Arctic Tern Build

May 23, 2017

Epoxying the Port Garboard Plank

After some additional sanding and planning on the port Garboard Plank I clamped everything in place and was pleased with the fit.  Most of the additional planning was on the keelson to remove a crown so that the plank would be flat against the keelson.  Once the crown was removed the plank fit much fairer. 

 

Placed packing tape on all of the forms to that the epoxy would not glue the plank to the form.  I then prepared everything for the epoxy of the plank.

With the assistance of my wife we mixed up two batches of epoxy with filler to a peanut butter consistency and I spread it along the keelson. 

Once spread nice and thick, we carefully placed the plank in position and clamped it at form #4 and #5 (pretty much the center of the boat).  I then screwed the plank to the keelson beginning in the middle and working towards the bow and then the stern.  It was very helpful with my wife watching the edge of the plank as I put a screw in and began to get a squeeze out of epoxy.  She would let me know so that I did not over tighten the screws.  I realized that it is a two person job to glue the planks in place so I plan to have my wife assist me with each plank that is placed on the boat. 

Once everything was clamped and screwed in place we began the clean-up of the squeezed out epoxy.  After scraping as much off with scrapers we then wiped the joints with denatured alcohol.

I let everything dry for two full days before removing the clamps and the screws. 

It is exciting to start to see the bottom of the boat take shape.  I am looking forward to fitting and epoxying the Starboard Garboard Plank next. 

Arctic Tern Build

May 21, 2017

Cutting out Garboard Planks

As pointed out by Peitro, the grains on two of the boards that I scarfed together are running opposite to each other.  I never recognized that but since I will be painting both inside and out, it should not make a difference.  But I will definitely be more aware as I scarf other boards together.  Thanks for your sharp eyes Peitro.   

Today I traced the outline of the Garboard pattern onto the actual Okoume plywood.  After tracing I used my circular saw to carefully cut along the penciled edge.  Finished up with a hand block plane and a sanding block.  The edges are not perfect but hopefully I will get better at this as I work on the other planks. 

Clamped the port Garboard plank in place and placed the Starboard plank resting upon the forms just to see what they would look like.  

 

As I clamped the port plank to the keelson I realized that the actual Okoume plank was thicker than the material that I was using for the pattern, so it will be much more difficult to form the plank to the curve of the forms.  I will definitely need to use screws during the epoxy stage to insure that the plank is held firmly in position until cured. 

Next step will be fitting and fairing the Garboard Planks to the keelson and forms.

Arctic Tern Build

May 18, 2017

Filling and Fairing Scarf Joints

Since I was not happy about the scarf joints I sanded the excess epoxy down and put on a coat of QuikFair, which is Fairing Putty.  Once dry I will sand and then proceed to do the same to the opposite side of the planks.  Eventually, the bottom of the boat will be painted both inside and out so any color difference will not affect the finished hull. 

 

 

Next step will be to cut out the Garboard Planks.

Arctic Tern Build

May 16, 2017

Epoxy Scarf Joints on Garboard Planks

After cleaning off my work surfaces I aligned both sets of Garboard Planks for applying epoxy to the scarf joints.  I used nails to keep the boards aligned and square to each other.  On the bottom board I nailed its position to the table so that it would not move.  I aligned the scarf on the boards and then I put a nail through the board and then cut the head of the nail off. I then pulled the board up and turned it over for epoxy. 

 

 

 

Once epoxy was applied, I turned the board over and used the nail to reposition the board so that the scarf joints mated precisely with each other.  Placed some plastic over the joints and clamped down with some wood strips and screws.  I let everything cure and dry for a couple of days prior to taking off the clamps.

 

 

I am not particularly satisfied with how the scarf joint turned out.  The top was not too bad as there was just a bit of squeeze out of the epoxy and it appears that I can sand that smooth.  But the bottom left a glob of epoxy, which of course is rock solid.  I plan to sand on that as well.  I would like to have both sides smooth and level so that I don’t have to do additional filling/sanding once in place on the boat.

 

 

Any suggestions on the issue of excess epoxy and how to minimize it while still insuring that there is enough epoxy there to make a good solid joint?  I am thinking that I have to get better at my scarf joints.  I found that when performing the scarf, I would scarf beyond the 3” length which seems to leave a low spot on the boards once adhered together.  Any suggestions would certainly be appreciated.

Next step will be to cut out the Garboard Planks.

Arctic Tern Build

May 14, 2017

Cutting the Okoume Plywood for the Garboard Planks and Scarfing

I first cut one sheet of Okoume plywood to give me four 10” strips and one 8” strip.  I planned on using the 8” strip to practice making scarfs. 

The Okoume plywood I am using is 9mm (3/8”) thick so I am using an 8:1 ratio for my scarfs.  Which equates to 3” overall for the scarf. 

Next step was to practice scarfing.  I first built a jig as described in Iain’s book entitled “Clinker Plywood Boat Building Manual”.  With the jig I attempted to use a hand plane and found that this was quite a slow and labor intensive process and decided that I would make another jig utilizing my router. 

 

 

After making the router jig I attempted to cut a scarf.  Unfortunately, it did not work out as I envisioned it.  In fact, it was a disaster, as you can see from the pictures. 

I then experimented with a combination of using a hand plane, a hand power plane, and my belt sander.  That combination seemed to do the trick and I was pretty pleased with the outcome. 

So after some more practice scarfing on my practice boards I decided to begin scarfing the actual Okoume planks that I will be using for the Garboards.  I used a board that was about 12” wide on which I clamped the Okoume plywood to.  I then proceeded to scarf the marked end with the combination of a hand plane, a power hand plane, and a belt sander.  Finishing up with a sanding block.  I have to admit that I was pretty pleased with the outcome but decided to scarf the opposite ends of each plank just in case I damaged one accidently.

