Got picked for a jury. Spent two days in the federal court house this week. The guy was innocent and we ruled that way. We had an great bunch of people on the jury. I was proud to serve with them. Poor dude was really getting hassled by the Feds.
Back to boat building!
Friday, August 15, 2014
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Clamp on...Clamp off!
At 99 cents a piece for clamps, it is nice to know there are a few bargains left in the world. I exchanged a picture of Mr. Jackson make me a proud owner of 20 more.
Getting ready for my lead pour tomorrow I broke down today and bought four bags of lead shot. Turns out lead shot is a great tool for clamping pressure. The bags of shot are underneath the cinder blocks that I will also use for the lead pour. I figured I would do the center board glue up now because it needs lead too along with the keel.
Unfortunately the lead pour may have to be put on hold for how knows how long...jury duty again! Second time in 4 months. I'd rather be smelting lead wearing a respirator, long pants, long sleeves, boots, and eye protection and all in 97 degree heat, but that is just me. but my civic duty calls...again.
**A note to builders who may have stumbled across this blog, when glueing the centerboard I found a flat workbench is really valuable. I used a piece of 1 1/2 pine cut into short sections to raise the centerboard off the bench to give the clamps clearance. I carefully jointed the pine strips so that their dimensions where exactly the same (length and width wise) so not to cause any twist of warpage of the centerboard during the glue up. The glue is curing as I type so if it didn't work you won't be reading this because it will be edited.
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| Clamp collection at work. |
Getting ready for my lead pour tomorrow I broke down today and bought four bags of lead shot. Turns out lead shot is a great tool for clamping pressure. The bags of shot are underneath the cinder blocks that I will also use for the lead pour. I figured I would do the center board glue up now because it needs lead too along with the keel.
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| Keel ready for the lead pour. |
**A note to builders who may have stumbled across this blog, when glueing the centerboard I found a flat workbench is really valuable. I used a piece of 1 1/2 pine cut into short sections to raise the centerboard off the bench to give the clamps clearance. I carefully jointed the pine strips so that their dimensions where exactly the same (length and width wise) so not to cause any twist of warpage of the centerboard during the glue up. The glue is curing as I type so if it didn't work you won't be reading this because it will be edited.
Let the Epoxy Flow!
It is hard to count laminating the wood for the tiller (or as I like to call it, my "yacht club") as the real start to the Pocketship.
Today was the first day of actual boat building since the kit came in. Laid out the blocking of the centerboard trunk and glassed the sides of the trunk that will be facing each other. I made sure that I glassed the inside faces on both sheets of plywood and not the same side on both pieces. Too early to make mistakes like that.
I have read on blogs about centerboard problems and they sound like something I really don't want to contend with. One of the potential problems can be a wood seal problem and water penetrating the wood at the centerboard or the trunk. Either intrusion might lock up the centerboard. To prevent this I have been very careful to get the glass to lay down on the wood surface tightly and "fill the weave" in the additional coats so that when the parts are sanded I don't get down to the cloth weave. We will see how it went in about a year.
Today was the first day of actual boat building since the kit came in. Laid out the blocking of the centerboard trunk and glassed the sides of the trunk that will be facing each other. I made sure that I glassed the inside faces on both sheets of plywood and not the same side on both pieces. Too early to make mistakes like that.
I have read on blogs about centerboard problems and they sound like something I really don't want to contend with. One of the potential problems can be a wood seal problem and water penetrating the wood at the centerboard or the trunk. Either intrusion might lock up the centerboard. To prevent this I have been very careful to get the glass to lay down on the wood surface tightly and "fill the weave" in the additional coats so that when the parts are sanded I don't get down to the cloth weave. We will see how it went in about a year.
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
It's Here!!
My ship has come in at last!
In what has probably been the longest wait since waiting for Christmas day when I was eleven, my Pocketship came in.
I went down to the truck headquarters, or whatever they call the place, and had them load up my truck there. It was the right decision instead of having them come to my house. For one, the truck would have never gotten down the driveway and two, they had a forklift on the premises. The Tundra squatted a bit with the 1,000 pound shipping weight of the kit but seemed to drive a bit smoother. Smoother but slower.
I didn't have any help unloading the truck when I got home so I opened and unloaded the cargo piece by piece. It really worked out well because I was able to inventory everything as I unloaded.
