Here is the transom, 8 and 6 stations being laid out.  All moulds were built referenced to a horizontal baseline.  The stem should sit 50mm above the base frame and everything moving up from there.  Storing these for now while the keelson laminating gets ready.

Discovered the loft value errors.  I was comparing them to the templates...duh.

Just added a water fountain in the shop for the hot weather(in pic below). Someone was throwing it out.  It needed the valve rebuilt but the refrigerant cycle works and there are no leaks.  A little paint and scribing and we get chilled water....yeah!!!

Started building some moulds.  I assumed I would lay it out on the floor but there is so much chicken sh_t around  from the wandering birds I am working off of a panel.  Paper traces are transfered to boards, cut, fitted, assembled and soon to be final shaped.  Only need to finish up 7 and 8 and the transom.  Everything is sized for 1/4" skin and 5/8" battens.   In another week or so we will get a crew together to glue up the laminates on the keelson.  I think the keel mould can get taken down by end of July and then the station moulds setup.   Those aft stations 6, 7, 8, T  really get some tight turns.  My battens for tracing lines (or whatever you call it) started breaking.  I eventually used a piece of balsa and tiny nails set at each loft point with the balsa bent around them.  That would have been nice to try earlier on.  An offset line at 22mm (batten and skin) was then drawn parallel to each true loft line giving the mould outer line.

Much bigger now...

6/4/14:  More of the same.  Building up laminates A, B, C, D.  Then a smaller set of E thru G to follow.

The curvature in stations 3-2-1-stem proved a bit much for 10mm laminates C, D and E.  I am putting together a steam box to help bend the whole set before gluing.  Not sure how long this will delay keel work but stations could be worked on in the mean time.  Sort of a hodgpodge of picture here showing more laminate buildup, planing, fitting and prep for bending.

Standby, I am getting close to starting up the work again.  For now here are some really great videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX2S25LH6Hs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbVMxSrTnLM

More of the same.  Lots of scarf and glue.  The glue bench could use an upgrade but so far everything is straight.  Maybe two weeks before a real layup is possible.  It would be nice to do A-E sections.  I revised the laminate sheet and I am considering steaming the length of the laminates from the stem to section 3 then drying them in the form jig.   The 10 mm sections take the curve but one cracked at section 2.  With six or seven layers I dont want to blow it up.

Had some difficulty with resawing and controlling board shape.  It is getting better but going real slow. There is a warp in the plank I started with that I am fighting that has forced some an extra step of building up planks for the lamination layers.  Each piece is getting a coat of epoxy following the West System folks method.   Some wood bees have really been storming the jig as well.  Three of them just today.  The ants are in the process of carrying away their bodies.

The scarf tool, resaw jig, and epoxy coating work space are setup so as soon as the design gets adjusted for these errors in sizing it should pick up speed.  Well we'll see.

All forms are now cut and aligned.  A recheck of profile points are within 3mm.








Stations 8, 7, 6 and the transom points do not create a fare line.  Does anyone know if this is normal for F15 hulls?  I discovered the comment section is not working and so a message to wymanrt@yahoo.com would be great.  I imagine I will redo this section with a batten and miss the loft points by several mm.  The form is almost ready for lamination work.






The first marking of center-line points measured from the baseline shows they are skewed.  Will have to reset sections of form and remark or rotate baseline reference.  

Moving along I decided to construct the backbone stand alone in the upright or flat orientation (TBD) then build the stations and insert it within them.  The cross members will be added after the initial lamination and shaping and finally trimmed within the shell fairing.  Building base is coming along.  The backbone went through several revisions to where finally the cross pieces (frames and buttresses) are moved to the top of the lamination stack instead of in the middle making the work easier.  A 10 mm cap will sandwich both assemblies.  A few more days of vacation should get the lamination started.

Backbone construction:  Planning to work with African Mahogany for majority of backbone along with Oak for frames and ? for buttresses at four points in the area of the keel flange.  Two frames will be fore and aft of keel centroid longitudinally and one set will terminate near the shroud attachments.  The basic layout still being refined is shown below.  Stiffness of stern area up to rudder attachment is being studied with shell and panels.  Load distribution out from keel attachment along with other stress points; mast, shrouds, jib, etc. will tweak the design before any molds can be setup.


Finished parts waiting for a home.  Still work to do here but at a good stopping point until the hull forms.