Narfi's Life after EU: Chapter Four - FS17 a 17ft V-Hull Powerboat

The canoe is finished and a week of sitting around got boring, dont really feel like watching TV or playing video games after months of being productive :(

So..... Will see how much I can get done before it is too cold to work in the tent.












Sept 19, 2017

Printed out a "shop copy" of my plans and took them out to the "boat factory".


Sanded all the epoxy lumps off the table. (Just so Fuzz can tell me, "I told you so")

Plywood Inventory: 10 sheets of 3/8" Okoume and 6 and 2/3s sheets of 1/4" Okoume.

Looking at the nesting and trying to figure out the best way to use the partial sheet I think I had a good idea but would like feedback before actually cutting.

I'll cut the two rear side panels from it which leaves nearly 2x lengthwise 1/2 sheets for cutting rubrails from.







I will cut my molds from OSB. However when it comes time to make the bulkheads I don't see them in the nesting pages. I assume they are from 3/8" ????

Are the motor well sides supposed to be glued to the stringers before assembly?

I don't understand the diagram of the motor well on page D284/5
1. Are there any square corners on the motor well side panels?
2. What is the purpose of the gap/notch cut out of it against the transom?


I'm sure I'll have more questions going forward....

 

Well, its been a busy winter and I didn't get as much done as I would like. But we do have a hull built and finished on the bottom. In the process of glassing inside and will be ready to start installing structure later this week.
I will try to update the pictures and transfer the log here soon.
Until then, you can read it here,
https://forums.bateau2.com/viewtopic.php?t=62609

 

Sept 21, 2017

Got all the 1/4" plywood peices cut.

Decided to round the bow 2" if someone can convince me it's unseaworthy or ugly I can still cut them straight to plans.









Thinking forward.
The rub rails could be 3x strips of 1/4 or 2x strips of 3/8. How much difficulty would I have bending the 3/8?

I've got 2x 1/2 sheets of 1/4 and 2x 1/3rdish sheets. All four pieces full length.
Would it be better to use them for the gunwals and save some weight? After finishing the canoe at 160% of designed weight and knowing I want this fs17 to be tough as well, I am sure I'll be fighting weight issues with it as well........

 

Sept 26, 2017

So I cut twice and it was still too short
(Not really.... I only cut once, but I had measured the end at 3 7/8 instead of 4 7/8 :/ )


3 prices scrap because I measured wrong...... nearly 1/3rd a sheet of plywood wasted.

Measured again and cut some more and have the stringers cut out.


Now I have all the pieces cut out that need glued before I can start assembly. Plan is to glue them all (stringers and bottom and side panels) then cut out the osb bulkheads etc..... then take the sheeting off the table to reveal the strongback ready for assembly.

I did a couple if test pieces glued one with woodflour/epoxy and glued one panel sample with woodflour/epoxy at the seam and 12oz tape over it with epoxy. Entire batch mixed with fast cure....

 

Oct 18, 2017

Have been getting some condensation in the tent dripping on the wood and freezing.... just what i had laying on the table and I dont think its soaked in very deep.

Finished tracing and cutting out the clamping boards tonight and then brought them inside to dry out. Will glue them inside once im satisfied they are dry.

 

Oct 21, 2018

Glued the transom and clamping board together a couple nights ago. It looks good.

I am pretty sure I have the best wife in the world.....
She just told me she doesnt need a dining room or sitting room for the winter.
There are double doors off our dining room so I need to measure and make sure an FS17 hull can fit through them......

She is a big fan of the tv series Dexter and the selling point that tipped the scales was telling her we could make a "Dexter room".
(for those who havent seen the show he is a vigalante serial killer who often stages his killings in visquine rooms)

Only rule is no power tools late at night which seems reasonable.

 

Nov 7, 2017

Glued up the stringers saturday night while momma was out. When finished we wiped up all excess thickened epoxy and then weighted them down with paint cans. Then we wiped up all that squeezed out and went to bed.

Next morning we realized the weight kept squeezing it out and they were both glued to the dining room floor vinyl tiles.......

Good thing is the tiles need replacing anyways and we didnt damage them too much cutting the resin drips off......

Momma just shook her head and asked, "I thought you were supposed to put plastic under it?......"

Tonight we glued the bottom panels together with one side of 12oz tape. (we did put plastic down this time)
I wondered about just taping one side and putting it on the inside to eleviate some fairing down the road but then I went back and read the instructions again.....

"Cut the panels, line them up and assemble the parts with a fiberglass splice. That fiberglass splice is
a piece of biaxial fiberglass tape 12 oz. (400 gr) 6” wide (15 cm), one layer each side. Again, see our
tutorials for details."

So we will be taping the other side as well.
We still dont have the dexter room setup. I need an energetic day to move all the dining room and sitting room furnature first. Thinking of retiring the old overstuffed easychair to the top of Landons double decker playhouse but its heavy......

 

Nov 8, 2017

Weather report......

Landon helped me drag the bottom pannels out to the tent last night and I sanded the epoxy drips off the second side and brought them back in.

