So far, July has been a slow, less-than-exciting month. I’ve been using the downtime to make progress on PyratSail’s little 14 foot project boat – and even though it’s like an oven in my garage, it’s shady and tolerable. Actually not that bad once I get workin’. In an effort to spice things up a bit, I’ve attempted some action shots instead of just pics of wood in a boatlike shape. Now it’s me in a RumHead like shape.
Fitting a Plank
Still fitting with a few screws to hold it in place. Lowfat Cottage Cheese – the secret boat builders tool.
Drilling many of the hundreds of holes for the hundreds of screws.
One of the toughest jobs. After the plank is glued and screwed down, the excess epoxy that squishes out has to be scraped and wiped down with acetone before it sets up. Otherwise, it would be near impossible to remove it without damaging the plywood surface. It’s great fun when I sit in glue that has dripped on the floor and get sawdust stuck to my butt.
Routing off the rough edge to prepare for planing the surface to fit the next plank.
More to come as things progress. Will she float, will she sail? Tune in again…
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey harda$$ ye best be using some gloves to handle that acetone as it has serious residual effects like shrinkage and droopage in the most personal spots. Seriously, while indispensable in a boat builders arsenal, acetone(among other powerful solvents) is extremely damaging when absorbed through your skin. Internal organs really don’t like the stuff and youth only counteracts the damage for just so long. It eventually eats through almost any kind of rubber gloves I’ve found but just keep changing ‘em.
Hey the boat looks great. Keep it up…….
Mike
Ain’t boat building fun?! It can be a totally zen time and the creative juices really get to flowing.
Amazing how you can come up with alternative equipment usage. I used ( and ruined ) a vegetable chopper to create my own wood filler aditive for the epoxy joints.
Now…about that acetone…YIKES!
Rubber gloves and respirator masks may be annoying…but they might prolong your sailing time!
Yarrrr!
Thanks for the alert – I know acetone has to be vile since it melts most plastics, but figured I didn’t use it that often – but with all these boats, seems like it gets used a lot. I need to be more careful for sure – wanna sail for a long, long time.
Eric – building this boat truly is a zen thing. I love every minute of it, though sometimes I really wish it was already on water.
Love the veggie chopper idea. I’ve been putting a few drops of mahagony stain in my expoxy with the regular white cabosil. It seems to work o.k. and turns the epoxy the same color as the wood will be when stained. So far, so good.
Adding the wood stain to the epoxy is a great idea.
Curious…are you having to counter sink each screw or do they pull in sufficiantly each time, to avoid having to sand or file the heads down?
Hey Eric – the counter sinking ensures that they are below the surface of the plywood. Then I fill them with expoxy and sand them flush. Somehow, some people put wood plugs in all the holes and finish the outside of the hull bright. There’s no way I have that much ambition. Going to be painted an eggshell or Hatteras white.