First impression of the kit was a little disappointment. I looked at the first CNCed sheet of plywood that was on top. The wood looked kind of cheap and was not in the best of shape. It was thin and flimsy. I looked closer at the sheet and noticed the shape of a tiller, I felt a great deal of relief. This was a sheet of patterns. When I got down to the high dollar plywood boat pieces it was obvious this was quality stuff! The CNC cut plywood is amazing. I think my kit is one the first cut on the new machine that CLC just bought. This is a fascinating link to an article on their business and history of cutting out kits- 17 Years of CNC Machines-A Look Back
In my kit, I opted for milled timber. I did this not because I don't have the know how or tools to mill my own lumber but because in my area quality lumber is hard to come by. I got the milled stuff because sometimes rough lumber does not always yield what you need due to imperfections in the wood not visible from the unmilled stock. If CLC mills it they will find the bad spots and discard the stuff that won't work. My plan worked perfectly. The milled lumber is beautiful, square and close to length and straight grain in every board. I can't get this quality or even all these species of wood locally. This option cost a few extra $$ but has saved me hours lumberyard scrounging and a trip or two to San Antonio or Houston.
Time to get organized and start on the centerboard trunk.
In what has probably been the longest wait since waiting for Christmas day when I was eleven, my Pocketship came in.
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| Loaded Tundra had no problems. |
I went down to the truck headquarters, or whatever they call the place, and had them load up my truck there. It was the right decision instead of having them come to my house. For one, the truck would have never gotten down the driveway and two, they had a forklift on the premises. The Tundra squatted a bit with the 1,000 pound shipping weight of the kit but seemed to drive a bit smoother. Smoother but slower.
I didn't have any help unloading the truck when I got home so I opened and unloaded the cargo piece by piece. It really worked out well because I was able to inventory everything as I unloaded.
First impression of the kit was a little disappointment. I looked at the first CNCed sheet of plywood that was on top. The wood looked kind of cheap and was not in the best of shape. It was thin and flimsy. I looked closer at the sheet and noticed the shape of a tiller, I felt a great deal of relief. This was a sheet of patterns. When I got down to the high dollar plywood boat pieces it was obvious this was quality stuff! The CNC cut plywood is amazing. I think my kit is one the first cut on the new machine that CLC just bought. This is a fascinating link to an article on their business and history of cutting out kits- 17 Years of CNC Machines-A Look Back
 |
| A little worried at first... |
In my kit, I opted for milled timber. I did this not because I don't have the know how or tools to mill my own lumber but because in my area quality lumber is hard to come by. I got the milled stuff because sometimes rough lumber does not always yield what you need due to imperfections in the wood not visible from the unmilled stock. If CLC mills it they will find the bad spots and discard the stuff that won't work. My plan worked perfectly. The milled lumber is beautiful, square and close to length and straight grain in every board. I can't get this quality or even all these species of wood locally. This option cost a few extra $$ but has saved me hours lumberyard scrounging and a trip or two to San Antonio or Houston.
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| Milled lumber! Every timber labeled. Smells really good too. |
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
First SHIPment!
I got a call from the trucking yesterday. The guy named Ralph told me they had a shipment for me and had tried to call earlier because they could not find my house. I checked my phone messages and found that and sure enough they had called...SIX days earlier! Not sure what my shipment was doing the last 6 days..oh well, I don't have anything yet to glue together.
The shipment was from the MAS epoxy guys from Saint Paul, Minnesota. Six boxes. The stuff that will hold everything together.
The guy shows up with a 45 foot trailer on the back of his semi. No, I don't think he is going to be able to back up a 1/4 mile down my narrow twisty driveway. He parked it on the highway and I backed up my pickup to his back door and we unloaded it with no problem. Well, no problem, except for the traffic we stopped when he turned around. Not sure what is going to happen when the plywood and timber are delivered but the driver told me to request a "pup". I am guessing that is a tailer that is not 45 feet in length. Pup it is.
Two weeks for the next shipment and the real boat construction begins.
The shipment was from the MAS epoxy guys from Saint Paul, Minnesota. Six boxes. The stuff that will hold everything together.
The guy shows up with a 45 foot trailer on the back of his semi. No, I don't think he is going to be able to back up a 1/4 mile down my narrow twisty driveway. He parked it on the highway and I backed up my pickup to his back door and we unloaded it with no problem. Well, no problem, except for the traffic we stopped when he turned around. Not sure what is going to happen when the plywood and timber are delivered but the driver told me to request a "pup". I am guessing that is a tailer that is not 45 feet in length. Pup it is.
