Canoe Stuff

[catsittingstill]

Today I finished cutting out the stations for the Binturong design, and sanded them all down to the lines.  They're not perfect--there's a place or two where I sanded a wee bit too far--but I think they're as good as the fairing job can be, so they're good enough.  (There's no point in making the stations accurate to 1/64th inch if the fairing is only going to be accurate to 1/16th.) 

I think I have a much faster way to put in the screws for that the fishing line to anchor to--I can use the drill press of the Shopsmith to drill the holes and use the hand drill to screw in the screws and not have to be changing bits all the time.  The hand drill is heavy, though.  Despite the weight training two times a week (I'm getting back into it) my wrists are having a hard time of it.

Rumor has it that it is possible to use hot glue to temporarily glue the strips to the stations while the carpenters glue between the strips dries.  However this would require a hot glue gun and a particular type of hot glue, which I would probably have to order.  So I'm not sure I'll try it this time, though I will be trying it one of these times, because if it does work it sounds like it would be faster than wrapping with fishing line.  Also it shouldn't have problems with the strips pulling away from the forms at the turn of the bilge.  However I'm a little nervous about the hot glue method, because what if I can't get the hot glue to release, or what if it tears chunks out of the strips?  So I'm deliberating on the hot glue.  I'll look into it some more tonight or tomorrow.

I still need to put screws in the stations (I've done one but there are 11 that need screws for sure and 2 more that might) and lay out the distances along the centerline of the strongback (this time it's 35 centimeters (or just about 13 3/4 inches) between stations, so hopefully I'll be able to screw the cross braces into spots that aren't all torn up by previous cross brace screws.)  Then I'll drill 3/8 inch holes in the cross braces and 1/2 inch holes in the stations to match (giving the stations a little necessary "slop" to allow me to get everything lined up properly before tightening the carriage bolts.)  Then I'll screw the cross braces in place, and align everything.

Maybe I'm crazy but I'm hoping I can do it in a couple more days like today.  Realistically I'll be happy if I get everything set up by Friday, though.

Comments

[judifilksign.livejournal.com]

I have your song humming through my mind: If it's true to a sixteenth, it's true...

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

:-)

[boywizard.livejournal.com]

The hot glue would certainly affix the strips to the forms securely, but I'd be a bit nervous about the release. Fortunately I think hot glue is weaker in shear than in tension, so maybe applying force to the forms parallel to the keel would pop them loose, whereas trying to pull straight away from the forms might be more likely to fail to release, or to damage the strips. Before using hot glue, I would run a test by gluing some strips to a piece of plywood scrap, and then see haw easy it is to get them off. Maybe running a strip of masking tape around the form would provide a more reliable release surface? You will probably have glue to scrape off the boat's interior.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

When the hot glue arrives I'll be setting up some tests to see how it behaves and how hard it is to 1) get it to stick to the plywood 2) get it to come off the plywood, 3) get it to come off the hull.

Because all three characteristics are likely to be important.

The one page I've found that describes the hot glue method mentions the importance of whacking the forms parallel to the keel, because apparently sheer is the way to go.

I will keep everyone posted on how this works out.