Anyone interested in home-built sailing dinghies?
Discussion
Hi,
In due course there will be a large breast hook from stem back through the first frame and terminating at the second frame immediately forward of the mast step which doubles as the mounting for the bow sprit. There is a 20mm square hardwood stem to be added, glassed and faired in on the outside of the hull for ding resistance. The design is actually half-decked bow and stern and the foredeck is to be glued to inner gunwales I still need to add, but the construction sequence tells me to add them after the outers.
Edited to add that I have still to go around all of the key joints and add a big radius fillet of epoxy and milled fibres - the bow will receive that on the inside. It's already glass taped on the inside.
The following are not my boat but show the same configuration that I'm building from the plans and, I admit, were my first inspiration for choosing the Campion Apple 16 from the beginning
In due course there will be a large breast hook from stem back through the first frame and terminating at the second frame immediately forward of the mast step which doubles as the mounting for the bow sprit. There is a 20mm square hardwood stem to be added, glassed and faired in on the outside of the hull for ding resistance. The design is actually half-decked bow and stern and the foredeck is to be glued to inner gunwales I still need to add, but the construction sequence tells me to add them after the outers.
Edited to add that I have still to go around all of the key joints and add a big radius fillet of epoxy and milled fibres - the bow will receive that on the inside. It's already glass taped on the inside.
The following are not my boat but show the same configuration that I'm building from the plans and, I admit, were my first inspiration for choosing the Campion Apple 16 from the beginning
Edited by jamieduff1981 on Monday 4th October 14:01
robm3 said:
My dad has a company doing these sorts of boats, his web design is hopeless though, he's been doing it since 1985 but his website says 25 years, then 30 years, but in reality it's 36... doh!
scruffie.com
That's cool. Based in Australia I assume from the phone number? Australians do seem to have quite a vibrant cruising sail boat community which is really great. I quite like the look of the Secret 33 yawl there. scruffie.com
Quite a tiny update but last night I got the stem cut and glued in place with 1 hour epoxy which is mixed 1:1 ratio. Someone has smashed my weighing scales so a replacement set has been ordered this morning. I can't / won't mix up the West Systems 105 without them but with the stem in place I can mark and cut the stem ends of the gunwales ready to glue in. Another bunch of clamps arrived this morning also.
This will be faired in later. The lower 2/3rds~ish needs sharpened slightly also (or else a constant small fountain of water will be squirted up over the foredeck, according to the designer, and we don't want that do we?)
This will be faired in later. The lower 2/3rds~ish needs sharpened slightly also (or else a constant small fountain of water will be squirted up over the foredeck, according to the designer, and we don't want that do we?)
Just to pad out my last post, if you scroll down a bit at www.thornycroft40.co.uk/Build1.htm you'll see what I mean. The finished model is on my writing desk
Enjoy the rest of the build!
Enjoy the rest of the build!
I've peaked too soon today although maybe that's a good thing.
I remembered the chainplates which the gaff cutter version has. This detail is only on the gaff cutter versions of the drawings. The chainplates for the standing rigging pass through the gunwales so it's necessary to mark their positions and cut 4mm deep slots out of the gunwales before gluing to the hull. I'm sure if I missed this I could have drilled through and filed them out but I'm glad I didn't make life difficult for myself here. These were kerfed and chiselled out.
Like this:
Next I marked and cut the stem ends of the gunwales to neatly (a relative term wherever I'm involved...) fit the stem post. In retrospect I should have done this first then marked the slots for the chainplates afterwards as the latter is easier to get right than the former but I never was that bright...
Once the inner laminations were cut to fit I clamped up the next lamination dry to get that fettled also.
It's probably just because I'm messy but I burned through 4 or 5 pairs of rubber gloves gluing up the first set. Also, I've learned that when buying clamps one should forget the sets of 4, 6 or even 12 and just select "All" in the online shopping cart.
I assume it goes without saying but the joints in the laminations were staggered. Each strip is roughly 11ft long so they're approximately 2/3 : 1/3 of the length of the boat so the inner lamination has the joint down aft and the outer one is more forward.
Now I'm out of clamps so I'll stooge around and relax I think. Tomorrow morning I can do more.
I remembered the chainplates which the gaff cutter version has. This detail is only on the gaff cutter versions of the drawings. The chainplates for the standing rigging pass through the gunwales so it's necessary to mark their positions and cut 4mm deep slots out of the gunwales before gluing to the hull. I'm sure if I missed this I could have drilled through and filed them out but I'm glad I didn't make life difficult for myself here. These were kerfed and chiselled out.
