May 21, 2011
I worked on shaping the mast; it tapers to a very small area at the top. I attempted to use the band saw but found it very difficult and finally either broke the blade or it came off the wheel. Decided to use the circular saw but had to cut from both sides and it came out pretty rough--I hope I didn't take too much off. I traced the shape for the fore and aft side of the mast on the straight side. I was able to shape a lot of it with a power planer and the belt sander. Feeling rich is having a choice of tools available to do the job. I still need to sand it and round off all the edges, but the basic shape is done.
I put a coat of epoxy on the thwarts and rudder pieces this morning and another coat on this evening. It's the first time I feel like I timed it right and didn't need to sand the pieces before putting on another layer.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Friday, May 20, 2011
More epoxy work
May 20, 2011
I spent the morning doing more work with the epoxy. I turned over the thwarts and sanded them to get them ready for their first coat of epoxy, and then worked on the rudder pieces. Since I had already used a router to round off all the edges, I just needed to sand them to make sure everything was smooth. Once I was done with the sanding, I put on epoxy on the underside of the thwarts and on one side of the rudder.
I also took the clamps off the mast and spar. I had a tough time with the plastic that I had put around the joint. It's the first time I had plastic stick to the epoxy. I had to use a belt sander to get off the extra epoxy and the plastic.
I spent the morning doing more work with the epoxy. I turned over the thwarts and sanded them to get them ready for their first coat of epoxy, and then worked on the rudder pieces. Since I had already used a router to round off all the edges, I just needed to sand them to make sure everything was smooth. Once I was done with the sanding, I put on epoxy on the underside of the thwarts and on one side of the rudder.
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| I sanded all the edges and then went over the whole rudder with fine sandpaper. Then I put on the first coat of epoxy. |
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Assembling Mast and Boom
May 18, 2011
I sanded the thwarts, and carefully sanded over the sea turtle with 220 grit paper. Even with care, I think I sanded the edges of the marquetry a little too much. Then I put another coat of epoxy on them.
Since I was already mixing epoxy, I decided assemble the mast and boom pieces. The kit came with blanks already glued up and scarf joints cut. I just had to mix up some epoxy thickened with the Cell-O-Fill to a mustard or jam consistency, put it on the scarfs and clamp them together. Since the dory is not out of the workshop, I had plenty of space in which to work.
I sanded the thwarts, and carefully sanded over the sea turtle with 220 grit paper. Even with care, I think I sanded the edges of the marquetry a little too much. Then I put another coat of epoxy on them.
Since I was already mixing epoxy, I decided assemble the mast and boom pieces. The kit came with blanks already glued up and scarf joints cut. I just had to mix up some epoxy thickened with the Cell-O-Fill to a mustard or jam consistency, put it on the scarfs and clamp them together. Since the dory is not out of the workshop, I had plenty of space in which to work.
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| Mast and boom blanks are glued together with thickened epoxy. |
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| Close up of the scarf joint glued and clamped together. |
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Putting epoxy on marquetry
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| The sea turtle is coated in epoxy with the rest of the seat. |
I sanded the thwarts with 120 grit sandpaper, and then put a second coat of epoxy on them. I also put the first coat of epoxy on the sea turtle marquetry. The turtle doesn't fit as smoothly as I would like, but it is too late now. Hopefully, after several coats of epoxy and varnish it will be OK.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Sea turtle marquetry
May 16, 2011
While I was in the CLC store on the Friday of the Okoume Fest, one of the things I bought was a sea turtle marquetry inlay. I had intended to just epoxy it to the surface of the stern seat, but learned that I needed to rout out .03" to inlay it into the seat. I was hesitant about doing this but decided to buy it anyway. The inlay included a an acrylic guide cut to the exact shape of the design. Using the guide I used pencil to make a line, and then used a razor knife to scribe around the edge of the guide.
Using a scrap piece of wood, I made several trial runs with the router to get the straight cutting bit set to the proper depth. I needed to take of such a small amount, I went too deep at first. I finally found the right setting, and then routed out the surface close to but not meeting the scribed line. Then I used a chisel to pare away the little bit of material that was left between where I left off with the router and the scribed line. Since my orbital sander was smaller in diameter than the circular marquetry, I used it to carefully smooth out the marks left by the router.
