Two days..two posts

Two posts in two days....I need more vacation.  Amazing what you can done when you get that pesky work thing out of the way.  This picture below shows all the forms stacked up.  Most of them are numbered in some way with the station position, but I couldn't find anything on one or two.  You can see a bit of the CNC cut ladder as well.

The pieces are even engraved with their role in the process.  See below.  Very nice (even if I'm not sure what this particular piece is for...).  Back to the photos from Doug.  I think this stabilizes the ladder, but I'm not sure if it goes between the rails or between the form pieces. Most of the pictures have a different 2x4-based form that is not CNC, so I may have to either email Doug or see where they best fit.

I put foam padding around the perimeter of where I'll be going round-and-round.  Need more.  Well worth the $50 or so both on the knees and the dropped tools.

Here are all the form pieces laid up on the ladder pieces.  There is a nice center line engraved on them as well, though you can't see them in the photos (they might be upside down).

I found these 27" high horses at Home Depot.  I'm feeling modest guilt about not building from scratch, but frankly they fit in with our 'sloppy copy' theme to get this done and learn as much as we can as quick as we can.  They're a bit flimsy, so I made add a little more bracing.

The last thing I did was start on the 18' 2x6.  I used a 12' board end butted to a 6' board.  There is a 3' 2x6 that I attached with some 2 1/2" screws.  I don't see on the plans how far apart these should be and assume the CNC notched frame position will dictate.   The OSB frame pieces don't quite fit into the CNC notches on the ladder, so there will be some modest fitting in the next few days.  They're close.   Off to swim practice.  You can see my new pancake compressor in the background.  I've been pre-drilling all the screws with a compressor-driven high speed drill.  Nice thumb....

Next step is to get the solid wood pieces for the hog and the chines and put some test epoxy pieces together.  I have a couple of electric, radiant heaters in the shop, but I only run them when I'm in there. I've got a couple of different speeds of hardener, so we'll have to do some experimenting.

At last some progress

29 November 2014

At long last some progress.  I need a Thanksgiving vacation every weekend.

 I finally got the shop re-arranged in a way so that I can have both my workbench and the boat up on some horses.

I took off the 5' extension table that I added to my table saw.

Got the lawn mower ready for Winter and cleaned out the garage too.  Only one trip to the dump!  It's amazing what you can get done if you don't have to go to Cambridge and play bioinformatics.  I have ~22' from one side of the shop to the other, so I hope I can fit the boat and still walk around on all four sides.  

I cut loose all the particle board pieces for the frame.  I was expecting plywood for the form, but I guess we're trading the ability to securely fasten for more stability.  I used my jig saw and was happy to learn that the jig pieces came out clean enough to not need any trimming.  Only bent the jigsaw blade ten times or so.

I'll start on the sled tomorrow and will do a few practice glue ups.  Have to confess I don't know what the pieces labelled 'ladder spacers' are actually for -- guess I will be re-reading those plans in the morning.  I bought my first batch of resin and a a couple of hardeners yesterday.  I'll going with West System for no other reason that I have a West Marine about a mile from home and they stock what I'll be needing.  Only got a gallon this time, but was happy to see they sell a 5 gallon container at substantial savings.  It's still damn expensive.  I'm assuming I will shell out >$1000 for resin and hardener.  Seems a lot to pay for plastic.

And so we begin 4 November 2014

Hear ye, hear ye.

The Point Comfort 18 skiff kit arrived yesterday.  I unpacked the box last night.  Already at day 2.  The clock ticks.  All looked well, but I have to say that the box was most unimpressive. Hard to believe there's an 18 foot skiff hiding in there.  I was glad that I had the kit shipped to Woods Hole, where I had access to a fork lift.  All told it was probably a month to six weeks from the time I called Doug Hylan and made the order to the time it showed up.

Ordered a new Lie Neilson block plane.  Treating myself.  The kit itself has more cutting than I expected.  It is like those rubber band airplanes where you have to separate the pieces from the sheet of balsa. Sorta, kinda.  I foresee a lot of clean up of edges after they've been freed with a quick jigsaw cut.

Serious work begins this weekend.  The name 'Sloppy Copy' comes from my 13 year old, who was taught to prepare his homework by quickly making a first draft and then updating.  So we will make every effort to not let perfection get in the way of completion.