My overall thoughts on scarfing are that I think one can get better at it, as one practices.  I spent a good 2 to 3 hours to obtain the scarfs required for just the Garboard planks.  I have in the back of my mind that there are 6 planks required for each side of the boat (12 total) and that half of those planks will require more than one scarf per plank.  Lots of scarfing practice ahead of me.  I would also highly recommend to anyone scarfing that they definitely wear a dust mask.  Using a hand power planer along with a belt sander creates a mass of chips and sawdust.    

Next step will be epoxy the Okoume strips together.

Arctic Tern Build

May 12, 2017

Making the pattern for the Garboard Planks

Today I worked on the pattern for the Garboard Planks.  I used a piece of ¼” plywood to make the pattern.  I first ripped the plywood into two 10” widths.  I used hot glue gun to glue the ends together to give me the 15+’ length that I needed.  I then clamped one straight edge along the centerline of the keelson and measured and marked the pattern for the location of the edge of the plank. 

I then used a flexible strip of wood to mark a fair curve between the marked spots on the pattern.  Once the curve was marked, I used a saber saw to cut along the marked line and finished with the use of a sanding block to insure that the edge was faired correctly.  Lastly, I fit the pattern onto the port side of the boat to make sure everything lined up correctly. 

Once I was comfortable with the fit on the port side, I flipped the pattern over to check the fit on the starboard side.  I found that I needed to add a bit to one edge to match the marks on the number 4 form.  I will adjust this when I transfer the shape of the pattern to the actual Okoume plywood planking.

Next step will be to cut the Okoume Plywood for the Garboard Planks along with scarfing.

Arctic Tern Build

May 5, 2017

Today I worked at Fairing the Keelson into the stems and beveling the keelson to align with the building forms.  I used my power hand planer and slowly beveled both the port and starboard sides of the keelson.  As I neared each stem, I began rolling the power planer so that the bevel ran into the beveled edge of the stems.  Once I got the bevels close to the forms, I switched to using a hand plane and then I finished everything using some 60 grit sandpaper on a sanding block.  It is not perfect but I am fairly happy with the end result. 

 

 

 

Next step will be to make a pattern for the garboard planks. 

Arctic Tern Build

May 1, 2017

It has been awhile since I last posted an update on my Arctic Tern build.  I have accomplished a number of steps since then which include the planning down of the laminated inner and outer stems, beveling the stems in preparation for planking, cutting the centerboard slot in the keelson, mounting and epoxying the keelson and stems onto the building frame, and fairing the keelson and stems to form the inner backbone of the boat.

Once both inner and outer stems were laminated I then cleaned up the majority of epoxy that accumulated on the edges with my power hand planner.  Then I set up my surface planner and began feeding them through, taking off a little bit of material on each pass, alternating sides until they were the correct thickness of 1 ½”. 

 

 

 

 

I put the two outer stems aside as they will not be incorporated into the boat until the planking is complete. 

Then using dimensions from the drawings I marked off the centerline on both inner stems along with the amount of material that had to be beveled off of the edges of the stems.  I used my power hand planner and slowly beveled the edges to the specified dimension.  Once complete I used a ¼” round over bit on the inside edges of each stem as it was suggested in the video series on OCH since these edges will be visible on the inside of the boat. 

My next step was to prepare the keelson.  I was able to purchase a 3 ½” wide x ¾” thick x 14’ long board so I didn’t have to do any cutting to width or thickness.  I only needed 12’ 5 ½” but I intended to cut off the extra once fitted on the boat.  I carefully measured out the position of the center board slot and used my circular saw to cut out the slot.  I finished up the cuts using my Japanese Pull Saw and a chisel.  Once cut, I sanded and filed to make sure all corners were square and smooth.  It is not perfect but pretty close to the required dimensions.

 

While working on these various steps I ordered the Okoume Plywood that I would be using for the planking as well as some bulkheads and possibly decks on the bulkheads.  After looking around for the best price and delivery on the Okoume, I ended up ordering everything from Boat Builder Central in Florida.  I would highly recommend them as they had the best pricing along with the most excellent service.  They packaged and shipped everything in a timely manner and provided me with updates as to tracking and delivery information.  I would definitely buy from them again.  They also have a forum and tech support portion to their website just for boat builders.  http://boatbuildercentral.com  

 

The stems were then placed and clamped on the building frame making sure to line up the proper positions in regards to the building stations and top of the building frame.  I then placed the keelson in position and was able to determine the location of the cut of each stem to align with each end of the keelson.  I found that making a flat cut on each stem was more difficult than I thought.  I used my circular saw to make the initial cut and then used the bench sander to square everything up.  Clamped everything in place and prepared to epoxy them together.

I used a good mix of epoxy and filler and as suggested in the OCH video I put two temporary screws into each to secure the joint between the stems and the keelson.  I let these epoxy joints cure for a few days before moving on to the next step.

 

 

Next step was to fair the keelson to the curve of the stems.  Using my belt sander I carefully began removing material until I could begin to see the curve taking a nice fair shape.  I finished up with using a sanding board and then to check the curve I clamped the outer stem to check on the fairness of my curve.  I found that I could easily see some high spots using this method which helped me in obtaining the fairest transitional curve between the stems and the keelson. 

My next step will be to begin beveling the keelson to the correct angle for the fitting of the garboard plank.  I have to admit that I am somewhat apprehensive about doing this as I see this as a very critical step in preparing for the epoxying of the garboard.  I will have to just take my time and be patient so that I don’t remove too much material.