Winter..er, Spring build... boat from scratch

Re: Winter..er, Spring build... boat from scratch

oh man bud.. looking good.. your getting there.. why do all you guys have to live across the country .. i would be there in a min to help ya out.. just to see the thing come together is sweet.. keep up the good work

Re: Winter..er, Spring build... boat from scratch

Wow. That was long winded - even by my standards. So, I'll be brutally honest, and say I skimmed it, and didn't read it.

I do have to say wow. Sounds like you have quite the project. I'll certainly be following this. I actually have plans for something similar myself. I am looking at building a 20 foot welded aluminum (3/16 lower hull 1/8 inch sides) center console, powered by a 150 outboard, set up as a bay boat, for striper fishing in inland lakes, and coastal fishing. Goal is to complete it before I graduate high school, which right now, is going to be pushing it, as obtaining the funds is tough right now.

Good luck with your build. Post plenty of pictures.

Re: Winter..er, Spring build... boat from scratch

Looking very good, Eric. I am enjoying this thread. Don't worry about all the text, I enjoy the details.

Re: Winter..er, Spring build... boat from scratch

Mark42 said:

Looking very good, Eric. I am enjoying this thread. Don't worry about all the text, I enjoy the details.

Click to expand...

agreed.. i need somthing to do at work

Re: Winter..er, Spring build... boat from scratch

Heh. I'll try to be less long winded in the future, and post more pictures.

Not today though... there's nothing new to see

If I had an audio recording of this weekend's work, I'm sure some of you would learn some new words.

I spent about 6-8 hours total tweaking the positions of the frames on the strongback. I had tried to slot and install the first stringer only to find that the frames were ever.....so.....slightly off.

Then I made it worse by "measuring" each one again, forgetting a crucial reference point was off, and moving each frame to be consistent with the wrong measurement. Then re-measuring later and moving them again.

Some of these things I think I've installed about 6-7 times now. I should really have used straighter lumber for my strongback... all I'd have to do is level that off and measure everything off it.

Anyway, I'm sure it's right now, I'll just need to re-slot the one stringer and put the other three on and I can get on with hull assembly. I'll have to make a new stringer after the hull is flipped, but that's not a huge deal.

So after all my weekend's work sweating, swearing, measuring, and moving I'm exactly where I was appearance-wise about two weeks ago. But things ARE more exact now

Erik

PS: One more thing... I'm discovering that I don't have enough room. The size of the hull is impressive, and it's going to get bigger, so I'm going to end up removing the work benches and such I made to use, and taking out my air compressor and tank to get room to move.

Re: Winter..er, Spring build... boat from scratch

Impressive build Erik. I missed this probably due to your thread title

A 19ft boat in a single car garage...yeah, you'll run out of room quick! But at least you are getting something done! I read up on the stitch and glue method before....I wasn't aware that they had a boat this big available!

When you said stitch and glue I was worried you'd have an ugly little hull design, but the basic design is pretty good looking for that type of construction considering you are limited to the shape a panel can take ( not as sexy curvy as my Glastron though )

Oh, if you think you rant in your thread, wait til I get going on my boat this summer and watch me go!

Re: Winter..er, Spring build... boat from scratch

Eric, are you going to put this build on shareaproject.com? It would be a great format for your build.

Re: Winter..er, Spring build... boat from scratch

I've been thinking about a better way to show off my builds of various things (the boat is just one project... I love building many things, machinery, electronics, etc.) and shareaproject would be better than using my home server's bandwidth (I have a fixed IP www server). But, it would also mean less control. The big thing is, at the moment I need to rebuild my home server with newer software... it's been running uninterrupted for 3-ish years on an older version of Linux. I guess I'll see....


Quick update, again not much to see:

Last night I cut the motor well sides out... these are two pieces of ply the right length to space the last frame (motorwell front) away from the transom, at the right angle to hold the transom in place.

So obviously the spacing between the transom and last frame has to be right, and the last frame has to be braced well enough to hold its own weight and the transom in place for hull assembly.

My case is even more complicated... instead of the stock transom made of 2 3/8 inch ply pieces laminated to a 1 inch dimensional clamp board, I'm using a full height transom laminated to 2 1/2 inches thick. So it's extra, extra heavy.