Like this:
Next I marked and cut the stem ends of the gunwales to neatly (a relative term wherever I'm involved...) fit the stem post. In retrospect I should have done this first then marked the slots for the chainplates afterwards as the latter is easier to get right than the former but I never was that bright...
Once the inner laminations were cut to fit I clamped up the next lamination dry to get that fettled also.
It's probably just because I'm messy but I burned through 4 or 5 pairs of rubber gloves gluing up the first set. Also, I've learned that when buying clamps one should forget the sets of 4, 6 or even 12 and just select "All" in the online shopping cart.
I assume it goes without saying but the joints in the laminations were staggered. Each strip is roughly 11ft long so they're approximately 2/3 : 1/3 of the length of the boat so the inner lamination has the joint down aft and the outer one is more forward.
Now I'm out of clamps so I'll stooge around and relax I think. Tomorrow morning I can do more.
Looked at the thread as mine Unc is doing something similar...and not to distract from the thread...but 'Jamie 1981' user....did you used to have a Ford Cougar and around 2002 attend Cougarfest near Northampton? If so I think you and a lady who went by 'Kilted Kougar' helped remove original Ford Badges from my Cougar and put Ford Owners clubs ones on! And you truly thrashed me in go karting as I weight about twice you. Went by the name "StockinTops" on FCOC.
Maggas said:
Looked at the thread as mine Unc is doing something similar...and not to distract from the thread...but 'Jamie 1981' user....did you used to have a Ford Cougar and around 2002 attend Cougarfest near Northampton? If so I think you and a lady who went by 'Kilted Kougar' helped remove original Ford Badges from my Cougar and put Ford Owners clubs ones on! And you truly thrashed me in go karting as I weight about twice you. Went by the name "StockinTops" on FCOC.
Hi,Yes that was/is me. I'm surprised you remember me from that! I took Dawn with me because my wife was working that weekend and Dawn was skint so I drove her down and she kept me company so it worked out fine. I'd usually get handed a set of lowering springs to fit for someone in the campsite, and when I was in my 20s that didn't seem like a bad way to pass the time!
I still keep in touch with a few from that club but the car went many years ago.
As luck would have it, I still have photos from that particular year - it was 2006.
The guy on the left was named Larry but I haven't heard from him in about a decade - but I think he went overseas to work. He lived fairly close to me. The next guy is called Rod and I am still in touch with him. Then there's me but a darker, skinnier version. I'm still in touch with Matt who's second from the right and I'm still in touch with Dawn on the right.
Ha-ha the internet is so small.
That was my Cat! See the Decat badge you helped fit!!!!!!! Loved that car. Wife crashed it into an until skip at night. Good job the bonnet was so long acting as a crumple zone!
Mine Uncles boat works are in Garlieston in Dumfries. But he also built a model of the Mullberry Harbours, as per
https://www.gluseum.com/GB/Garlieston/265236487572...
That was my Cat! See the Decat badge you helped fit!!!!!!! Loved that car. Wife crashed it into an until skip at night. Good job the bonnet was so long acting as a crumple zone!
Mine Uncles boat works are in Garlieston in Dumfries. But he also built a model of the Mullberry Harbours, as per
https://www.gluseum.com/GB/Garlieston/265236487572...
jamieduff1981 said:
The other side is glued up. It's starting to resemble a boat now with curves in the right places
Only just discovered this thread- what an incredible project. Well done. It’s easy to say “well, he’s got all the tools” but I’ve spent a fortune on Festool kit and my “woodwork” looks like it’s been done with a can opener.As a boy I repaired my old Enterprise using car body filler - not being aware of the miracle product that was west system epoxy!
I run a plastic boat these days as I have limited time but love the look of wooden boats.
Work has been rather busy lately, but I had Friday off (well, it was Schrodinger's Annual Leave really) and a productive Saturday and Sunday with my wife who, uncharacteristically, was feeling very industrious towards the dinghy.
We cleared out our downstairs garage, wired in a bigger heater with more clever thermostatic control, made a cradle with trolley wheels and moved Melitele out of the shed. As it happens, this is the first opportunity I've had to look at my boat from the side.
It just fits diagonally in the downstairs garage with room to squeeze around the stem, but with wheels it's easy to swing the doors open and move the boat to a better position to work on and then tuck it away warm for the epoxy to cure.
