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.

Done!

With cutting out pieces of the frames!!! I still have a little bit of tweaking to do. Making each piece just right but they are all done, finally. It's been like a 8 weeks or so. With them finished we are on to the next parts. Putting them together, making the centerboard trunk and transom. I'm just that much closer to my minuet sailboat!

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.

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

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

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.
 

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.