This is a pic from another guy's site, the one I linked to above, showing what HE did for his transom... note that he's using the clamp board and that he's not using the motorwell sides:

http://www.outbackpics.com/Boat/pages/jig/jig4.htm

I'm working on bracing it in place at the right distance, height, level, etc so I can start hull assembly... just like I've been planning to do for weeks.

I could probably get it done tonight and just go with it, but I think I need to adjust the other frames one more time... they're not off by much, maybe a half inch at most, linear distance from the origin (bow). But I'm still being anal about doing things precisely as I can at this point.

Plus as I install the stringers they'll get adjusted anyway. The stringers align the frames because they're slotted at equal distances from the transom. Since my frames are probably not perfectly spaced due to my strongback warping, the stringers will force the hull square. Which is a good thing.

Link to pic on other guy's site again... his boat looks more impressive than mine
http://www.outbackpics.com/Boat/pages/jig/jig5.htm

At this point I am wishing I'd gone with Marine ply. Not because the ply is a better material for this boat, but because it would warp less, and make this whole process easier. High quality ply plus high quality jig wood means less adjusting for warpage, and less trouble. I'd be much farther along if I didn't have to figure out where an extra 1/4" measurement came from. On the other hand it's forcing me to think, which isn't bad.

I think I'd also use marine ply if I was going to let any of it show. It's much prettier than the HQ exterior stuff.

So, transom mounting then stringers next. Slooooow progress. This is just as hard as doing a boat repair to keep motivated. At this point it doesn't even look like a boat.

But that'll change. I'm enjoying shopping for the accessories I'm going to put on it, doing interior layout, and planning the weird hull add-ons I'm doing.

Erik

Re: Winter..er, Spring build... boat from scratch

Quick update with nothing new to look at.

I finished mounting my transom using the motor well sides, it's in the right place now and looks good.

I also adjusted the spacing of the other frames again to plan, and fixed their height in place using a couple extra pieces of ply on the frame legs as brackets. So I shouldn't need to level or adjust height on them again.

I put one stringer in place and marked slots on it, removed it, cut it, and re-fit. It is very close to correct, just a bit of shaping to do and tweak the height. I copied the slot locations to the matching stringer, which will force all the frames to be square to the transom.

Two more stringers tonight, if all goes well then it's finally time for stitching.

Erik

Re: Winter..er, Spring build... boat from scratch

Sounds like you are starting to really get a good handle on this Erik! Once the basic form ( skeleton ) of the boat gets laid up, hopefully the rest will just fall into place like it was supposed to. I tried building a metal shed from Menards all by myself. Thought I had my base flat, used string lines to level the ground, etc. Nope, I was off by just enough that I had to struggle to get the last two corners buttoned up and nothing truly just "fit" right off the bat.

There's something to be said for "straight and true".

Re: Winter..er, Spring build... boat from scratch

Well, after delays related to more adjustment of stringers, other projects (yep, it's summer soon) and just being tired as all heck after work, I finally got the stringers in place:




I have a tiny bit of tweaking to go to make sure they're all the right height, then a final check to make sure it's all symmetrical. Then I start stitching hull panels on.

I've been stuck at this stage for weeks now and I'm happy to move on. I am being very picky about everything right now since I want the hull to be symmetrical and straight, or else everything else I do on it will be pointless.


I took tomorrow off so maybe I'll get some more done

I also am going to pick up another project boat that I bought for the trailer, but which may be a future restore project.

Hi, my name is Erik, and I have MBS.

Erik

Re: Winter..er, Spring build... boat from scratch

It's probably a good thing I don't have the space to store stuff like you do or my place would be filled with projects I picked up and would never get to!

Re: Winter..er, Spring build... boat from scratch

I'm cleaning out the garage today just to get space for one more boat, and a place to work on the trailer. I now take up just about all of a 1 story 1600 square foot house with detached garage with my living space and workshops, and I live alone :\

I can't wait until I can get a place a bit farther out in the country where I can have a full size workshop with room for multiple large projects at once, plus storage space out back where no one will care if there are four boats parked under tarps.