I put epoxy in the circle that I routed out and on the back of the sea turtle. I fit in in place and lined up the wood grain. After covering it with plastic, I put a cement block and some weights on it to hold everything in place.
Since I had already mixed up some epoxy, I decided to put a coat of epoxy on the rest of the boards for the stern seat and on the thwarts.
While I was in the CLC store on the Friday of the Okoume Fest, one of the things I bought was a sea turtle marquetry inlay. I had intended to just epoxy it to the surface of the stern seat, but learned that I needed to rout out .03" to inlay it into the seat. I was hesitant about doing this but decided to buy it anyway. The inlay included a an acrylic guide cut to the exact shape of the design. Using the guide I used pencil to make a line, and then used a razor knife to scribe around the edge of the guide.
Using a scrap piece of wood, I made several trial runs with the router to get the straight cutting bit set to the proper depth. I needed to take of such a small amount, I went too deep at first. I finally found the right setting, and then routed out the surface close to but not meeting the scribed line. Then I used a chisel to pare away the little bit of material that was left between where I left off with the router and the scribed line. Since my orbital sander was smaller in diameter than the circular marquetry, I used it to carefully smooth out the marks left by the router.
I put epoxy in the circle that I routed out and on the back of the sea turtle. I fit in in place and lined up the wood grain. After covering it with plastic, I put a cement block and some weights on it to hold everything in place.
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| The circle is routed out for the sea turtle marquetry. |
Since I had already mixed up some epoxy, I decided to put a coat of epoxy on the rest of the boards for the stern seat and on the thwarts.
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| The thwarts have their first coat of epoxy--a preview of what they will look like varnished. |
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Okoume Fest Play Day
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| The beach at Matapeake park was a great place to launch the boats. |
Okoume Fest play day. We spent the night at the Super 8 in Annapolis and drove across the Bay Bridge to get Matapeake Park a little after 9AM. The morning was gray and misty but we were able to take out several boats. Of course I particularly wanted to see the dory, take some pictures to help me finish mine, and try it out. MaryAnn and I found a set of oars each, and then helped drain the water out of the boat. When I asked why there was a drain, I was told one time when they took it to a show, they were caught in a storm and it had so much water in it that they were not able to get it off the trailer. They had to drill a hole to empty it and then put in a drain plug. We got quite a bit of the water out of the hole and then just tipped in on its side to get the rest. We had nice fun learning to coordinate our rowing, but when there were not many other boats around we were able to move right along. MaryAnn didn't like looking backward, and finally stopped rowing, turned around and just helped us navigate.
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| MaryAnn and Donna on the water. |
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| Pete and Donna work out on the Wherry. |
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| CLC crew rig the mast on the dory. |
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Okoume Fest - Return to the Mother Ship
May 13, 2011
MaryAnn and I, along with friends Pete and Donna, attended the Okoume Fest at Chesapeake Light Craft in Annapolis, MD. I wanted to attend some of the demonstrations and I had some additional things that I needed for the dory. Every time I think I'm all set, I discover something else I need to finish it--this time it cost me $200+ for a bunch of little stuff like oar lock sockets, rope, etc. that all just adds up. The others were good sports and made the day a lot of fun.
I enjoyed seeing the shop and especially and CNC machine that they use to cut out the boat parts. The operator has to be alert because if the high speed router bit gets caught on something it will start a fire "faster than a boy scout on steriods". The plywood is held to the table by a powerful vacuum, which also provides an excellent source of oxygen. It's impressive to see the router travel all over the sheet and even go get its own bits if needs a different one for a particular operation. In just a few minutes it cut a monkey out of a sheet of plywood.
Fiberglass tips: Sometimes knowing small tricks can make a big difference. In this demonstration, I could see how easy it was to get a wrinkle out of the cloth just by pulling on it at a 90 degree angle to the direction of the wrinkle. Instead of trying to use the plastic spreader on the wrinkle, just pull on a dry section of the fiberglass to flatten out the wrinkle and it's easy to use the spreader to move the epoxy into the cloth.
Once you have spread epoxy over the entire piece of fiberglass, go back over it with the scraper to take up any excess. To make this part of the job easier, take a paper cup and cut a slit part way down a side. Then when you scrape off excess epoxy, pull the scraper through the slit and the excess epoxy will drain into the cup--easy to do and a lot less mess.