With Melitele out of the shed, I built racks to suspend the good timber off the floor for winter and cleared out space to get my old Jag X-Type in which needs a new sill. I was planning to scrap the car, but looking at what else is out there a new sill, a brake pipe and fixing an exhaust leak seams like very cheap 3.0 V6 AWD motoring for a while to come so there's a new sill on order and I've plenty welding consumables already. It'll make a good tow car for the boat.
Without a sill here already though, my wife was quite keen that we got some immediate benefit from the relocation works, the results of which are that by 9am on Sunday we completed all of the internal seam taping. This picture was from Saturday evening where we still had the last chine and the short slash on the top plank for the tumblehome transom to deal with.
We're going to flip the hull over and tackle the outsides of the seams next and will probably glass the exterior of the hull at that point. We could glass the interior now, but turning the hull over isn't really difficult and I would like the visual progress of the outside looking more matured.
We cleared out our downstairs garage, wired in a bigger heater with more clever thermostatic control, made a cradle with trolley wheels and moved Melitele out of the shed. As it happens, this is the first opportunity I've had to look at my boat from the side.
It just fits diagonally in the downstairs garage with room to squeeze around the stem, but with wheels it's easy to swing the doors open and move the boat to a better position to work on and then tuck it away warm for the epoxy to cure.
With Melitele out of the shed, I built racks to suspend the good timber off the floor for winter and cleared out space to get my old Jag X-Type in which needs a new sill. I was planning to scrap the car, but looking at what else is out there a new sill, a brake pipe and fixing an exhaust leak seams like very cheap 3.0 V6 AWD motoring for a while to come so there's a new sill on order and I've plenty welding consumables already. It'll make a good tow car for the boat.
Without a sill here already though, my wife was quite keen that we got some immediate benefit from the relocation works, the results of which are that by 9am on Sunday we completed all of the internal seam taping. This picture was from Saturday evening where we still had the last chine and the short slash on the top plank for the tumblehome transom to deal with.
We're going to flip the hull over and tackle the outsides of the seams next and will probably glass the exterior of the hull at that point. We could glass the interior now, but turning the hull over isn't really difficult and I would like the visual progress of the outside looking more matured.
I managed to capsize the boat alone yesterday, but I'll admit it was pretty awkward. The outside of the hull was then power sanded to remove any splinters or drips of epoxy through the tie-wrap holes. The stem post was shaped also.
That done, my wife laid out, marked and cut the fibreglass cloth ahead of time. We made up a filler paste from epoxy and milled fibres (heavier but a lot stronger than using microballoons) and filled all the seams and tiewrap holes.
Rather than let this cure and sand it back, we went straight ahead and glassed over it. The squeegee action to wet out the cloth takes care of any rough bits of filler while it's all still wet.
This was wet out in the usual way (at least it's usual for home built aircraft builders) - pour a little resin on then squeegee the bejesus out of it to see how far the resin will go whilst still wetting it out fully.
It still used loads of resin. It's a good thing I bought another 6kg pack of the stuff!
That done, my wife laid out, marked and cut the fibreglass cloth ahead of time. We made up a filler paste from epoxy and milled fibres (heavier but a lot stronger than using microballoons) and filled all the seams and tiewrap holes.
Rather than let this cure and sand it back, we went straight ahead and glassed over it. The squeegee action to wet out the cloth takes care of any rough bits of filler while it's all still wet.
This was wet out in the usual way (at least it's usual for home built aircraft builders) - pour a little resin on then squeegee the bejesus out of it to see how far the resin will go whilst still wetting it out fully.
It still used loads of resin. It's a good thing I bought another 6kg pack of the stuff!
I've been a victim of Village Photos falling off the edge of the world...
I have made up the dagger board case though and marked out the slot which needed to be cut out of the hull:
I hacked a hole in the bottom and the daggerboard case fits in it:
The rectangular case therefore pokes through the bottom of the hull at either end, so I traced it out with a Sharpie pen ...
It was trimmed accordingly and now fits nicely
Ready to mix up some thick epoxy with milled fibres and glue it in - but I think I'll make up the frames either side first and stick them in at the same time.
I have made up the dagger board case though and marked out the slot which needed to be cut out of the hull:
I hacked a hole in the bottom and the daggerboard case fits in it:
The rectangular case therefore pokes through the bottom of the hull at either end, so I traced it out with a Sharpie pen ...
It was trimmed accordingly and now fits nicely
Ready to mix up some thick epoxy with milled fibres and glue it in - but I think I'll make up the frames either side first and stick them in at the same time.
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