Chicks digg epoxy

Here's  the starboard side aft cabin and as you can see, a small chick is inspecting the 40 inch wide layer of 24 oz. triaxial glass that has been applied over the location of where the engine beds will be glassed in place. The 2x6 served as a pretty lame scaffolding but it did allow me to roll on the epoxy, lay down the 40in. x 66in. glass, roll on a top coat of epoxy, apply peel ply and then squeegee this extra layer down nice and smooth.

looking back from the port side bow.

So it may seem like I haven't been making much progress but I promise I've been mixing epoxy and laying glass.  Just to prove that this thing is going to be a cat, here's a picture taken with my feet standing on the tip end of the port side bow.  The windows are just painted cardboard templates. As you can see, the forward portion of the bridge deck has yet to be sculpted and prepped for the final glassing of the deck.  I've ordered a full roll of 34 Oz. Triaxial glass so by the time I get the call from from fiberglass supply, I should be ready to glass the deck.

Gus speaks about the Oceans

While I continue to glass and bond the centerboards into the hulls of this ship, Gus Aiken speaks about the Oceans that will one day provide a home to this cat.  Note the concern on his face. Gus is a wise young man from New Zealand who speaks the truth, so please pass this along to your friends.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SN_4qkqy2I

Back from Australia and New Zealand

Made it back alive from Australia.  Spent a month at the Greg James Studio casting bronze.

http://www.gregjamessculpture.com/

If you're interested, click the link below and digg the video.

http://www.vimeo.com/10795035



"Jellie"
Original Bronze by Allen Smith
Cast with the amazing support and friendship of Greg James.  On location at the Greg James Studio; Fremantle, Australia

Photo:  Allen Smith
Background:  Indian Ocean

Taking a little break from the glass and epoxy

Simple centerboard control pulleys

Here's our lord and savior and his mom admiring these really nice pulleys that I made to control the centerboards.  I used a british Boxford lathe to turn 3 in. stock delrin into pulleys. I then pressed bronze bearings in their centers to help distribute the loads of the lines. The mother and child are also impressed by the aluminum spacer which will prevent the two control lines from jumping ship onto the other pulley.  Both pulleys are home to a 1/2 x 8 inch 316 Stainless Steel bolt.

centerboard control

Here's a cross sectional view showing the pulleys and lines that control the centerboards.  The lower shot shows a side view in the board down position. ( blue line lowers the boards.....a pull on the red brings them up into the cases.) 

Flower pots, cardboard hatches and duct tape lines.

In preparation for a visit from expert builder / owner of  http://www.schoonercreek.com/ ; Steve Rander  AND the HARKEN rep,  I've turned 97 cent flower pots into thousand dollar winches.  These simulated winches will be used to study and optimize the sail handling gear locations.  Colored tape will also be used to trace line paths so that a comprehensive "picture" of a working deck can be modeled.  That's when Steve and the Harken rep can start building a frighteningly expensive bill of materials for things like travelers, line guides, deck pulleys,  hatches, etc. etc. ............

a day cleaning up

Here's a shot looking back towards the starboard cockpit area. .......a few things to notice: left side of photo shows the cabin top, right lower shows the storage openings along the aft  structural member, 3/4 record holding gravity bike (68 mph)  and........flower pots????

Trial fitting the cases and the boards

Before I bond the centerboard cases in place, I wanted to make sure all the pieces fit and that the boards  were going to move freely.  Here, you are looking at the trailing edge of the port side centerboard which  is partially down.  The 1 inch Stainless bolts fit beautifully and the spacing between the boards and the insides of the cases will allow me to shim the upper portion of the boards with the perfect thickness of Delrin sheet to insure good solid positioning when they are fully loaded under sail.

Don't worry, that big ugly gaping square opening will be faired over to provide a streamlined opening for trailing edge flow transition.  I may even see if I can configure gap seals like the first sailboard that I had.

OK....enough of this centerboard pivot scene...

So here they are......I TIG welded the flanges to the threaded pivot bolt receivers and then roughed them up a bit with a grinder so that they will hold tight once they are epoxy bonded and glassed into the outsides of the centerboard cases.

neonate silencer

 

Although it's taken a little while to gather and configure the board pivots, I'm now at the point where I can bond the receivers onto the back sides of these cases and get these things bonded into the boat. If you absolutely run out of places to look for items for a project, I recommend Mc Master Carr . They pretty much have everything on the planet. 

http://www.mcmaster.com/#orders/=5upyvk  

One note that I should mentione is that in order to obtain a 1 inch bolt that has a 6 inch long smooth shank, I had to order a 9" bolt.  For what ever reason, there doesn't seem to be an absolute standard as to how much thread they will include on any particular bolt.  I anticipated this knowing that I will need to chop a part of the threaded ends of these bolts off so that they will not "bottom out" and rupture the external shell of the hull.  Incidentally,  1" bolts 9 inchs long tend to have 6 inches of shank and 3 inches of threads.  Just for the heck of it, I chucked these bolts into the lathe and given them a nice polished shank. Perhaps that will prevent my centerboard pivot holes from wearing over time.  ( I machined two delrin liners and bonded them into the pivot holes of the boards.  Since that material is so slippery, I cut grooves into the outside of the delrin "tubes" used a table saw to cut small longitudinal grooves lengthwise to create a "checkerboard" pattern so that they wouldn't come out once I boned them in with epoxy.  All this may be overkill but i want to dispel the idea that centerboards require more maintenance.

