Starboard side daggerboard case out of the mold

It took a little bit of work getting the part off the mold. The tricky bit was to get it free at the ends where the tape build up to create the rebate seemed to lock it down. A trowel and a hammer seemed to work to free the ends - just fine.

Using the bathroom scales this part weighs about 7-8 lbs.


Time for a cleanup and work on a float in the garage.

Starboard side daggerboard case lamination

I finally got to the lamination of the starboard side daggerboard case yesterday.

So much of this work is in the preparation. There are many pieces of cut cloth to have on hand for this part. This was my first use of the A spec. cloth for the outer hull. As I have decided to use two layers of the aircraft weave style 7781, at 8.9 ounce weight, there are twice the number of pieces I must cut to size.


You can see above that I made a final check and labeled which side is what. I wanted to make sure in the lay up process I got the unidirectional tape in the right spot.









It actually took me over 2 hours to get to this point, where the part is under vacuum . I'm glad I'm using the 2 hour slow hardener for the Aeropoxy resin.

Uncovered with the film, breather release film pulled off. It's the first time I've used this black peel ply.


The part looks to have turned out OK. I'm cutting it to rough size with a knife (while still green) to help get it off the mold, then I'll be giving it some heat treatment today.

I will add a picture when it is off.

Bow web with final lamination

Here is the bow web with the final covering of the B spec cloth at 45 degrees. The web is now smooth and ready for cutting the required slots for the Precourt hardware into the g10 tube. Also, the hole for mounting the bow pole still needs to be done.


This picture shows the 2 extra coverings of fiberglass where the bow pole will attach to the web. I am in no rush to machine these features as I must now return to finishing the floats and the daggerboard case that have already been started.

My basement winter work should be switching over now to the warmer weather garage float construction. However, here it is Easter already and they are forecasting for some serious snow to fall on the weekend.

Vacuum pump now has a vacuum switch

The above picture shows that I have added a vacuum reservoir with the vacuum gage on one side and the vacuum switch on the other. If you look really carefully you can also just see part of the check valve in the line to the pump and the relay and fuse in the electrical circuit. For those interested the circuit can be found at the Advanced Composites website.

Daggerboard starboard side foam with high density inserts

Work on the boat is slowly starting again with spring weather coming and 'hopefully' with some free time in the evenings and weekends.

In the picture above you can see the foam for the starboard side of the daggerboard case with the high density inserts (yellow a1200 corecell). The mold has been taped to give the necessary recess in the part for later fiberglass joining to the hull.

Bow web ready for final laminations

Back to work!
Using epoxy resin and microballons to create a light, easily sanded filler putty the low areas in the gaps between the carbon fiber tape was filled and sanded smooth.

At this point the bow web assembly assembly weighs 1.25 lbs.

And it is ready for the final fiberglass lamination and the cutting of the slots.

Short break from the boat build

For my own record, the first week or so of March 2007, was spent at my day job 12+ hours a day as we had a customer test platform delivery moved up and had to do one of the 'death marches' where one gets done in a week what would normally take a month or more. Such is the world of automotive test and automation platforms. I would like to have the time to have a similar effort on the F22 build.

This week I am recovering, on a long planned family holiday in Hilton Head S.C. USA. For those interested I have been updating a public web album with some pictures.



I am looking forward to getting back to having some hours for the F22 build.