Ribs in Boat

Example Photo of Boat

Example Photo of Boat

Example Photo of Boat

Example Photo of Boat

Example Photo of Boat

Photo of our Boat

Meet the crew

The cost

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Larry, Zac and Grant Build a Boat
Page 10

Monday, 3/10/08

grant
Today the boat, without its bottom weighed about 17 pounds (on the bathroom scale.) Grant intends to install the "2 laminate" inwales and have the bottom cut to rough dimensions by Friday. Zac and Larry will be here Saturday to begin installing the bottom.
grant

Wednesday, 3/12/08:

It's in the high 60's today. The epoxy-taped resin Larry put on the butt joints seems to have cured nicely. Phyllis won't be using her studio the next few days, so I moved the boat inside. (I've read that some resins need 48 hours of 70 degrees to cure properly, so why not?) It was also good to see the boat on a perfectly flat surface, nicely exposing the rocker in its bottom.

Enjoyed receiving this email last night:

Hi Grant,

I noticed that you 'borrowed' a picture from my Jimmy Skiff construction weblog. Since you identified the source of the image, I certainly do not mind. Thanks for including the link to my blog in the caption.

It looks like you, Larry and Zac are making good progress. If it is not too late, I would like to offer a suggestion based on what I just read near the bottom of page 9:

"We've determined that 3/4 inch thick inwales are too stiff to bend, so will rip them in half and install as two-pieces, laminated in place. Inwales will run from 'rib-to-rib.' "

I agree that if you have the lengths of the inwale pieces cut to fit between the ribs, the bends in the 3/4" stock would be very difficult without steaming or laminating. However, generally, the inwales will run the entire length of the sheer, and the ribs are notched or cut below the sheer to allow for the inwale width. The full-length inwale will easily bend to the shape of the sheer panels, and provide much more strength than those pieced between the ribs.

Best wishes - Ron Paro
jimmyskiff.blogspot.com

We're sure Ron is right about full-length, one-piece inwales being stronger, but if made them like that, we'd have to cut out portions of the glued-in ribs, so we'll continue as stated earlier.

If I knew how easy it was to make scarph joints in the 3/4 inch strips I ripped from Lowes' cheap white wood 2 x 4 studs, I would have simply made the two "1 x 2's" called for in the plans and fastened them to the outside of the gunwales. (That's called 20-20 hindsight.)

If you build a boat using plywood and fiberglas, read Ron's blog! It's like "stitch and glue" text book on your shelf. We have Sam Devlin's book, but you'll learn much reading Ron's blog. And you can't beat the price!

Grant cut the bottom panel down to 12'-2" x 25-1/4" today (photo of scarph exposed below), and reported to Larry that the aircraft-quality epoxy resin he's using cured "hard as a rock." (Larry confirmed with a test he made this week.) Grant dteremined we'll need cloth to cover the 44" wide bottom and sides, then checked out some websites for sources of 'glas cloth.

It might be be that the special offered at Raka Inc. will be the best buy for us. (See their "special.") Ron used newfound.com. Larry recommended I look here, fiberglasssupply.com and here, jamestowndistributors.com, so I did.

Undeniable Truth of Life:
You'll never have enough clamps!


Click here to read
Grant Plays With Boats
(It's page 10a.)

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Web page by
Grant
MacLaren
grant@grantmaclaren.com

visits since 2/29/08