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Propped up while the varnish is drying. |
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Yost style strongback ready to go. |
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About 4 hours with the jigsaw and I've got a pile of 7 frames, a bow, and a stern almost ready to go. I'll need to clean them up with some light sanding and rounding over edges with a router and roundover bit. |
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Lots of noise and dust when routing! |
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Poor man's dust collection system. |
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Scarf joint jig. |
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Standing up frames in approximate positions. |
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Nicely curved sheer line. That adds a bit of complexity to the entire build. |
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Off the strongback and out of the garage for the 1st time. |
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And with that, the frame is done! I'll finish it up with some sanding and then a coat or two of finish. Floorboards go in after skinning. |
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Floorboards are all ripped from a 2x6, then cleaned up through the planer to about 3/8" thickness. Edges were then rounded over with a 1/8" round over bit on the router table. |
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People seem to freak out about skinning. Pretty straightforward process, really. Drape the frame and align the cloth. |
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Start stapling with stainless 1/2" T50 staples in the middle on one side for about a foot.
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The ends are the tricky part. On the stern I overlapped and stapled, and glued it all together with a little PL Premium. The flat spot will receive the rudder hardware, and the keel itself will have a brass rub strip, so most of the staples and general sloppiness will be hidden. |
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Excess cloth at the bow gets rolled up and stitched. My stitching isn't as neat as I'd like, but it's functional. |
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Scrim coat of PL Premium applied to the lower hull. This toughens up the fabric, and fills the weave. It was just a matter of applying some to an area, then working it around with a Bondo spreader. |
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1st coat on the hull. I'm not so sure 1 quarts going to be enough. This thing is big!
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Turned it back over so I could sit in her to gauge where and how to mount the foot pedal rudder controls. Seeing her partially skinned and painted, and sitting in it, has got me pumped to finish and splash her!
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Long screws hold each piece.
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Shrink the wrinkles out with a hot iron, and trim all the ragged edges with a red hot knife.
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1/2" wide brass keel strip is installed at the bow and stern. Those are the areas most prone to damage. Attached with clear silicone and brass escutcheon pins. |
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Ash rub rail installed. Covers all the staples and the fabric edge. |
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Completed the coaming. |
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Tiki seems to fit the color theme. |
More photos on Facebook.
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