However, like Ian Farrier says they are a heck of a lot more work and I'm beginning to agree with him..

Centerboard pivot bolts

These centerboard bolts are about the size of a small cowboy.  The tow receiver nuts will be welded onto a couple of 3 in. diameter stainless disks with a couple of screw holes in them so that they can be recessed and bonded into the "outer" sides of the centerboard cases.  This will allow the centerboards to be inserted and pinned in place from the inside while the receiver nuts will be permanently blind mounted into the cases. I'm not a big fan of stainless on stainless because it is horrible about "galling" and locking itself into place so I plan on using lots of anti cease paste when I mount the boards.

A little lathe work to create the centerboard pivot bolt receivers

A larger tool

Well........sometimes a larger tool makes all the difference.  After spending a while with the little pneumatic stripping wheel,  I realized that a large, manly twisted steel wire wheel mounted to a "widow- maker" would allow me to get the job done quick. 

Wham, bam,...... thank you mam

Removing a bit of hull core foam

In order to strengthen the area around the slot in the hull where the centerboard case will be joined, the core foam must be removed and replaced with a high density filler. The forward exterior portion of the centerboard slot can be seen here in yellow. This is the natural color of the Kevlar sheathing that runs the 3/4 length of the boat. You can also see the inner skin which is 24 0z. triaxial glass. 

To remove a portion of the hull core foam, I found that a 3M paint stripping wheel works fairly well.  It is aggressive enough to make short work of the foam yet tame enough to prevent the fiberglass skins from being damaged in the process.

 

Centerboard control lines

 The fiberglass tubes shown in the last post will be bonded in the locations that are pictured here in the drawing as blue and red dots.  The RED line is the pull up line and the BLUE line will be the pull down line.   The lines are guided upwards through two sheaves that are mounted inside the upper portion of the centerboard case. From there, they will continue upwards through the deck, through rope clutches to be managed by the turn of a winch.

fiberglass tubes liners ????

Since the centerboards will be controlled with ropes that will terminate with a knots inside fiberglass lined holes in the boards......Now where the heck do you find 1 1/2 in ID fiberglass tubes to line the holes?.  I looked around the shop and noticed that a standard florescent bulb was the perfect diameter.

TIP:  If you need to make some fiberglass tubes, wrap a section of an old florescent bulb with several layers of fiberglass and epoxy then wrap with peel ply. Once cured, a few whacks on the shop floor will shatter the bulb and you'll have perfect 1 and a quarter ID fiberglass tubes.  I then used a chop saw to cut them into the basic lengths that I needed.

After cutting holes in the boards with a hole saw, these tubes will be bonded in place then the small rope holes will be drilled from the edges of the boards into the sides of these now fiberglass lined holes.

ready-set-glass

One interesting reality about building a Cat is that you tend to learn a little bit each time you do something. Since cats have two of a lot of things, the second piece of work that you produce sometimes ends up being nicer than the first........of course, that's not always the case.

Here, the small tidbit of knowledge I learned about laminating the centerboards is that having the glass pre-cut and ready for layup should make the process go quicker.

So......the first board took a solid 8 to 10 hours of flittering about; cutting glass, mixing and rolling epoxy and donning numerous sets of gloves....... Tomorrow I plan on vac bagging the second board and we'll see how long it takes.

Upper center: 30 layers of uni
center: 1 glassed board 1 to go
lower left:  12 oz biaxial
lower right:  4 pieces of 24 oz tri.

The unfinished board

This photo shows a few details that are important to the workings of the centerboard system. 1) the upper flat part of the board 2) the unidirectional glass along the center 3) the taper on the trailing edge where the board will exit the slot and 4) the trailing edge indentation that allows the glass to bond together before the actual trailing edge. ( the groove will later be filled and tapered with micro balloon / epoxy mix )

Success

Opening the present.

ugly post cure oven

Improvised post cure oven......not too pretty but when the ends are covered the temp inside this simple enclosure tops 120 deg.