Erik

Re: Winter..er, Spring build... boat from scratch

erikgreen said:

I'm cleaning out the garage today just to get space for one more boat, and a place to work on the trailer. I now take up just about all of a 1 story 1600 square foot house with detached garage with my living space and workshops, and I live alone :\

I can't wait until I can get a place a bit farther out in the country where I can have a full size workshop with room for multiple large projects at once, plus storage space out back where no one will care if there are four boats parked under tarps.

Erik

Click to expand...

There's a nice place just outside the Isanti city limits that has 48 acres, 25 wooded, comes with a 32x80 pole barn with 1/3 of it a heated shop for $400k, and the taxes are $2000/yr! The topography allows plenty of storage of crap in the back without onlookers being able to see it easily, not to mention a nice house and 2 car attached garage... :drool: Wish I could afford a place like that!

Re: Winter..er, Spring build... boat from scratch

erikgreen said:

I am being very picky about everything right now since I want the hull to be symmetrical and straight, or else everything else I do on it will be pointless.

Click to expand...

Met you on Oops! thread or feel like I did, the above quote is the most important thing you have said. The people that aren't up to reading the long detailed posts don't know what they are missing! Love the insights, your help with Oops! project and more.

I say Yaaaaar! about having O.C.D.! Being anal means NOT doing it right the SECOND time, but the FIRST!

Re: Winter..er, Spring build... boat from scratch

erikgreen said:

I'm guilty too, lots going on here, getting my new project stored for next winter and doing a dozen other projects, so I haven't updated (or in fact done much work) on my build.,

Erik

Click to expand...

I am ony addicted to three threads so far, get that camera fired up please.
Love seeing quailty work, and it encourages me to get busy.

PF

Re: Winter..er, Spring build... boat from scratch

Yeah, I've been slacking.

I got a 1961-ish buehler turbocraft jet boat I'm moving into my garage at the moment... so I had to clean the garage first, then put a new welding table in place, then organize some more to get more room, then take the turbocraft off its old, broken trailer and cut that up for scrap.

Then I put it on a cradle to haul it into the garage, started moving it in with a winch, cradle broke, shored it up with plywood, continued hauling... I might finish getting it in there tonight.

Then I have a lot of thinking to do... I could part the thing out, I only paid $300 for it, and that was for the scrap value of the trailer. But the engine in the boat is an AMC 327 fireball-8 with dual side draft carbs, pretty much a classic aluminum engine. The jet drive is apparently all there and functional. The hull is in ok shape given its age... it'd need a gut and rework plus some gelcoat repairs... gotta ask oops and ondarvr about how to do that right.

But if I rebuild it I might be able to sell it for at least a few thousand, which would be *probably* more than I'd put in for materials, and it would be a lot of fun... I'll post another thread with pics pretty soon, she's a pretty boat with all that chrome.

Or I could just sell the classic engine and the jet pump and the chrome, or even sell the engine and build another hull suitable for the jet, and attach it to a 4.3 chevy or similar. It'd be really, really fast and fun.

Hmmmm.

I still intend to get back on the build project, but I've relaxed my deadline from summer's start to summer's end... I run a safety boat for a sailboard race each year, I'll take it to that.

Of course, my 21 footer needs a lower unit too and interior work, gotta find time for that....

Erik

Re: Winter..er, Spring build... boat from scratch

Okay, it's time to make a decision.

I've got a 21 footer needing work, a vintage jet boat that at least needs to be drained, and multiple home projects while the weather is warm.

Plus dive season is starting, so I have to lead a trip to the Bahamas next week plus I have training and trips most weekends through about August.

So I've decided to be realistic about my time management.

I'm going to archive this project until next winter, when I can pick it up again in the same shop space.

In the meantime it's still in a state where I can disassemble it and store it flat on pallets, so I won't lose most of the work I've done.

It makes me sad to stop, it feels like giving up, but I only really have time for one boat project at a time, and for right now that's getting my working boat on the water again and then maybe some restore stuff.

I'll re-open this thread next fall when there's no more time for outdoor play, and it's too stormy to dive Superior

Erik

Re: Winter..er, Spring build... boat from scratch

Have a good summer Eric,

Don't feel bad, all of us have too many irons in the fire sometimes!

Love diving in the Bahamas, I've spent extensive time in the Exuma out islands, beautiful reefs...

Bear

Re: Winter..er, Spring build... boat from scratch

send pics from the bahamas bud.......and stay clear of mexico for now!....lol