I'm finally building my boat.

[andy bessette]

That's some good looking wood.

[James Waldron]

So you're really serious about this?

Good progress, good looking stock. Don't use too much Ipe: it is also too heavy for boat construction and won't float. Wonky stuff to work.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

That's some good looking wood.

I am blown away by this spruce- it is guitar top quality in 21' lengths of 2x9"

So you're really serious about this?

Good progress, good looking stock. Don't use too much Ipe: it is also too heavy for boat construction and won't float. Wonky stuff to work.

Only for the rudder because I want it to be heavy and heavily built, and for the rub strips inside the centerboard trunk. Possibly the keel, which is added last on this boat after flipping over.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

A part a day keeps the doctor away. Today’s part was the bowsprit. Pretty simple except it angles at the back so that it sits at an elevated angle at the bow end. I roughed in the angle with a chisel and then used a drawknife because that was going slow. Next I used the Veritas low angle jack rabbet to get it to the line, then a LN 7 to flatten the sloped area, then a No 3 and scraper to smooth it. The reason for the rabbeting LAJ is I wanted to remove at a slope and it cuts to the edge, making it easier to create an angle because it cuts at whatever angle you hold it at. A regular jack wants to register on the edges and stay flat.

I feel like I didn’t explain that very well. It not only angles side to side, but it slopes too to bottom from a thickness at middle of 45mm to a thickness at the aft end of 30mm. That way when you bolt it to the deck it has a few degrees of slope to it.

The whole part weighs only 3.5 pounds. This Sitka Spruce is amazing.

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[andy bessette]

...I feel like I didn’t explain that very well...

I'm more curious why you are starting with small, independent parts, rather than whatever requires the longest pieces of lumber.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I'm more curious why you are starting with small, independent parts, rather than whatever requires the longest pieces of lumber.

I am building the bits and pieces in my home shop. The mast needs to be built on a large platform which is also where the boat will be built. I have a cut list that maximizes the lumber and I know which pieces come from where. I’m building this like a kit and then taking it all out to the build site to assemble it.

[John Blazy]

Kudos to you Malcolm!! Pretty ambitious project there. I want to encourage you now, so that when you are 80% done, burned out from sanding and making all the details after the hull and framing frustrates you, that you will remember this encouragement. That is when you will need it, not as much now.
Here's another bit of encouraging: After I finished my boat, it became and still is the most fulfilling project I ever did both personally and as a professional maker, even though the boat was for me. I have done insane projects from a 17 foot conference table for MTV, to the largest dichroic atrium sculpture in the world, to the eight, 600 lb color-changing chandeliers I designed and built for WMU - nothing came close to the fulfillment I got from my boat. I still love pulling it out of storage every winter.

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[Malcolm Schweizer]

Wow, John, that is amazing work. I love the coaming- I was worried about my coaming being difficult, but that's tops. I have seen your posts about the dichroic materials. I do a lot of abalone inlays and I am impressed with what you're doing with modern materials. Thanks for the motivation.

[John Blazy]

Thanks Malcomb! The coaming was a slight challenge, especially since it had to match the deck radius (something like ten foot rad) and the conical seat, but I knew it would turn out cool (pic below). Thanks for noticing my dichroic materials. I only recently nailed the interlaminar adhesion chemistry well enough that it machines without delamination. So doing 1911 grips now and selling it as inlay stock / knife handle stock. That whole community has embraced it well.

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[Malcolm Schweizer]

I worked on the centerboard case sides, which I lofted directly to the ribbon stripe ply. The bottom is curved to match the curvature of the bottom of the hull, hence the need for the spline for laying out. Out of respect for the designer, I covered the measurements in the photo of the drawing. It probably wouldn't matter, but typically ya have to buy plans to get those details. I just thought it might be interesting to see the drawing.

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[Malcolm Schweizer]

I made a steam box for bending the stem bands. It has two levels of dowels for steaming multiple pieces in one go. That worked beautifully. This is the best steam box I've ever made, and I think it owes to using a larger pot and hose. It heated up really quick and worked like a charm. I drilled two holes at the far end with slightly less area than the inlet hose so it would draw steam through the box but not just blow out all the heat. Note- it was a bad idea to use a ceramic coated pot. It is hard to cut the hole for the hose. I used binder clips to hold the lid on so the steam was forced out the hose instead of pushing up the lid. Worked perfect.

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[Bruce Page]

Nice steam box!

That’s a really lousy view. I don’t know how you deal with it..

(waay jealous)

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Nice steam box!

That’s a really lousy view. I don’t know how you deal with it..

(waay jealous)

It's awful. I suffer through it. :-) What is killing me is seeing it, and wanting so bad to be out there, but having to press on with the build. I missed the last regatta, which takes place right there. I was watching my friends race and it was like being a sick kid with a window overlooking the playground. That said, boatbuilding is my happy place.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I prebent the wood for the stem bands with steam, then let it dry completely for a couple of days before gluing. I kept them clamped in the jig while drying, then unclamped for a bit to ensure they dried throughout. I used epoxy with a little thickener, but not too much- a runny ketchup consistency. I buttered both sides except the outer ones- but stupid me buttered both sides of one outer band, and it was too late because it was the last one- all others were already prepped. I slapped some clear packing tape over the side that wasn't supposed to be glued so the clamps didn't stick- problem solved. The tape sticks by surface tension to the epoxy. My forms are covered in the same tape as a release. I use this whenever using epoxy and I need some part not to be glued- cover that part with clear packing tape.

One image shows how much spring back there was when the pieces were unclamped from the jig before gluing. After the epoxy cures there will be no spring back. I laid out both stems on one 4x4 sheet of ply because wood is expensive. It was a little tight but no issues. I was going to separate the two jigs but this was very easy to have it all on one sheet of ply. I only glued one at a time because I was worried the clamps would interfere with each other. Also the stern band has a really tight bend, so I glued it up in two stages- three strips at a time. I used fast cure for that and slow for the bow, which was very easy to laminate all in one go.

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The glue is curing now. Next step is to build the boomkin, finish building the centerboard case, and cut out all the ribs. At the build site I will set up the building jig and use it first as a flat surface for building the birds mouth masts, and then it becomes the backbone for the build. With all the bits and pieces prebuilt in my home shop, the build will take shape rapidly when I start putting it all together. This is how John Welsford recommends the build be done, and I agree. You have everything there when you start the build. For example, when making the mast step and mast box, you know exactly the diameter of your mast after shaping it, down to the mm.

[andy bessette]

... I used epoxy with a little thickener, but not too much- a runny ketchup consistency...

Better to prime with neat resin/catalyst mix before applying a mix thickened to peanut butter consistency for glue.