"Tack-Welding" and Aligning Panels; Adding Keel Support

I have not been able to work on the boat much lately--warm weather coming in so more outdoor jobs to do, etc., etc.  Did manage to get the panels that were wired in "tack-welded," CLC's term for putting strips of epoxy glue between the wire stitches. 

Tacking Side Panel to Lower Panel

Jan hasn't been able to come out and get pictures of me working until now.  She got this shot of me gluing the port side panel to the lower panel, so now you know it is actually me building the boat.  Don't know what the black object is--maybe part of the camera strap?

The floor joists have been glued also.  Gaps were left for the stitching wires so they can be removed later.  I am using a caulking-gun cartridge that contains, in this case, Six10 thickened epoxy.  There are two chambers in the cartridge, one for resin and one for hardener.  They are mixed together in what is called a static mixer on the tip of the cartridge.  Six10 is a West System product.  I started with a similar MAS Epoxies product called Gluzilla.  I like Gluzilla a lot, but it's pretty new and the only vendor I can find is CLC--needed the glue in a hurry and CLC is very slow to ship, so ordered Six10 from Jamestown Distributors and got it in three days. It seems to work about as well, but Gluzilla is better at not sagging.  I'll be glad when it is more generally available.

In the manual, modified plastic bags similar to pastry bags are used to apply the thickened epoxy.  I used the cartridges because to use the bags when gluing the floor joists you have to climb in the boat very carefully and balance on the keelson.  Alright for younger folks, but I just don't have the agility to do that without half killing myself.  So I used the cartridge method, even though it is a lot more expensive.

I was having a great deal of trouble trying to get the lower panels to meet up with the side panels at the bow end, i.e., there was a gap of up to 1/4" between the bow and the first bulkhead.  Luckily, this same problem was asked about on the PocketShip Forum at about the same time, and that is where I learned how to fix it.

Clamps Used to Draw Panels Together

The solution, shown above, was to attach cleats above and below the gap and use c-clamps to draw the panels together.  This worked very well--in my case only two clamps were needed on each side.  You can also see several alignment tabs at various spots along the seam that keep the panels aligned vertically, but along with the clamping cleats don't leave me much area for applying the epoxy glue.  My solution will be to allow the glue to set, then remove the alignment tabs, but leave the clamps in place.  Then I can glue the areas that were under the tabs and that should be enough to hold things together when I remove the clamps.

Also, the construction manual doesn't say anything about it, but several pictures show support under the rear end of the keel.  As you may remember I put the building cradle on casters, so I had to do the same for the keel support.  Here's how I solved that problem:

Keel Support

Pictures speak louder than words.

Oh, It's a Boat!

Finally, the project is starting to look like a boat.  "Finally" may end up being the name of the boat by the way, one of the ideas for names submitted by my sister, Melinda.

Jumping ahead a little, here are some shots of my progress so far.

View from Stern to Bow

Floor Joists, Bulkheads, Side Panels, & Transom

The stitching process is very tedious, and turning out to be laborious at times, but still it is enjoyable to see the shape coming together. The first job is to stitch the two lower panels to the Keelson. (I've been calling them "bilge panels," but that is not quite accurate because as you can see they curve upwards quite a bit at the bow.  So I'll start calling them lower panels from now on.)

Lower Panels Stitched to Keelson

 One of the hardest jobs is getting the lower and side panels to conform to the proper curves at the bow.  Here I've poured boiling water on an old towel and allowed it to sit on the lower panels for a while.  The panels were much more cooperative after that.

Hot Towel in Bow

As you can see here I was finally able to make them come together very nicely.  Too bad I didn't get a "before" shot.

Lower Panels Stitched at Bow

The next step is to stitch floor joist 4 to the lower panels and then start stitching in the side panels.  There'll be a better shot of floor 4 later, but you can see it in front of the centerboard trunk.  Floor 4 fits into a slot in the keelson and into a cutout in the trunk.  The stitching wires for floor 4 also go through holes in the building cradle, which holds everything nicely in place.  In this picture I have floor joist 4 and the port side panel stitched in, and the starboard side panel almost done.  It is proving to be a lot harder to get the curves right on both panels, but especially the starboard panel.

Stitching Side Panels

Below is a better shot of floor 4.  You can see a little tab at the bottom center that slots into the keelson, and the notch in the centerboard trunk that the joist fits into.  Later it will also be glued to the trunk.  Apparently this particular joist is an important part of the structure besides serving as a place to attach the floorboards.

Floor Joist #4

Floor Joists 4, 5, and 6

The other floor joists have been stitched in.  The aft three joists are shown above.

I have temporarily stitched the bulkheads in, the forward two of which I hope will help me get the bow curves right.  Below you can see bulkheads 1 and 2 at the bow end of the boat.  You can also see part of floor joist 3.  Between bulkheads 1 and 2 is a storage area at the front of the cuddy.  That's what the two large holes are for--to give access to storage.  The battery will go in there also.  Note to self:  I don't know if it matters, but I have bulkhead 2 in backwards.  The smaller hole should be on the port side.  Good thing it is only in there temporarily.

Bulkheads 1 & 2

The below shot is from the bow end of the boat, toward the stern.  In it you can see part of floor 4, floors 5 and 6, and bulkheads 7 and 8.  The odd-looking shapes in bulkhead 7 will be removed after more of the structure is in place.  This will allow access to a crawlspace under the cockpit, or allow a really tall person to stretch out on the 8-foot-long floor.  You can see a slot in the middle of bulkhead 8.  That is where the cockpit floor will go.  The seats will be on the sides, with a narrow floor between.  This explains part of the shape of the cutouts in bulkhead 7.  The cockpit floor extends from bulkhead 7 to the transom.  If I haven't explained this clearly, you will understand it much better as the boat comes together later on.

Stem to Stern

Well I've got "honey-dos" so I probably won't be doing any more boat work this weekend.