First a little bit of history, the build started seriously in mid-July with the construction of the strong back and the form frames for the floats. I was thinking of having the forms CNC cut and acquired the dxf files from Ian Farrier, but in the end the patterns were simple enough to hand trace and then cut out with the jig saw. I did however have the metre wide form frames cut accurately to size and square at my local Home Depot. When it comes to the form frames for the main hull I will reconsider CNC cutting.
The battens that will support the vertical stripped foam and the deck flange mold plate were next.
Then the foam planking began. I used the improved Divinycell H grade 5lb/ft3 structural foam core from DIAB. First the foam strip on the keel.
And then, all the foam planking was laid down. It didn't take too long to get it all done. There are a 'heck of a lot' of screws holding the foam down through the battens from the outside, so, there is good reason to build the strong back at a decent working height!
I chose to edge glue all the foam strips with a moisture curing polyurethane construction adhesive. It's easy to cut the excess glue away with a knife.
More historical updates soon.
4 comments:
Great start, keep up the good work.
Interesting to follow your progress!
I'm curious about the bulkhead trimming procedure, do you have a photograph?
I have a couple of lamps that you can borrow to improve curing conditions.
Hi Dave,
I cut the foam to the final size simply with a jig saw. The laminates in the vacuum bagging are an inch or two oversized. After pulling the part out after vacuum bagging the laminates are trimmed to the foam edge with a sharp knife. The cloth at this point is still easy to handle. The aeropoxy resin I am using takes days to really really harden.
Very impressive Grant!!
It must be frustrating working in an unheated workspace. The good thing about building this is that you will be aware of every inch of the boat when it is done. No suprises when you strip something down and find someone else did a half assed job or used sub-par materials.
Gerry.
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