New Boat Build

[Phil Alderson]

Looking great Phil!

I best get working on Madge, at this rate you will have built an entire new boat in the time Ive repaired Madge!

It is a bit eisier getting motivation to go out to a cold garage for a new build than for repairs.

I now have the king post and fwd support strut laminated in place, loads of 45's to spread the loads out into the structure.


I then flipped the boat over and marked out the bottom for cutting out the centerboard case.

I used a laser level to mark the centerline, and also later to get the hull level and the centerboard vertical.

[Will_Lee]

Nice use of laser!

What a machine!

[Phil Alderson]

Nice use of laser!

What a machine!

I think it helped quite a bit, a string line works OK for the centerline but it is easy for it to get knocked and move a bit out of alignment. For leveling the horizontal beam of the laser was also pretty good. I backed it up with a spirit level but I could move quite a bit on the laser and not notice much change on the spirit level.

The centerboard bulkhead was not the right size in the CAD file, Clive had warned me about it, and I had done some measuring on the computer and thaught I hade made a version the correct shape but it did not fit. So using some spare carbon sheet and some cardboard assisted design I cut out some new bulkheads to the right shape.

With a bit of fiddling I got them to fit. I left a couple of mm gap between the bulkhead and the cb case when filleting to make sure that they did not distort the case, and also fitted them with the board in place.

Then it was time to say goodby to the insides and fit the decks

There were a lot of clamps and weights involved, but no photos of the process.

With the decks in and taped on the centerline it was time to start thinking about something else, so I made a quick and dirty jig for the jib track support, which will be the next thing to build, but probably won't get fitted till I have put the outer flair/wing sections in.

[Neil C.]

Looking great Phil. I'm particularly impressed that you're managing to build this boat in a garage in Scotland in January!  Do you have heating? 
I only have one criticism. What's with the sugar-free can of coke in the bin?? Surely it should be full-fat Irn Bru?

[roland_trim]

Looking great Phil. I'm particularly impressed that you're managing to build this boat in a garage in Scotland in January!  Do you have heating? 
I only have one criticism. What's with the sugar-free can of coke in the bin?? Surely it should be Tennents Super?

[Phil Alderson]

Neil,
Nice spot, keep the special for when I finish.
I have put some insulation in the roof of the garage, and also around the doors. I have a couple of heaters but generally it is quite cold. I keep the resin inside till it is needed, then once laminated I make a tent with various bits of insulation and use the fan heater for local heating. I will take a picture next time I am out.

[Phil Alderson]

The Jig for the jib track worked OK it held together while I laminated it up. I have got the track off and it looks reasonable. Not bad for a couple of bits of wood, some parcel tape, filleting wax and some clamps. 


I used just about every clamp in the box to hold the front sections of the hull flairs in place while I glued them in place

The photo above does not really show the whole process, in a garage in Scotland in winter it is slightly more complicated.

First keep the resin warm in a box next to a radiator and only bring it out ready to mix.
For taping the seams on the fwd flairs I wet out where the tapes would go, then put the cloth on. I spread some resin over the cloth then went over it with the hot air gun to reduce the viscosity to help the resin soak into the cloth. Put the peel ply down and went over it again with the hot air gun to get everything wetted out evenly, and top up any dry areas.   



Then make a tent and setup the fan heater to get some local heat.



(I did not turn the boat upside down, but the phone seems to mess the orientation quite a bit.)

[Phil Alderson]

I got started on the rear section of the outer wings by using a circular saw to cut out one layer of carbon and the foam. This will let me fold down the outer edge of the wing.


I then used lots of clamps and weights to hold the wings in place while I glued them in.


It is now a mostly boat shaped object, but there is still a lot to do.

[Phil Alderson]

Just as a bit of a sanity check how much usable jib track length is needed?

I am also fitting the tubes from the king post out to the shroud points. I could just do it with lots of grinding and fitting, but it is tricky and timeconsuming, does anyone have any good tips for marking out the cut lines. I have the inboard ends knotched using a template but the outboards are tricky.

