clamp to a workmate table when I need to use them.

About a year ago I purchased the PocketShip manual so that I would have a good heads up on what I would be up against.  I also needed about a year to get the wife to agree to another build in the garage!

The manual was one of the selling points on my purchase of the kit.  I figured if they did half as good a job on the kit as they did the manual that I couldn't go wrong.

My plan is to document as much as possible without getting in the way of the build (or getting too much epoxy on my camera).  If there is anything that someone wants documented in detail please let me know and I'll do my best to oblige.

Friday (8 Oct 2010)

I ordered the PocketShip kit about 3 weeks ago from Chesapeake Light Craft.  Today the first box arrived. It contained the 6 oz fiberglass, fiberglass tape, manual, drawings.  Also included in the first part of the shipment was the filleting tools and angle gauge that I ordered separately from the kit.

The rest of the kit should be (according to ups freight) arriving tomorrow (Monday, 11 Oct 2010) between 10am and 5pm