Let the fun begin!
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lustyslogger
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Re: Let the fun begin!
Are we going to see this in an article in SCA in the near future. Josh, Josh, are you listening??
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Art Haberland
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Re: Let the fun begin!
I am hoping to get the other panels cut out in a day or two so I can scarf them together also... then I can start making it look boat shaped!
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Art Haberland
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Re: Let the fun begin!
I got one more set of panels cut and scarfed today. This leaves only the very bottom of the Wherry to be cut and scarfed. Now that I am no longer afraid of using the router, making use of it seems almost natural (at least using it in my jig does). It is safe to say I no longer approach it with trepidation.
So.. scarfing!
With the nice 8:1 cut (more like 10:1) all you need to do is liberally soak the ends in epoxy and it soak in some. Plywood is very "dry" and it will suck all the epoxy deep into the wood leaving you with a weakened scarf. After it tacks up, I then apply thickened epoxy to the plywood.
Once the edges are "joined" and straightened, I use what we call "pony clamps" at work.. also known as spring clamps to squeeze the wood together.. this not only gets any voids out from between the two pieces of wood, it also keeps them from moving and tends to make a mess as the excess is squeezed out.
I try to clean it up before it gets bad.. but the scarf will "weep" epoxy for a while as the excess is slowly forced from the joint.. so eventually you get something that needs to be sanded smooth.
But.. all is not lost.. by doing all this, you take an three individual parts and make them into one long 18+ foot piece of wood planking.
I have the topsides and the first chine done.. tomorrow I will get from the second chine to the keel done (I hope) so that Wednesday and Thursday, I can hopefully starting making this expensive pile of plywood start looking like a boat.
So.. scarfing!
With the nice 8:1 cut (more like 10:1) all you need to do is liberally soak the ends in epoxy and it soak in some. Plywood is very "dry" and it will suck all the epoxy deep into the wood leaving you with a weakened scarf. After it tacks up, I then apply thickened epoxy to the plywood.
Once the edges are "joined" and straightened, I use what we call "pony clamps" at work.. also known as spring clamps to squeeze the wood together.. this not only gets any voids out from between the two pieces of wood, it also keeps them from moving and tends to make a mess as the excess is squeezed out.
I try to clean it up before it gets bad.. but the scarf will "weep" epoxy for a while as the excess is slowly forced from the joint.. so eventually you get something that needs to be sanded smooth.
But.. all is not lost.. by doing all this, you take an three individual parts and make them into one long 18+ foot piece of wood planking.
I have the topsides and the first chine done.. tomorrow I will get from the second chine to the keel done (I hope) so that Wednesday and Thursday, I can hopefully starting making this expensive pile of plywood start looking like a boat.
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Art Haberland
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Re: Let the fun begin!
Wanted to work on the Wherry this morning.. and discovered I can't. After pricking through the paper into plywood all yesterday morning, my hand and wrist are quite sore.
Expect an update Thursday!
Expect an update Thursday!
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Art Haberland
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Re: Let the fun begin!
While I did promise updates today.. they are not the updates I would like to do.
During the week I had the nagging suspicion that my scarfs were not exactly straight. With the work week I had (two 16 hour days back to back) I was unable to get down to the basement to check. Today, I checked, and I was off by a considerable margin.
Not too big a deal, I whipped out my heatgun and set it to high to warm up the epoxy. As it was still "green" it does not take a lot of heat to loosen it's hold and within a minute each scarf was taken apart so I could lay them on the plans and even them up with a sharp line drawn across the joint.
One of them was too short. I am not sure how I did it, but the middle piece on one plank was scarfed wrong so that it was exactly a scarf joint too short... roughly 3 inches worth. Thankfully it is the shortest of the pieces, so replacing it is not a big deal.. but I still need to cut another piece out and fix it.
The line on the paper shows where the scarf should START.. not end.
They do come apart nicely!
So while it is a setback, it is a minor one that saved me a bigger issue down the road. I cannot be too upset at it.. at myself, yes, at it, no.
During the week I had the nagging suspicion that my scarfs were not exactly straight. With the work week I had (two 16 hour days back to back) I was unable to get down to the basement to check. Today, I checked, and I was off by a considerable margin.
Not too big a deal, I whipped out my heatgun and set it to high to warm up the epoxy. As it was still "green" it does not take a lot of heat to loosen it's hold and within a minute each scarf was taken apart so I could lay them on the plans and even them up with a sharp line drawn across the joint.
One of them was too short. I am not sure how I did it, but the middle piece on one plank was scarfed wrong so that it was exactly a scarf joint too short... roughly 3 inches worth. Thankfully it is the shortest of the pieces, so replacing it is not a big deal.. but I still need to cut another piece out and fix it.
The line on the paper shows where the scarf should START.. not end.
They do come apart nicely!
So while it is a setback, it is a minor one that saved me a bigger issue down the road. I cannot be too upset at it.. at myself, yes, at it, no.