- 10 gallons of MAS marine epoxy resin
- 4 gallons of MAS slow hardener
- 1 gallon of MAS fast hardener
- 25 pounds of epoxy thickeners
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| A friend says I have enough to glue Beirut back together. |
Saturday, July 5, 2014
I Started the Boat!
The kit will be shipped sometime in the late this month but that has not stopped me from starting without it. I don't really count collecting lead wheel weights for the keel ballast as "starting to build the boat", but today I actually did some woodwork. On PocketShip.net I found dimensions for the tiller. I laminated some mahogany and maple 1/8" X 1 1/2" strips in an MDF mold alternating the wood colors for a snazzy tiller. It is a bit oversized and will be cut down considerably. The suggestion on the forum was for the tiller to be 3/4" in width but that seemed a bit on the narrow side to me. Even the boat designer built a second one that was a bit beefier.
The picture shows a dry fit (no epoxy) to be sure the strips would not crack. All went well and I proceeded with the epoxy. It was a bit messy so I didn't get my phone out to take a picture, but you get the idea.
I used the jointer to even out the sides. One of the sides was a bit out of square due to the sides not being parallel. A quick run through the planer with the bad side up and all was right with the world.
Having nothing to size it off of, the end of the tiller that goes through the transom and connects to the rudder will be left uncut until I have it built. I'll shape the handle end for something to do while I wait for the arrival of the kit. For now I can walk around with my tiller and tell people, "look I started a boat!"
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| Checked the bend of the strips in a dry fit. |
The picture shows a dry fit (no epoxy) to be sure the strips would not crack. All went well and I proceeded with the epoxy. It was a bit messy so I didn't get my phone out to take a picture, but you get the idea.
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| Evened out the sides on the jointer. |
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| Cut down on the bandsaw closer to finished dimensions. |
Having nothing to size it off of, the end of the tiller that goes through the transom and connects to the rudder will be left uncut until I have it built. I'll shape the handle end for something to do while I wait for the arrival of the kit. For now I can walk around with my tiller and tell people, "look I started a boat!"
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
I Got a Date!
Chesapeake Light Craft has set a date for the PocketShip kit to be shipped! The last week of July if all goes well, the stack of timber and plywood will loaded on a truck and headed to Texas.
Today I continued with shop organization, bought new respirator filters for my mask and a couple of 8 foot long fold up tables. The tables have plastic tops and with little wax they should be easy to remove epoxy drips. An added bonus is that with the fourth of July near Sam's Club had the tables on sale. WOO woo winner!
Tire weights have been a fruitless quest until I found a little independent shop that would part with them. The guy I bought the Michelins from recently was too afraid of the EPA to give or sell me any. Seems some where down the line people started chewing on the Pb and got sick so we all need to suffer...or something like that.
Running out of preparation tasks, I will start with laminating some mahogany and maple to start on a tiller. I found some dimensions on the internet to get started. I'll leave it oversized because, well, you can't believe everything you read on the internet. At least it will be a start.
Yesterday I received the manual from CLC. I read the whole thing last night. It's good reading, a real page turner! Combine the manual with all the blogs PocketShip building blogs I have read I'm really getting a sense of what I have gotten myself into. It looks fun.
The countdown to the end of this month begins. Tonight I get to sail again at the Wednesday night races on the bay. I will play photographer and ballast.
Today I continued with shop organization, bought new respirator filters for my mask and a couple of 8 foot long fold up tables. The tables have plastic tops and with little wax they should be easy to remove epoxy drips. An added bonus is that with the fourth of July near Sam's Club had the tables on sale. WOO woo winner!
Tire weights have been a fruitless quest until I found a little independent shop that would part with them. The guy I bought the Michelins from recently was too afraid of the EPA to give or sell me any. Seems some where down the line people started chewing on the Pb and got sick so we all need to suffer...or something like that.
Running out of preparation tasks, I will start with laminating some mahogany and maple to start on a tiller. I found some dimensions on the internet to get started. I'll leave it oversized because, well, you can't believe everything you read on the internet. At least it will be a start.
Yesterday I received the manual from CLC. I read the whole thing last night. It's good reading, a real page turner! Combine the manual with all the blogs PocketShip building blogs I have read I'm really getting a sense of what I have gotten myself into. It looks fun.
The countdown to the end of this month begins. Tonight I get to sail again at the Wednesday night races on the bay. I will play photographer and ballast.
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