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Thread: Building a J-Class Sailboat

  1. #31
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    Julie: About those rigging lines; don't they use streamlined wire for some of those lines?

    And an advice: If the sea is in your blood,do make sure that your blood is not in the sea!!

  2. #32
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    George, I swear you lived a thousand lives! All the things you have done and you're still a young man. What a wonderful life.

    Anytime I get that kind of compliment from you, I know I have done well. Thank you.

    Today I chiseled off a few chunks of lumber in what is still a purely experimental process. On the keel of the lifeboat I routed a rabbet to accept the garboard planks




    Then it was time to address the frames of the lifeboat. The instructions didn't call for this but how can you make a 13' boat without a keel or frames?

    I took some strips that were supposed to be for the 2nd planking and thinned them out with a L-N inlay thicknesser


    I then soaked pre-cut planks in boiling water (easier than firing up the steam box) but they weren't pliable enough so I nuked them for another 2 minutes. The tannins bled out. So this is how that went

    Three out of five. Some of the fibers broke but I should be able to work with it.
    “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness..." - Mark Twain

  3. #33
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    Julie: Any hope of getting a small metal lathe to turn out those miniature aluminum pieces? Even a Sherline lathe will do just fine. You will need to buy a 3 jaw chuck for it,at least. A 4 jaw would be more useful,because you can make it hold square or rectangular pieces. Not self centering,though. But,with your skill and thoughtfulness,you could easily learn to center up what ever shapes you chucked in it. Many machinists ONLY use a 4 jaw independent jaw chuck. You can center up pieces more accurately than a 3 jaw chuck will do. I inherited a DREMEL mini lathe years ago,but have long since given it away. It would only run at full speed anyway,though. However,a router speed control box would make the speed adjustable IF enough torque remained. Aluminum can be turned at high speeds anyway. So can brass. I'm always running my Hardinge HLVH lathe at 3000 RPM(full speed) when making brass parts. But,that Dremel lathe must have run at about 20,000 RPM!

    Does your kit already provide those turned parts,though?

    Just glue those broken away pieces back down on the life boat. They will never show,if not broken all the way through. And,it is only a static display model anyway,not a guitar!

    THE BEST WAY to bend wood is to get it wet,and bend it around a HOT PIPE(If you don't want to spend $$$ on a ready made electric bending iron from Stewart MacDonald! You can clamp a pipe in a vise,and put the end of a propane torch inside it. A 2" dia. copper pipe is good. I used one for years.) Actually,if I could find the old one,I could send it to you. But,my wife insisted on a major basement clean out this Summer,and no telling what got tossed. Mine had an electric element inside it and a flat plate welded on the bottom to clamp in a vise. Worked fine for many a guitar! I'll have to look around the shop. You want the hot pipe about as hot as a clothes iron. My old one did not have a rheostat,though. I had to be careful to not leave the wood against it too long.

    These days I use a side bending machine anyway,which I made years ago. How time flies!

    READ THIS: Try using a piece of spring steel against the convex side of the ribs you're bending. An old piece of large clock spring will do. It keeps your wood from splintering out of the convex side while you bend it. Keep it wiped clean,though,to avoid rust setting in to dirty your wood.

    A pair of KEVLAR gloves are GREAT for working with very hot stuff,as long as you keep them DRY. They aren't real cheap. Can be bought from Manhattan Supply Co.(MSC).
    Last edited by george wilson; 09-12-2016 at 9:02 AM.

  4. #34
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    Adding to George's suggestions, I've used a soldering iron with an old feeler gauge as a backer to bend inlay. A combination of soaking the strips in water for a few minutes and the backer eliminated any splintering.
    Dan

  5. #35
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    A good suggestion,Daniel. Especially if you had a rheostat to regulate how hot the soldering iron(or PENCIL in this case) might allowed to be.

    About the kevlar gloves: I bought a pair for my wife to wear while handling VERY HOT plastic molding dies. They worked very well,indeed. They were about $14.00 plus shipping at the time(abt. 10 years ago.) Actually,$14.00 isn't that expensive.
    Last edited by george wilson; 09-12-2016 at 6:08 PM.

  6. #36
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    George,

    The only lathe I own is a 36" Delta. With all the work the new old house needs, I don't think I can spring for a mini lathe. But the kit does come with the small metal parts. As long as I'm okay with how they look (I haven't even opened them yet) I shouldn't need a mini lathe. BUt I have seen what they can do. Some of the modelers are masters at making small metal parts. Maybe someday...

    I do have that StewMac bending iron though, and the spring steel they sell, but it's much too large for what I'm doing.

    Tonight, I zapped the last two pieces in the microwave. The first one went on fairly easily.


