Sam was very kind in his feedback on my deliverable of his design:
Jeff: That is a fine looking job you have done justice to the design and my hat is off to you for your effort. I am very pleased to see your little boat and my hope is that this is just the first of many boat projects to light up your life.
Ok, back in the boat building business again! It’s been a great summer, but with fall approaching it’s time to get crackin’ on the big boat project. Here’s some pix of the latest progress:
Resawing CVG Doug Fir into 3/8″ strips for the laminated stem, which will use 16 layers. Next pictures show the laminating jig on the shop floor. The last pictures show the actual laminating process. What’s shown here is the first of a three step lamination process of 5 or 6 layers at a time. Each lamination cures for at least 48 hours and subsequent laminations are glued directly to the assembly in progress.
This is the final post for the Polliwog dinghy, a very successful first boat building project. Here are some glam shots from our summer cruise to Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket and Cuttyhunk:
Sea trial video, towing at 20 kts, tracking straight.
Pretty soon I’m going to start cutting [18] 3/8″ layers to laminate the stem for a Gerr Marine 28′ Offshore Skiff so I posted on the WB forum to get some input on the best way to go about doing this. Here’s what others had to say:
User ‘erster’: Its really easy to saw your laminates on your table saw in lieu of your bandsaw unless you have a really good resaw blade and know how to set your guide to keep the stock cutting uniform and true. I also do this with a good kerf grade and then drum sand the large stock or pass the cut facek through a planer to clean the face if you are forced to flip the stock over because of the shallow cut in wide stock material. Sometimes you will get some offset in the face of the wider stock if the blade on your table saw does not cut in one pass. This is quicker unless you have some experience in resawing with a bandsaw.
You can actually do a solid stem cut to shape with steps in the curved sections and bolted together.
Rip your pieces a bit oversized than what you intend on using in the finish stage. I like to use a sampling of my large stock and figure out the best use. For that length of stem, its really easy to bend and glueup. Make your jig using small 2/4 blocking spaced at even measurements and use clamps to glue up. Outside turns create a better layout if you are working by yourself. But remember to figure in the shape and measurement to make up for the thickness of the laminates, reducing the blocking setup to take this into consideration.
User ‘Mrleft8,’ and chief site admin: I’d avoid rollers. They tend to steer your lumber in directions other than straight. Just rig up an outfeed table. Set your fence 3/8″ from the blade and have at it. If you have a decent, sharp blade the cut straight off the saw should be fine for glueing up a laminated stem out of DF. Use a push stick!
He also had an interesting quote in his footer: Never trust a man with a clean workshop….there’s something to ponder.
User ‘James Ledger’: I’d find someone with a planer to even it up nicely afterwards…if I was you.
User ‘Paladin’: also pay attention to the grain and alternate the grain patterns.
User ‘gibetheridge’: You will find that when you remove the stem from the bending form that it straightens out some. I would give it an extra 1/4 inch to compensate for this, although there’s no real way of knowing how much it will straighten. The thinner the laminations the less it will rebound, and I haven’t tried it, but I expect that if you use 6 oz. glass cloth between the 2 or 3 laminations on the inside of the bend they will, since the glass will be in tension, reduce the rebound considerably. That’s a fairly substantial stem, you may have to glue it up in 2 operations. My last stem was for a 21 foot double ended pulling boat, net 1 3/4 by 3 1/4 or so and I had to do it in 2 operations. I sawed the form out of 2 inch and srewed it down, over plastic so it would not be glued to the bench, onto a piece of 3/4 inch plywood, which was the bench top. Be sure to fasten your form solidly. And do saw out your laminations a bit thick and run them through the planer, especially if you’re not using epoxy. I gave it 1/4 inch extra bend and it sprung back to very close to what I wanted when released from the form. I always saw out laminations on the table saw, using a thin kerf blade to save material, often a very thin kerf skilsaw blade, cutting 1/2 way through from each side. If you make a couple of diagonal lines on the end of the work before resawing you will be able to stack them back in order later, which will make it easier to switch every other piece end for end before gluing.
I have contacted Maine Coast Lumber to get a quote for them to do the sawing and Dave Woodman (user CundysHarbor) sent me a PM recommending Dennis Day or Day Hardwoods, S. Portland ME, as being a being good / honest source from boat building lumber; someone who knows what type of wood a boat needs.
My current plan is to see what Maine Coast Lumber comes back and to call Dennis Day. I already have the lumber and the saw, so likely I’ll just try resawing myself, but if someone else can do it better, faster, for reasonable money I’ll let them do it.
I just heard back from Dave Gerr and got the green light on the transom bracket..
The plans specify 2 layers of 5/8″ ply on the transom, he recommends adding a third around the fastening bolts and an extra knee or two. To compensate for the engine being farther back he suggests moving other weights as far as reasonable forward and then adding trim ballast in the bow to compensate.
A few quotes from the article that you might relate to or get you thinking:
“You know I’m just tired of always having to pay someone to keep all this stuff working. We’re not having fun anymore. I need to take a break from boating.”
“…instead of taking a break from boating, maybe some of us need to rethink boating.”
“…even the most diehard mariners are re-evaluating the amount of time and money they invest in boating.”
“Consequently, the market became flooded with used boats being sold by desperate owners at ridiculously low prices. Those who were in a position to buy a new boat couldn’t sell their older boat — at least not at a price they thought was reasonable. ”
“While the boating market seems to have bottomed out and shows signs of stabilizing, it is doubtful it will return to its glory days of prerecession prosperity and low fuel prices any time soon.”
“If we love being out on the water, I believe we need to re-examine the kind of boats we own and how we use them. ”
“A good way to start is to apply zero-based thinking to boat ownership. Begin with a clean sheet of paper and think of what you and your family like most about boating. Then list the features and characteristics of a boat that are absolutely necessary. Forget the “wouldn’t it be nice” stuff. Keep telling yourself, This is a boat, not a house.”
Read, enjoy, and consider the possibilities if you are a current ‘yacht’ owner…
Cheers!
Ok! Finished cutting frame parts.
I’ll wait to start assembling them for a few weeks, until I get back out to to the island workshop. My wife is getting tired of having our basement turned into a makeshift boat shop.
I guess it’s time to finish up the Sam Devlin Polliwog dinghy I’ve been building, also in the basement.
I’ll post more pictures as I restart the building process in the workshop.
