First, some sad news. I lost my best friend a few weeks back. His name is Frosty and he was always in the shop with me help any way he could. Mostly he would lay down and spread the saw dust all round the shop with his tail! Here is a photo of Frosty sitting on the hose for me.
Rest in peace my dear friend....I will miss you.
As I indicated in my last post, I was starting work on the strongback for the main hull and floats. I purchased 7 sheets of cabinet grade, 3/4" birch plywood to cut the parts. The plans did not indicate part layout on the plywood like what is provided for the hull components. So, I spent the time to draw all the parts using a CAD system and played around with laying the parts out on sheets of plywood that would minimize waste. I can provide this layout to anyone who requests it. I also discovered when I was drawing the parts that the longitudinal members that make up the hull strongback were not tall enough. The way they are drawn on the plan, the bow would extend below the strongback if built per the plans. I contacted Ray about this and he stated that you just need to block up the strongback for bow clearance. Not wanting to do this, I just made the parts taller. To minimize plywood waste, they ended up 600mm high.
When cutting the parts, I cut the slots a little smaller and I fitted each part by filing the slot for a snug fit. This made the strongback extremely rigid.
The strongback for the floats was built exactly as the plans with no changes. Again, I filed the slots for a tight fit which is very important for this fixture. I could easily see the strongback moving if the fit was sloppy which would produce a banana shaped float! I also drew center lines on both sides of the formers so I could string a line to make sure all formers are in alignment and straight.
The next step is to start building the hull and floats. I have not had any luck finding foam that is reasonably priced. From what I found, foam will cost $5500 usd whereas plywood would cost $1800 usd. I think I am going to build my boat using plywood unless someone can point me to a foam source that is a little more cost competitive. Next steps, I need to design and build a fixture to cut a scarf joint for joining 1/4" plywood sheets.
Until next time....
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