Quick update

Nothing really happening right now. All the frame members are made. This week I'll try to get started on the transom. It's been busy. Hoping to have the hull flipped by January. So I can start making it look like a sailboat.

Time to assemble the pieces.

It's taken quite a bit of time, but my enthusiasm isn't waning. I've made quite a few pieces so far, okay so 20. I do have an excuse though because it takes a lot of time to laminate wood and I only get maybe a few hours per week to work on the sailboat. I had to order the screws and nails yesterday, and next week or the week after I'm looking forward to getting the frames put together and hopefully the breasthook, stem, and maybe getting started on the transom or centerboard trunk.

Let's talk about marine adhesives and glues.

First and foremost I'm not an expert. Now, on to the discussion. In boating you have adhesives and you have sealants. The real question is...What's the difference?

From the dictionary

Sealant- any of various liquids, paints, chemicals, or soft substances that may be applied to a surface or circulated through a system of pipes or the like, drying to form a hard, watertight coating.

 

Adhesive-

 

Adjective-

Physics . of or pertaining to the molecular force that exists in the area of contact between unlike bodies and that acts to unite them.

 

–noun - a substance that causes something to adhere.

 

 

So when building a boat there need to be a clear understanding of what needs to be sealed and what needs to be adhered.

 

For example- Decking should be applied with a marine sealant because it is a non-permanent bond. You can rib it up and out. Additionally nearly everything after the main structure is completed should use a marine sealant.

 

Lets move on to adhesives. Adhesives provide a permanent bond. The sheer clamp, frames, and anything structural that you never ever want to come apart should  use an adhesive.

 

This is simple terms, and I still don't quite know exactly what needs what, but I'll figure it out along the way. If in doubt, ask a professional. They like giving advice, but always get a second opinion as well. With that it's time for breakfast. I'm out. Have a good day, and get building away! 

Favorite task

I was doing some more stuff tonight on the sailboat.  Hopefully one of these days the ever growing pile of parts will turn into the glen-l minuet.

I realized something. I'm not really crazy about mixing epoxy, but the one thing that I look forward to doing is getting out my bench plane and smoothing out the laminated boards. It's almost relaxing, and very rewarding. Once I got the rhythm down it became my favorite part of boat building and woodworking.

getting more bits finished and a different technique.

Today I decided to give a different technique a try for cutting out bits of the framing.

Use tracing paper to copy the full size templates.
 It is much easier than trying to handle the huge sheets of full size plans.

Transfer the tracings to large sheets of glossy construction paper with carbon tranfer paper. (i got mine from publix)
   -Cut them out
   -spray glue to lauan
   -cut out to use as template.
   -screw templates to wood
   -cut closely with jigsaw
   -pull out the router
   -do a final trimming with a flush cut router bit (the ones with bearings). *See tip before trying this
   - do a quick finish sanding.

After moving to this technique. I can cut out and finish sand a frame member in about five minutes. And I average about 10-12 minutes per piece if I include the entire process start to finish.

now for some links:
Craftsman Flush trim Router bit
Craftsman 30 piece bit set

The first bit is not exactly what i got. The specs are the same but mine was a few dollars more, about $17. The second link is to what i want for my birthday (if anyone is reading this), wink, wink wifey.

* Tip
  -If you choose to use this method be careful as you move the router to always cut with the grain(or down the grain). I ripped a chunk out by not paying attention. It is possible to cut across the grain at various angles.  I'll use a crude picture as an example. Imagine that the black lines are the grain direction and the arrow is the direction the router is moving. The router is moving down the grain. If the motion was reversed it becomes difficult to control and will tear the piece apart.

Finally some pictures!

Yes, I've finally proved it. I am making parts for a sailboat! these are part of frames 2,3, and 4. The lamination is going to become frame members 5. I should be able to get frame member 1 laminated this weekend too. This kind of puts it into perspective. I've made 10 whole parts. Parts is parts, and eventually i'll need to put them together to make a boat.

every minute counts, and jigsaw blades have different jobs.

I've been spending a lot of time just sanding the pieces to the line because i couldn't cut really close without the worry of the jigsaw blade going off at an angle. Well, i was using the wrong blades. It seems that some are for crossgrain cuts and others are for cutting with the grain. Armed with that info I'm turning a two hour job into a one hour job, and with that I'm nearly out of wood to cut. Just two more side frame members. It seems today I'm a little closer to The Minuet Sailboat

First Part!

Just a little update. I've finished my very first part. The bottom member of frame #4. It turned out to be about as perfect as anyone could expect from a first time boat builder. So needless to say it looks like there will be a Glen-l Minuet in our future! Hopefully this weekend we will be able to build some more.

no more complaining.

My t-88 is finally here. I think I'll have to order from places closer to home from now on.

I went ahead and did a lamination of one of the smaller pieces. Bottom Frame #3. I've never seen anything hold this well. Honestly, the t-88 is definitely overkill. But I'm completely amazed at how little is needed. Tomorrow I'll step through the process of actually doing the laminations. Good night

Cost so far.