Varnishing tips: Keep a wet edge by not putting on too much varnish at once. The hotter the air temperature, the less you put on at once. Use a roller get the varnish on the boat, and roll it across the grain of the wood. Then immediately go back over the varnish with a disposable foam brush to "tip" it out along the grain to smooth out the bubbles. Watch for holidays and runs because these must be caught immediately. If it has set up, it's too late and you must resist the urge try to fix it. Pulling the brush across a spot that has set up will just make a bigger mess. To fix the holidays and runs that have set up, let it dry, sand it out and then add another layer of varnish. Evidently there is never a "last coat" of varnish.
In learning about varnishing technique, I was also pleased to hear that there can be a "10 foot" finish and a "20 foot" finish. (Looks good from 10 feet away....Looks good from 20 feet away.) While I want my dory to look nice, I don't think I have the perfectionist need for everything to be flawless. I overheard others refer to a "work boat" finish, although it sounded like settling for something less than you should. When I asked how to get into places on the dory that a roller would not reach, I was advised to just use the foam brush and just get some varnish on it. In looking at the dory that CLC put together, I realized that their fillets were much smoother than mine, which made the finish look great. Hopefully, I can get someway between "work boat" and immaculate finish. My dory is not going to be a museum piece anyway; I want to actually use it. While it has been fun to build, I'm also looking forward to rowing and sailing it.
MaryAnn and I, along with friends Pete and Donna, attended the Okoume Fest at Chesapeake Light Craft in Annapolis, MD. I wanted to attend some of the demonstrations and I had some additional things that I needed for the dory. Every time I think I'm all set, I discover something else I need to finish it--this time it cost me $200+ for a bunch of little stuff like oar lock sockets, rope, etc. that all just adds up. The others were good sports and made the day a lot of fun.
I enjoyed seeing the shop and especially and CNC machine that they use to cut out the boat parts. The operator has to be alert because if the high speed router bit gets caught on something it will start a fire "faster than a boy scout on steriods". The plywood is held to the table by a powerful vacuum, which also provides an excellent source of oxygen. It's impressive to see the router travel all over the sheet and even go get its own bits if needs a different one for a particular operation. In just a few minutes it cut a monkey out of a sheet of plywood.
Fiberglass tips: Sometimes knowing small tricks can make a big difference. In this demonstration, I could see how easy it was to get a wrinkle out of the cloth just by pulling on it at a 90 degree angle to the direction of the wrinkle. Instead of trying to use the plastic spreader on the wrinkle, just pull on a dry section of the fiberglass to flatten out the wrinkle and it's easy to use the spreader to move the epoxy into the cloth.
Once you have spread epoxy over the entire piece of fiberglass, go back over it with the scraper to take up any excess. To make this part of the job easier, take a paper cup and cut a slit part way down a side. Then when you scrape off excess epoxy, pull the scraper through the slit and the excess epoxy will drain into the cup--easy to do and a lot less mess.
Varnishing tips: Keep a wet edge by not putting on too much varnish at once. The hotter the air temperature, the less you put on at once. Use a roller get the varnish on the boat, and roll it across the grain of the wood. Then immediately go back over the varnish with a disposable foam brush to "tip" it out along the grain to smooth out the bubbles. Watch for holidays and runs because these must be caught immediately. If it has set up, it's too late and you must resist the urge try to fix it. Pulling the brush across a spot that has set up will just make a bigger mess. To fix the holidays and runs that have set up, let it dry, sand it out and then add another layer of varnish. Evidently there is never a "last coat" of varnish.