    The bow frame was a different story. I tried using the same method as with the others but the plank split and finally broke in two. So I cut and boiled another piece and let it sit an extra 5 minutes. Then I took it out and squeezed the center in my fingers and began bending. As soon as I felt resistance, I tossed it back in the hot water and let it sit for another minute or so. Then I took it out and repeated the finger squeeze bending technique. I did this two more times and by the time I placed it on the form, it made the sharp bend easily.


    Daniel,

    When I first jumped into this hobby last November, I bought a plank bender. I had completely forgotten about it until I read your post. I'll have to take it out and see if it actually works. The owner of the model building website is partial to placing planks in a form and using a hair dryer to heat it up and let that be the heat bender. He seems a big fan of the method.

    I made a steam box for forming the hull planks

    but it takes so long to heat up, it's not worth it for these small pieces. When I made it I cut up a wire hanger to use as an interior rack. Soon the paint fell off and they started staining the wood. I bought some small dowels I will have to install before using it again.
    “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness..." - Mark Twain

  7. #37
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    I made up another form section so I could shape a 6th frame in the wide gap toward the stern.


    Here's how the five formed frames look so far. The sharpest bend came out the best.


    I have another frame being formed on the new form section. Then I can dado the keel section and glue that on before beginning the planking.
    “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness..." - Mark Twain

  8. #38
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    All was going well until I introduced CA glue into the mix.

    I notched the keel to accept the frames, making sure the rabbet I made on the keel still had enough room to accept the planking. Then I set up the first frame, at the bow, and opted for CA glue to secure it to the keel. I thought I was pretty smart after having applied 5 coats of shellac and 3 coats of lacquer to the hull form, but the CA glue won the day and ignored the 8 coats on the hull form.

    I pried the bow frame off and applied painter's tape to the entire hull form. That's what the instructions called for and when in doubt, refer to the instructions. Then I set up the next 5 frames and CA glued them to the keel. But the CA stuck to the tape too.


    This was after about 30 minutes of cleaning up the mess.


    Along the way, I broke one of the frames so I CA glued that together.


    The hide glue pot arrived and the kitchen reno started. I think this little project will have to wait.
    “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness..." - Mark Twain

  9. Whether it is the scaled down version or the real boat, these look amazing and give a royal look

  10. #40
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    So you are giving the kitchen a RENO look? Why not a Las Vegas look?

    You'll have a jolly time cleaning up the frames in that life boat!! Might prove to be one of the most challenging parts of the whole project. How are you going to curve the outside surfaces of the ribs to mate up to the planking?
    Last edited by george wilson; 09-17-2016 at 9:17 AM.

  11. #41
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    Vegas is too theme oriented. I'd have to make the kitchen into a pyramid or a mountain and then where would I place the dishwasher?

    The frame issue is solved. It's going to the the bone yard.

    I got back to the big boat yesterday. Cooked up the glue pot and baked me some hide. First time using hide glue. I like it!


    46 rows of planks in maybe two hours. When I was laying the 1st planking, best I could do with PVA, in an entire day, was 7 or 8 rows. Glue. Pin it. Wait for the glue to dry. Repeat. PVA took about 1/2 hour to dry. Hide glue takes a few minutes. Nice.
    “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness..." - Mark Twain

  12. #42
    The last time I read about boats and hide glue in same paragraph was when Nero tried to kill his mom with the gift of a dissolving boat. She swam to shore. I saved the newspaper clipping.

  13. #43
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    Now that's a really clever way of getting rid of someone, Mel. Those emperors knew all the diabolical tricks.

    I've been discussing the beauty of hide glue on the ship modelers web site and I keep thinking if it catches on, someone might build an RC model using it. Maybe I should warn them.
    “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness..." - Mark Twain

  14. #44
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    Using mahogany veneer for the 2nd planking has presented a challenge or two. I've been using a Dewalt jobsite tablesaw with a StewMac fret slot blade to cut the veneer. The veneer is anything but flat and that causes binding and burning. But I pushed forward, literally.


    Mineral spirits applied to see how it might look...


    This shot convinced me the angled planking was the way to go.
    “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness..." - Mark Twain

  15. #45
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    Don't know if anyone noticed the light band of planking toward the bow but it has been bothering me. Since I glued them with hide glue and since hide glue is supposed to be "ungluable" by applying heat and/or moisture, I decided to give it a try so I could re-plank with mixed toned woods.

    So I soaked a few planks on the bow and tried to ease off the first plank. No luck. Then I took a hair dryer to it and blasted it until the soaked planks were bone dry. A little of the glue on the edge softened up but that was it. No matter how long I held the hair dryer there nor how close to the wood I had it, the rest of the glue remained put. I had a chisel on it and even the hot edge of the chisel couldn't soften the glue.

    Since this was a purely aesthetic move, I abandoned it. This hide glue isn't about to be unglued.
    “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness..." - Mark Twain

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