[Clive Everest]

looking great Phil.
Our jib track went to the gunwale.
we had barber haulers lead to the opposite sides that Alex could grab to back the jib when i cocked up a tack.
90% of the time we had the barbers let right off giving a much wider jib sheeting angle than most boats.

Regarding the fitting of the compression strut make sure that the centre line of the strut meets the intersection of the wing panel and the shroud.
we made the top edge flush with the gunwale, slightly lower.
This puts a bending moment on the strut and we broke one the second time we rigged. It did not help that they only had 1.2mm of carbon.

regarding the fit you can measure the angle between the wing and the tube.
from this you can work out how much longer the top edge to the bottom.
If you wrap a piece of paper around the tube the cut line will be a sine wave whose peak to peak is the same as the difference in lengths and whose period is the circumference of the tube.
Plot the sine wave wrap the plot around the tube and cut with a jig saw.
I snap the jig saw blades so the fit in the tube.
You could do a test run on a piece of plastic drain pipe.

Clive

[Phil Alderson]

Chears Clive
I just went for steady cutting by eye as the interface with the front tubes is a compound angle and I did not think I could measure both angles and be sure they were exact enough for cutting. It took a while but I got a decent fit in the end. The compression struts are 2.5mm thick, and I was looking at some U bolts that can straddle the tube so I can mount the shroud points slightly more inboard and reduce the bending moment. The alternative would be mounting the U bolt through and in line with the compression strut which would again reduce the bending moment.

I have also made up the kick bars, I used a circular saw to cut a series of grooves in the foam. I went for the series of grooves as I wanted a larger radius for the bend so the top was not quite so sharp as the ones on A&E.

Then it was bent to shape and clamped before filling and laminating the inside joint. I had an issue with one of them as one of the clamps cam off while it was curing, so I had to grind the filler back out, rebend and reclamp one of the sections.


 
For cutting the back tubes I used some offcuts to setup a jig that held the tube, and had a straight edge at the correct angle, then ran along with a circular saw, and gott a pretty good cut. They are about ready to fillet in place.

[kerrgreg]

Very impressive Phil! Should be making them to order! haha

[Phil Alderson]

Have been too busy building to do much updating, although the cold weather has slowed things down a bit.

I got the ends of the wing bars folded down to make the gunwhales.


I then flipped the boat over to laminate the underside of the gunwhales, and also to tape all the seams where the outer wings join to the hull. I also added some unis on the underside of the wings to take the loads from the shrouds, and also at the back where the rear support arms are to stiffen them up.


I made up some rings for the spinniker pole support, and the front one will also be the forestay support. I have fitted them but did not manage to photograph the process which involved clamping the extended pole into the boat with the end sticking out the door.


I have also been thinking about attaching some fittings, so I made up some carbon in a right angle strip I will then cut in half and glue together to make a T shape. This can be bonded to the deck to make an upright hard point that a block could be tied to.




I have also made the trolly cradle but not yet made it into a trolly, again no photos of that bit.

[roland_trim]

Looking great Phil.

I am always amazed at how useful the garage doors become as mobile supports :-)
This weekend I start digging the foundations for the shipping container to land on at ours. I fear we are about 12 months behind you on our build.

[Phil Alderson]

Good to hear you are thinking of building again, although I expect you will be struggling to keep your workshop cool, rather than warm. 

Starting to get nearer the end of adding big bits to the boat. The bow area is mostly done with the pole supports in, and the spinnaker chute added. I need to add the forestay fitting, and do a bit more shaping to get everything nice and smooth.




At the other end the first part of the gantry mechanism  is going in, it has taken a bit of time to get to this stage, as there are a lot of individual components that needed to be made up and then assembled.


Once I get the support arms on that will be the last of the structural components to be built, and I can start on the hard points for fittings, and then fairing and painting.


On the painting side do people have an idea of how much paint would be needed to spray the hull?