The Petrel-Closed and Fair

It has been a busy week for boat building. After a spending mornings and evenings in the wood shop, I was able to close the hull. I joked about my wedge technique for holding the strips in place, while the glue dried, calling it "Egyptian Technology". I used wedges to keep the pressure on and clamping strips screwed to the forms. With limited space, this was the only way keep things still, with the fastener free method.

 It was time for the whiskey planks, two of them to be exact. Creating them  is a endless process of cut, plane, fit plane, fit, plane for as many times as it takes to get it right. Practice makes perfect, because I got these correct, on the first try. I can remember shaping the same strip five times before getting the fit right, when building the Night Heron. That was a bad morning in the shop! My method is to fit a taper on one end and plane to fit by working toward the middle.

I fit the strip, as far as it will go into the  space. I use a pencil to mark the spot where the interference keeps it from fitting. I will then plane the marks off, retry the strip and repeat until it fits. Then the fun begins, shaping and fitting the other end. A "witness mark" on the strip, indexes the orientation to where the fitted end, fits. The taper is formed until the witness mark lines up.

Above, shows the mark where the interference begins and where a few passes with plane will remove a few thousandths of material.

 One down, one to go. The fit is pretty nice, I have a hard time finding the Whiskey Plank. Now, to do it one more time....




























 More Whiskey Planks......

The Coot dinghy required some planking to catch up with the building schedule. We teamed up to finish filling the hull with strips, and yes, more whiskey planks. We are using staples to hold the strips in place, so progress should be quicker.

 The final plank is installed. Next week should prove to be fun. 10-12 kids, fiberglass and epoxy. A "Goo-fest" in the making! George will spend some quality time with the sander this week to prepare. This is going to be a really pretty Dinghy!







Back to the Petrel....

 I am waiting for the stain to arrive. As much as I want to stain and glass the hull, I will wait. I spent several days, planing and sanding the hull with a fairing board. 60 grit paper mounted on a fairing board, makes quick work of the lumpy hull. Marking the hull with a pencil and sanding it shows every dip and bump when sanding. repeat this process several times, the hull is destined to be smooth.

The hull was removed from the forms. By doing this I will be able to build the deck, remove the hull and then release it. This is an extra step that is due to the fastener free building method,  I like to use. Hot glue holds the starter strips and any other stray strip. To release them, a whack with a hammer on the form is required. If both the hull and deck were fastened to the forms, I would be up the proverbial creek, with no access to release the two halves.

 After I put everything back together, this time right side up, I struck the lines for the deck design. these need to be straight, especially in the middle. I am going to carry the deck feature through the cockpit recess and the lines must be straight.

 The starter strip had to be cut into two thinner strips. The curve of the deck, in the ends, required thin strips and generous bevels to conform to the forms. I hot glued the starter strip in place and added the second strip. (below). A generous helping of my favorite clamps, packing tape, were necessary to hold the two in proper alignment.

I have another building session with the kids on Saturday, so look for a post with lots of pictures next week. The deck should progress pretty quickly as my desire to put the Maple down, is getting out of hand. There is a lot to be accomplished, the goal is to finish the deck over the next two weeks. The best is yet to come.