Stringers

To give the boat more rigidity and strength, stringers will run lengthwise in strategic locations. For the core of the stringers, I am using fir that I milled. By using a wood core, I can glue these in under tension and help keep the hull curve fair. Also wood should help dampen and distributes the slamming loads. These things are suprisingly light and strong. After the cores are installed, they will be laminated in glass. In the higher stress areas, I will be using carbon. Sweet, sexy, expensive, carbon!

(Does this lens make my hand look fat?)

Cutting Out the Forward Frames

These are pics of some of the bulkheads and frames I was able to cut out today. The jigsaw works great for this except for some laser problems. It turns out the laser points 10 degrees off the actual track of the blade (like I've always got a left crosswind) When I'm trying to follow the inked lines exactly, the wayward laser was pretty distracting, so I just taped over the laser and reverted back to old school. I'm sure there is probably an adjustment I could make, but that would take time away from the boat building!

See the bulkhead at the very front? That's the "Crash Bulkhead" I just love having one of those. I guess its so that if I hit something (or more likely, someone) and crack the pointy end, it is water tight and will keep the water from flowing into my boat. I feel my confidence increasing already. Another thing I like about sailboats is that the cockpits are at the back--far, far away from the "Crash Bulkhead" I think that's a really good idea.

Cabin Top Sneak Peek

Today Iworked on the bulkhead that will support the mast and cabin top. In order to determine the shape of the bulkhead, I used temporary stringers to give me the outline of the cabin. The actual cabin top will be built using plywood and the stitch and glue method. It is multi-facted like the hull which will look nice and give added strength and rigidity. I was able to take the measurements, and then add onto the top of the frame (I'm getting pretty good at scarf joints) and cut it out. (picture on the right)

So you may be wondering if it's the camera lens that makes the shop look like a disaster with stuff everywhere. It's not. For some reason, when I have time to work in the shop, I go straight for the boat. I just have a hard time spending precious time cleaning when I could be building. But it's getting pretty bad. I'm starting to lose tools under debri. I kind of liked the whole mad scientist/ evil genius thing at first but it's probably time to clean it all up and make it a ship shape ship building operation. Maybe next week..now where's my tape measure...

Fitting the Forward Bulkheads

I continue on with the internal framing. To get the shape of the bulkheads, I first make a template. By using cardboard strips and a glue gun, I can make a very accurate pattern in a short time. I then trace the pattern onto the plywood. I then use my circular saw to cut out the basic shape, and then my jigsaw to do any radius work. I now need to fix my circular saw as I somehow managed to run across my own power cord (It was pretty spectacular with a brilliant flash and pretty sparks) I will get the basics shapes fitted and then work on doing the cutout work.