Board in the bag

Perfect vacuum from an imperfect vacuum pump.

glassing the port board

This is the beginning stages of what became a solid 8 hour session of laying glass, mixing and rolling epoxy, and vac bagging the port side centerboard.  Notice the kevlar insert along the leading edge......just in case. The schedule for the boards went like this: 

1) 24 oz tri axial glass over all
2) 15 layers 12 oz uni glass down the center line.
3) 24 oz tri axial glass over all
4) kevlar along the leading edge.
5) 12 oz. bi axial glass over all

Then the vac bag process......

6) laying peel ply over it all
7) covering the board with perf.
8) covering the entire board with breather
9) sealing the whole deal in the bag.
10) building an insulated "oven" around the bag with a 1500W heater to post cure.
11. Turning on the vacume pump and watching oil pour out of my very expensive Robin-Air Vacuum pump.@@$(^&#$*#&@*;;;!!!

YIKES.....!!!!!!..  Have no Idea why the pump blew a seal but all I could do was to place the pump over a barrel and spend the rest of the night adding oil as it leaked out..........

Uni for the boards

This is what 60 lbs of 12oz. Uni-directional glass looks like.

Engine Bed Inserts for twin SD20 Yanmar Sail Drive units

This photo is a bit out of order but while I'm finishing up the centerboards, I wanted to get going on the engine mounts.  These parts were cut from 1/2 in. 6061-T6 Aluminum plate.

These beautiful parts were water jet cut by the guys at Versatile Supply in Bingen Washington.  http://www.vsisurplus.com/ ( see active link on the list at right)   They have a brand new "state of the art" water-jet cutter that generates 87,000,000 PSI ! The machine  introduces small rubies into the stream while it controls X &Y to within a thousands of an inch and it has a curf thickness of about a human hair.  This amazing machine will cut through 8 in. plate steel.  They are a family business and I would recommend them to my mama.

Monday I will deliver the parts to Schooner Creek Boat Works   http://www.schoonercreek.com/  ( see active link on the list at right) where they will serve as inserts that will be placed in engine bed molds to produce two SD20 Yanmar Sail Drive Units engine beds.

The boss

"Tang", waiting for me to finish his boat.

The big picture

I had a request to add a "macro" photo of the cat and as you can see, I've got a complex system of order going.  Since I only have a few feet on either side of the ship, I end up using the central portion under the bridg deck as my primary shop area.  As you can see, I keep the shop spotllessy clean and orderly just like the assembly area of a NASA space craft. 

Along with a few bikes, kites, sea kayaks, electric cars, a metal casting furnace and a hundred thousand hand tools, see if you can find the watchful eye of "Tang"........he's perched on the seagull striker; which in this case we'll call a Macaw striker.

port side centerboard blank ready for glass

Fitting High density inserts into the centerboard blanks

Here's a work in progress shot of adding the high density reinforcment areas.  As you can see, I used a little florescent paint to mark the sections of foam that needed to be removed so that the High density blocks could be bonded into place.  The high density foam is a 12 lb per cubic ft density where the other foam is a 4 lb / ft^3 density like the rest of the boat.  The square block in the foreground will eventually contain a tube that will allow the retract line to terminate inside the board with a knot.

centerboards.....

After laminating the foam and center stringer of the centerboard blanks, I am now bonding the high density inserts into position.  The boards require a higher density insert along the leading edge where they contact the forward end of the centerboard case as well as a high density block where the attachment point of the retracting line will be. Once this is bonded in place, I get to become an old school board shaper and have fun shaping them like two big long boards.  I'll have to put on some flip flops, bring out the power planer and have fun shaping per Ian Farrier's Profile specifications.

port centerboard hull slot

Here's the port side hull centerboard slot. This photo was taken looking from stem to stern.  When the cases are bonded and glassed in place, I'll smooth all the edges down and taper the aft portion of the slot to reduce hydrodynamic drag........may even incorporate gap seals similar to those used in the aircraft world. ( I once had a RAY windsurfer with the kick down centerboard fin that had a nice set of flexible gap seals that closed when the board was down....... )

Port case in its place

Port center board case trimmed and fitted.........next step: glassing in place

starboard case in its place

Starboard Centerboard case trimmed and fitted........next step: glassing in place

post cure

Since it's a little cool inside the ship,  I created a post cure "oven" with a little used vac bag and a 750W heater.  Notice the big gaping hole in the port side hull.  that hole will soon be occupied by the port side centerboard case.

port side webs in place

After using a generous amount of a mixture of cabosil, micro balloons and epoxy ( 16 oz of B side, 32 oz of A side, 64 oz of cabosil, 32 oz of micro balloons ) all of the webs are seen here bonded into position.  Once all of the edges of the webs were bedded in with the mixture, two staggered layers of 6 in. glass tape were placed over all of the seams and then smoothed over with peel ply.

foam fillets

Here are the foam fillets that have been numbered to make the bonding procedure a little less confusing.