As I said before building a boat isn't cheap. As far as boat building goes though. This one isn't very expensive. So it's time to start keeping a running tally of the cost. I'm going to include every nut, bolt, nail, screw, and tool I had to buy to build the Glen-l minuet sailboat.

$112 - Plans including shipping

Lumber
$42.50 - 5pc 1x6 6ft long Douglas-Fir

Composite materials
$54.00 - 1 quart T-88 structural adhesive including shipping with graduated cups

Tools
$4.99 - 5 12oz graduated cups
$1.99 - 12 latex gloves
$1.49 - plastic drop cloth
$4.25 - 5 small brushes
$119 - Small table saw
$49  - Jigsaw
$24.50 - Clamps On sale from harbor freight
$7.42 - 2 sanding belts
___________________________
372.14 total

Remember I'm also acquiring tools that I don't already have. So about half of the cost is for those.

Making vertical grain

Another decision has been made. No one in the area can get vertical grain wood or very very rarely does. So what is a boat builder to do? This boat builder has made the decision to make his own by slicing down horizontal grain Douglas-Fir into strips turning them 90 degrees and laminating them back together.

Now that is a perfectly fine idea, but it does add a problem. Glue. What kind and where should it come from. T-88 structural epoxy came to the rescue. It's FAA approved on a case-by-case basis for repairs to certified aircraft, and is used a lot in wood experimental airplanes. The epoxy is also waterproof, resist oil/gasoline, can fill 1/4" gaps, and dries a nice color that can be varnished. If it's good enough for an airplane it's good enough for a boat. Now I just have to wait for it to get here. There is a little surprise coming up too....

Sailboat templates.

I'm about 1.5hrs into the Glen-l Minuet Sailboat build. So far I have most of the frame templates built. The way i did it was pretty simple. I just used a jigsaw to cut close to the line i made when tracing the plans. Then I used the belt sander to smooth everything out and get right up to the line. then i verified them against the plans. Simple enough. One small task done.

Let's build a Sailboat! Step 1.

I'm using Lauan(Gasp!!). For templates of course.  Now this isn't intended to be 'how too' blog. It's more of a "how I" blog. So, step one is making some templates. we're going to need a pen, a straight edge, some weight(phonebooks), a few pieces of lauan, and carbon tranfer paper(it's like magic).

This process is simple, the carbon paper goes between the lauan and the plans black side down. Then the plans are weighted, tacked or taped down. After the plans are secured the outlines for the frames are traced, and labeled. Then we'll move on to cutting them out.

and yes, I am covered in paint.

Lumber selection

After making some calls I was able to find douglas-fir. Problem is I need vertical grain, and no-one has it. So after spending literally all day searching through piles and piles of douglas fir, southern yellow pine(all crap!!), spruce, spf(by mistake), and mahogany I went to home depot!!!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhh! I know. Not in a boat right? Well guess what, 14% moisture content. Almost as good as it gets for a boat. Problen is they only had 2 pieces of vertical grain. One with a ton of knots, okay so one large knot. So, I bought it and some lauan(for templates).

The internet to the rescue!!!

Well I finally found a place that carries all the lumber i need, East Coast Lumber. Douglas fir, sitka spruce, and southern yellow pine. At least I think they do. Now I hope it is in the right sizes. Because at the moment I need 1"x8" and I can't find them at all in yellow pine. I also don't want to pay to have them re-sawn. In all honesty, this blog is an easy way for me to save a link, and remember why.
 

Lumber woes

As I said building a boat isn't going to be easy. So the first hiccup in the road. Mahogany, Fir, and Sitka Spruce are either not available, horrible quality, or prohibitively exspensive. Right now the most cost effective alternative is southern yellow pine. It's also what is available locally.

Bump in the road.

Or whitecap in the ocean? Building a plywood on frame sailboat in florida seems to have some drawbacks. Mainly finding the right lumber. However, just because the lumberyards don't list their stock online doesn't mean they don't carry it. After some searching and digging I've come to the conclusion that I'll be using douglass fir lumber for the frames. Now I just have to find some locally.

Glen-l 15 Minuet Specs

Length overall (on deck)	15'-0"
Length overall (with bowsprit)	16'-8"
Length waterline	13'-0"
Beam	6'-6"
Depth amidships	3'-6"
Draft (board up)	12"
Draft (board down)	2'-11"
Height (board up to cabin top)	4'-3"
Displacement (at D.W.L.)	1124 lbs.
Hull weight (approx.)	400 lbs.
Centerboard weight (1/2" steel)	120 lbs.
Cabin headroom	37" max.
Cockpit size	6'-5" x 5'-0"
Average passengers	2-4
Sleeping capacity	2

shipped!!!!!

Minuet Sailboat plans have shipped. Oh the excitement!!

Supplier

The great thing about Glen-L marine is the ability to get everything you need for the boat except wood right from them. So for the plywood I'm going with Bateau out of Vero beach, Florida. They are less than half an hour away from me and carry the meranti 1088 and 6566 that i plan on using, in addition to fiberglass, epoxy, and a ton of other stuff. They also have some very nice designs. It actually came down to choosing their 16 foot boat or the minuet.