They were pretty cold by then as I had also spent some time sanding the excess off the stringers as well. So I let them aclimate to inside temps overnight and layed the glass tape splice down this morning before work.

Weather picture is 8am getting ready for work. Definatly a beaver hat day for my honda ride to the hangar :p

 

Nov 11, 2017

'Dog glued down'

(wife texted me this image earlier this week. Thankfully it had already cured... we got a laugh out of it though)

 

Dec 30, 2017

I went with 18" from the short corner of the stringer and 36" increments after that cutting notches on same side of the lines the molds on the strongback from their lines.


Hoping to cut out the bow mold tomorrow. Not sure how different it should be for the rounded bow panels I made.
Get the transom screwed up into place. (Motorwell sides may need slight tweaking something isn't quite perfect with alignment across the back there.)

Landon is excited to drill the ziptie holes. He requested I only mark them and let him drill them......

Depending on how that all goes might have the bottom panels in place before festivities start tomorrow night.

 

Jan 1, 2018

Laid the "butterfly" down on the jig and looks like I have the same hard spot others have struggled with.

Since this picture I've hauled it out to the tent and trimmed it a very little amount in that area and sanded down.
Brought it back in and it's still there a little bit but not as bad.

Had no more time last night and went to the festivities covered in sawdust ;p

Will put some holes in the bow mold and tighten stuff up a bit tonight to see how it looks, but will probably need one more little trim.

 

Jan 1, 2018

Second trimming and it lined up really well along the centerline. I cut 1" sections off a small dowel and put under each ziptie along the centerline which helped alot.

A little weird still right at the bow point but I expected issues with pulling everything together so it was good enough to hang the sides.

I marked the hole pattern for the sides off a little and they are both shifted forward 1/4 to 3/8" which is unfortunate.... I'll have to drill new holes to get everything lined up...... hopefully that is all that's wrong with them

I used up the dowl on the centerline but found an old pvc pipe I cut up for the side panel zipties but it's got a larger diameter and seems to push the panels apart too much.... will see how it all lines up with the new holes and if I need anything under the zipties or not.

Till tomorrow night though I'll just let it sit there and get comfy with it's new shape.

 

Jan 4, 2018

I must have cut the bow mold a little large or something, I think it was part of my troubles. The sheer point was hitting it and the chine point couldn't suck down because it was in the way.

I unzipped around the front and did surgery on the bow mold with a multi tool cutter. Cut the point off the mold and the corner off where the chines meet. There is still a little gap but id have to completely remove the bow mold and trim it down to get better. I think this is close enough wood flour and epoxy can fill it in.

The bottom panels had a slight bulge of about 1/8" at the bulkhead just infront of the transom. While 1/8" isn't alot it just looked wrong to me. I unzipped the rear few feet and messed with it a while till I figured out the problem. The bottom was laying hard against the transom. I lifted it up and put nails as spacers under it and now it's really close. I'll see how it looks tomorrow.

Landon and I crawled around underneath and taped between most if the zipties. Will have to redo some of it from where I was pushing and pulling on the bottom panels trying to figure out that issue.

 

Jan 4, 2018

Well, I am commited now....

We loosely redid the zipties we cut for straightening the bottom panels yesterday. Just tight enough to keep stuff from moving but not tight enough to effect the shape.

Then we re-did the duct tape underneath and finished taping under the bow.

Mixed a small batch of resin and brushed between all seams to get the wood saturated.

Then I mixed small batches of wood flour and epoxy and filled between all the zipties. I used a bondo scraper to work it in and remove all excess. One batch was a bit dry one a little runny and two just right.



When done I had Landon go over the dry patch with straight resin and a brush. Im not sure how much that helped but he was really wanting to get sticky..... or atleast an excuse to wear gloves.


Tomorow it will be to late to change our minds :p

 

Jan 5, 2018

We cut the zipties tonight and Landon taped the inside all my himself. Kind of nice he even (barely squeezed into the bow compartments each side of the bow mold)

Then we epoxy primed all the edges and filled with wood flour/epoxy.

While cutting the zipties the tip of the bow sprung open so I got it tightened back down, sanded a radius and used a bit of fiberglass tape this round to hold it in place.

(I would give credit to whoever I learned that trick from here on the forums, but I've read so many build threads last two years I cant remember who I saw do it)

 

Jan 6, 2018

I layed tape against the side panels and poured thinner batches of thickened epoxy down from the bottom to fill enough to sand a good radius out of. Some of my gaps were pretty big so the glue was concave in places, I think this will remedy that.

I thickened up the last bit and finished shaping the bow seams and pulled the screws out of the transom and filled those holes as well. Right now it's just wood, glue and tape... no metal

 

Jan 7, 2018


Finished my wifes "Dexter Room"

I sanded all the glue and squared off the corners and shaped the bow. Im pretty happy with it but 1-2 small voids and a couple of ziptie holes not 100% filled in.

I will fill the voids tonight then tomorrow finish shaping and sanding the radius for taping.

 

Jan 7, 2018

One more pic of a nice corner before it gets rounded.