In learning about varnishing technique, I was also pleased to hear that there can be a "10 foot" finish and a "20 foot" finish. (Looks good from 10 feet away....Looks good from 20 feet away.) While I want my dory to look nice, I don't think I have the perfectionist need for everything to be flawless. I overheard others refer to a "work boat" finish, although it sounded like settling for something less than you should. When I asked how to get into places on the dory that a roller would not reach, I was advised to just use the foam brush and just get some varnish on it. In looking at the dory that CLC put together, I realized that their fillets were much smoother than mine, which made the finish look great. Hopefully, I can get someway between "work boat" and immaculate finish. My dory is not going to be a museum piece anyway; I want to actually use it. While it has been fun to build, I'm also looking forward to rowing and sailing it.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Painting the hull
May 9, 2011
I sanded the hull again with 220 grit paper, and then put on the first coat of paint, Interlux Brightsides Polyurethane paint. Today was an exciting day because it was finally sunny, it warmed up to the 60's,there was no rain in the forecast, and I was ready to paint. Unfortunately, once I got started the wind also picked up, and even though I was under the deck, stuff from the trees blew on to the wet paint. This spring has been so slow to warm up that the leaves have started to open on the trees now. I'm definitely not going to reach perfection with this boat. However, I'm impressed with the look of the paint, and can see why other boatbuilders are so obsessed with the finish.
I sanded the hull again with 220 grit paper, and then put on the first coat of paint, Interlux Brightsides Polyurethane paint. Today was an exciting day because it was finally sunny, it warmed up to the 60's,there was no rain in the forecast, and I was ready to paint. Unfortunately, once I got started the wind also picked up, and even though I was under the deck, stuff from the trees blew on to the wet paint. This spring has been so slow to warm up that the leaves have started to open on the trees now. I'm definitely not going to reach perfection with this boat. However, I'm impressed with the look of the paint, and can see why other boatbuilders are so obsessed with the finish.
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| The first coat of paint makes all the work worth the effort. |
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| Hopefully all the stuff that blew off the trees won't be a permanent part of the hull. |
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Sanding primer
May 8, 2011
The Pre-Kote, like the epoxy before it, gives a preview of what the finished dory will look like. And like the epoxy, the next step is to sand it down with 220 grit sandpaper. Sanding the primer is especially discouraging because the takes the primer right off in spots. It is thick and designed to fill in the low spots. Sanding takes it right off the high sports. Fortunately, the manual warned me about this situation because it is very alarming to see when it happens. The primer also gums up the sandpaper, and it took several sheets to do the whole boat. If the weather holds up, hopefully I'll get the first coat of paint on the dory tomorrow. While there is still a lot of sanding ahead, putting the paint on the hull gets me closer the finish and that is a very exciting prospect.
The Pre-Kote, like the epoxy before it, gives a preview of what the finished dory will look like. And like the epoxy, the next step is to sand it down with 220 grit sandpaper. Sanding the primer is especially discouraging because the takes the primer right off in spots. It is thick and designed to fill in the low spots. Sanding takes it right off the high sports. Fortunately, the manual warned me about this situation because it is very alarming to see when it happens. The primer also gums up the sandpaper, and it took several sheets to do the whole boat. If the weather holds up, hopefully I'll get the first coat of paint on the dory tomorrow. While there is still a lot of sanding ahead, putting the paint on the hull gets me closer the finish and that is a very exciting prospect.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Putting primer on the hull
May 6, 2011
On Wednesday Billy and Jeff helped me move the dory outside under the deck so that I could paint it. We didn't go far--just tilted it on edge to get it out the cellar door and then put it back on the sawhorses on the other side of the wall where it's been all winter. I've been waiting for the weather to warm up enough to finally start the painting. Today was exciting because it was sunny and warmed up enough in the afternoon. With the dory upside down, I sanded the whole thing one last time with 220 grit sandpaper, vacuumed it, and taped the rails and transom. Using the small roller, I painted it with the primer, Pre-Kote. With the humidity low and a slight breeze, it seemed to dry almost as soon as I put it on.
On Wednesday Billy and Jeff helped me move the dory outside under the deck so that I could paint it. We didn't go far--just tilted it on edge to get it out the cellar door and then put it back on the sawhorses on the other side of the wall where it's been all winter. I've been waiting for the weather to warm up enough to finally start the painting. Today was exciting because it was sunny and warmed up enough in the afternoon. With the dory upside down, I sanded the whole thing one last time with 220 grit sandpaper, vacuumed it, and taped the rails and transom. Using the small roller, I painted it with the primer, Pre-Kote. With the humidity low and a slight breeze, it seemed to dry almost as soon as I put it on.
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| The hull is sanded and taped in preparation for the primer coat. |
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| The dory finally has a coat of the Pre-Kote primer. |
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