port side centerboard hull reinforcement

The port side hull reinforcement webs are seen here temporarily placed into position.  The numbers correspond to triangular foam fillet pieces that have been prepared in anticipation of bonding the entire assembly into position.

secret

Don't tell your local composite supplier, but after a successful vac bag process, if you quickly pull the top sheet away from the mastic seam, you can re apply the waxed paper tape and with a little care, you can reuse the bag again and again.  Key to being able to do this is to lay additional layers of "used" bag or sheet plastic on top and bottom of your work so that the epoxy never really comes in contact with the outer bag........saves a little time and a little landfill space.

use of unidirectional glass

ready to roll. ( epoxy that is) ...........the vertical stiffeners that are bonded to the hulls and the outboard sides of the centerboard cases include a modest amount of unidirectional glass along the edges. 

centerboard support webs

Here are the six support webs that will make up the structure that will transfer the loads from the  centerboard cases to the internal sides of the boat.  I have found it easier to first cut and lightly bond the glass over the foam using 3M-77 spray adhesive then simply roll on a good thickness of epoxy over each piece and vac bag them in the usual manner.  After performing hundreds of vac bag proceedures, it's possible to get a feel for how much resin each piecs will absorb.  If you over apply, it won't hurt your part, it will just hurt your wallet.

YIKES!!!!!!!

This photo scares the crap out of me.......I doused the lights in hopes that it would show the laser grid lines that I was using to align the port side centerboard location and now I see some creepy red eyed catamaran monster looking back at me from the port side state room.

Now how many times does a person get to use space age lasers, cardboard, box knives and masking tape all in one day? Here's a confusing shot looking at the port side centerboard case location. ( Ive taken it out again to add all the reinforcement webs)

  The forward portion of each case requires a series of reinforcements that transmit loads generated by the boards back into the hull so Im using a really nice laser level that my brother gave me for christmas to create patterns that I will use to cut the foam core pieces.  

Starboard side centerboard case.

Pre fitting the starboard side centerboard case.  Fot this photograph, I'm standing in the port side forward cabin looking aft.  Takes a bit of trial fitting..... marking interferences, grinding away at them re fitting it, marking more snaggs puling it out again and again.  If you look real closely you can see a 2 inch wide grey strap that I tied into a loop.  I finally figured out that tucking my shoulder under this strap lets me lift the case out by my self without much effort.  Also note temporary stairs leading down from the bridge deck.

It fits.....

This is where the port side centerboard case will live out it's useful life.  I've positioned it in place temporarily and will remove it so that I can install the other support webs.  The case is offset nicely and it leaves plenty of walk way floor space inside the hulls. Notice, however, I have not yet installed the floor supports so you are looking at the curved bilge of the hulls.  Also you will notice that the case fit is not yet complete because the top portion of the case needs to lay flush with the top surface of the side web.   Regardless, I will sleep better tonight knowing that it is going to be possible for me to actually build this cat with centerboards........As Ian Farrier says : It's a lot more work. He's right but I still want to be able to run this ship over unseen sand bars without having to worry about smashing a dagger board or ripping an unwanted slot in a hull. 

Stressful sawing

Cutting a gaping hole in the bottom of the port side hull was a stressful thing to do.  After days and days of stretching string lines, making measurements, swinging plumb bobs, wielding levels, shining lasers and pretty much convincing myself that I knew where to cut my centerboard case hole, I went ahead and cut it......will the case fit...... or will I have to build a new boat?  The wood piece is a representation of the cross section of the centerboard case and here, I am using it to check the fit of the case before I man handle it in place.

Marking the location for the port side centerboard case install

Although this is not the most elegant photograph of the interior of the port side hull, it shows a number of sharpy pen marks that I have made to convince myself that I know what I am doing. ( measure five times, mark three times and cut once )

You can also see the multi layer unidirectional upright web along the left side of the door opening. This, along with several more reinforcing webs will provide ample bonding points to distribute the forces that will be generated by the centerboards.

Port side centerboard case trimming

The forward end of the centerboard case nests into the inner hulls forward of the mast bulkhead.  The lower edges of the case protrude through a slot cut in the boat and will be trimmed to match the curves of the hull.

forward end of port side centerboad case

Here's a close up of the forward end of the centerboard case awaiting an end cap of glass and epoxy.

Port side centerboard case

Here is the port side centerboard case resting on top of the port side master cabin top.  This was as good enough place as any to prepare the edges of the box for external glassing.

reason enough.....

Here are 16 reasons to build a cruising catamaran........nice compared to 9 degrees outside the shop.  Tonight, it's colder here in Hood River, OR than it is in Anchorage Alaska.  The extension cord is running to a small heater inside the bridge deck cabin keeping it a comfortable 75 deg. inside the boat. Maybe I should think about naming her "Thermos"