Last chine glued up

Today I got the last chine on Liz's boat glued on.  Taking off the clamps on the first one this morning was very satisfying.  I suppose I might have made the chines a little bit thinner and that might have made the whole bending process easier, or I could have steamed them.  It's done now.

chine being glued on.  Note the variety of clamps.

Last chine being glued on.

It was nice to see gunnels and a chine with out any clamps on them.  Tomorrow I can remove all these clamps and get ready to put the bottom on.

Working it all out, letting it happen.

I was not happy with the way the shaping of the chine logs was going so I decided to try a different approach.  This seems to make more sense.
I had to keep the bottom of the boat at 24" to be able to get it out of the remainder of the plywood sheet.  The form kept the shape from wanting to be anywhere under 30".  I guess the angles and the gunwales pushed it all out, no problem for me just take the boat off the form and let the wood do what it wants.  I added a 22" spacer at mid ships, then clamped the chine logs on to the sides at midships too.  This insured the 24" width, while letting the wood reshape itself as it needed.
If I had worked out all of the angles properly on paper first, or even as I went, then I could have left it all on the form and had the boat I set out to build.  The slightly new shape is fine with me, I am sort of free form and like the "organic" evolution of the whole thing.

Off the forms and work table.
Jigs for shaping the chine at the stems that don't stress the
plywood or lightweight cedar stems.

 I made these jigs to shape the stems.  These pull in the chine logs but don't pull out on the cedar stem or the thin plywood.  The c-clamps on the end are helping to twist the chine log in to the curve of the hull.

chine log jig.

If the chine was not beveled I suppose I could have just laminated it in  2 thinner pieces.  Even bevelled it wouldn't be hard to do, but I didn't want to cut these pieces and loose the thickness or mill more chine, so......

The bottom is at 24 inches to the outside of the chine.  This means that the remaining plywood from the one sheet will just fit.
I will give the chines a day to get used to their shape and then I will glue them in.  They will be glued only except at the stems where they will get ring nails also.  I may add ring nails to the inside yet, but as for now, no.

This boat has a specific requirement, as did the last, and that limits it's usefulness and practicality.  Had I not limited the boat to a "One sheet" boat, then I would like to see this shape at about 12 feet overall.  It looks a lot like a little dory.  I am sure it will be just as kranky, but I hope it will do the job.

New mast step is in

the new mast step is varnished and attached.  mechanical fasteners only.

New mast step.

The new one has the holes for belaying pins and the "slot is a constantly decreasing angle rather than the circle of the original.  I think the original was pretty but this should work much better.  It is also 1/2 inch thicker.

Original mast step.

Now to rework the snotter.

Repairs to the skiff

I figured a shape and made the cuts for a new mast partner.

The first replacement mast partner being test fitted.

I decided that it looked to bulky compared to the rest of the boat, so, I cut it down in thickness.  I took it down to 1 inch.  It is still 3/4 inch thicker than the rest of the frames on the boat, but that extra 1/4 inch is the laminated part that will give it some more integrity.  That combined with the open mouth design should allow it to do it's job.  We shall see.

I am also adding 4 holes for belaying pins, 2 for the mast itself and 2 for rigging.  I don't plan on fiberglassing the step this time.

Gunwales attached, time to flip

Now that both gunwales are attached and I have removed the forms, I can flip the boat over and attach the chines.  I need to set up the 3 forms so that the bottom holds it's shape while the chine is bent into place.  Although the plywood work table has it's benefits, this is where a "ladder" type of work frame would help.  When the boat is flipped over the stems will be below the plane of the center form and the plywood work table gets in the way.  With a ladder the stems would just poke thru the space in the middle.  I may make up a ladder real quick from some salvaged palettes that I have.

Gunwales attached and forms removed.
ready for the chine and bottom

I was very surprised by how little the boat weighs at this point.  I hope that it ends up being strong enough.  I received the fiberglass, that I ordered from Duckworks, and the 3 oz. glass is pretty thin.  This boat maybe pushing it for lightweight, but it is fun to see how far we can go.
I still have to mill the chines.  I am thinking that they will be 3/4 x 1 inch finished,  so I will have to cut them about 1/2 inch taller to make up for the loss of wood for the bevel.  The wood, yellow pine, will come from the salvaged packing crate that I have used on 2 other boats and a set of oars.

Liz's boat gets glueing

Today I milled the stock for the gunwales.  This is the second/outer layer of the gunwale and is made of yellow pine.  Not only will the contrasting color be interesting but the pine is tougher than the inner layer of cedar.

gunwales layers being together in place

After these set up I can take them off and work them a bit before I attach them to the sides, which will be much easier than working them in place, but now they will hold their shape while they are off the forms.

gunwales being glued up.  Note that I use many different kinds of clamps

I found a Youtube video where a guy describes building what is basically the same boat.  He calls it a "pirogue", which makes perfect sense, especially because he was from Mississippi and that type of boat is popular in the "cajun south".

His boat was a stitch and glue method where as this one will be a hard external chine. 

The sides are bowing out about an inch on each side, at the bottom at midship.  Because of the way I set up the forms, I can't clamp the sides to the forms on the bottom.  I am not to worried about this as I think that when I turn the boat over and set up the forms again, inverted, it will all work out.  I think the movement is a result of the stress from the bending of the gunwales.

Repair has begun

The repair on the skiff has begun.  It wasn't to difficult to get the broken parts apart.  First I cut the fiberglass on the partner to separate it.  Then I had to drill out the bungs that attached the coaming, remove the screws.  Then I cut into the bedding compound with a razor knife where the coaming attached to the bulkhead.  Then a bit of a tap with a mallet and off it came.

coaming separated and ready for repair.

 Then I had to cut the stub of the mast step that was left, of the coaming.  Not to tough.  It was screwed from behind and glued in place.  It sanded down smooth and the surface should be fine for receiving the new step.

After playing around with ideas for a while I came up with a design for the new step.  It is much like the original, but twice as thick, and will accommodate a few belaying pins.  I drew the shape out on one piece and then glue the two pieces together.

new mast step being laminated.

I think that this time I won't fiberglass the step.  The glass held fine, but it seems pointless if the rest of the wood is going to break.  My hope is that the added thickness, the glue and the grains being set against each other will be enough.