Started skinning yesterday.

I find that clamping the skin in place very important and leads to a better looking job. Your not fighting with the fabric and it keeps it straight on the boat. I used a clamp down the center line on the deck beam this time. I don’t normally do that but I will in the future. It made keeping the fabric snug on the frame easier.

This is where I left it. Very  happy with the way it looks. There are more wrinkles in the end than I like but it’s hard not to have a few with a long pointed end. Just a lot of fabric your trying to stretch and sew. If I had seen these I could worked some of it out. But it’s not a problem, The skin will shrink so much lengthwise they will pull right out.

It is ready for the coaming but I am not finished with it. Since it will be painted black it’s taking a lot of work to make it look good. Black shows EVERY flaw in it.  So I am still sanding and priming. Hoping to get it done today and maybe tomorrow I can finish up the sewing.

Mean time I will finish some night stands I am building for Christmas present.

Actually what I am showing as day 7 has been going on for several days, but just a few minutes at time. Building the laminated coaming. Just hitting a few high points here but I have a full how-to video on my web site.

I have a form I build the body around. I take it off, flatten both the top and bottom and then laminate the rim.  I use long strips here because they are easier to work with than the full width strips for the body. For those I use much shorter strips.

After the glue dries it is time to finish the coaming. I strap it to my bench and start planing with block plane. Doesn’t take long to have it flat. I spend some time sanding and making the coaming look good. I rounder over the edges with a router and them more sanding.

Last step is some primer since this one is going to be painted instead of the usually natural finish I use. Then some more sanding and filling some gaps and some more sanding. And the final coat of finish. Black.

Meanwhile, time to start skinning the boat.

Spent a lot of hours in the shop the past couple of days. While dry fitting the stringers I found some problems. This is why I like to build the prototype before releasing the plans.This is the stern and if you look you can see the stringer bend downward. I puzzled over this  for a few minutes but was pretty sure what I had done. Pulled up the drawing and found the problem pretty quickly. Changed it, printed ou the new frame and cut a new one.

Here you can see the difference. Basically I drew the slot on the wrong side of the chine just as I suspected. Not the first time I have done this.

Today I basically finished lashing the frame. There are a few joints that can not be done on the boat so I took it off the strongback.  I need to install the floors and lash the joints that could not be done on the strongback.

Next it’s time to install some footrest and start skinning. My hands are sore so I will probably take a couple of days way from it and do something else.

I started on the frames this morning. First step was to cut out the full size patterns and arrange them on the plywood. I also drew out the floor boards so I made sure I had plenty of wood.

I use a spray adhesive to adhere the paper to the plywood. I have learned that the best way to apply it is over some scraps on a garbage can. You don’t want to get this stuff on your hands. Then you pick up all the sawdust and it is hard to ever get your hands clean.

I use a plastic spreader to smooth the paper. It works better than anything else I have tried.

Next I start cutting out the parts with both the jig saw and band saw.  A little sanding and they are all done.

Funny thing was I am still short one frame. Well actually I have enough frames, I have extras! Just seems that instead of printing the one that I was missing, I printed one that was on the sheet. So I am still short one. But that is easy to fix tomorrow.

I gave her a name, SHAD. Actually I have a design named Shad but I never was happy with the boat and could never bring myself to build one. It is a Greenland style boat so it is only appropriate that it be replaced with a much improved Greenland style boat.

First step was to go over my plans and make a quick list of the stringers I needed to make and double check all the frames were on the plans. I had the right number of frames drawn but when I went over them I couldn’t find one. Turned out I had drawn one twice. Glad I got my one mistake out of way now. 🙂

Since I start with rough lumber I ran it thought my planner to get it to correct thickness.

Next I cut the stringers to width and set them aside.  Usually the wood I buy it full of knots. To deal with the knots I cut them out with a scarf cut and glue them back together. With the economy slow it seems we are getting better wood so these were relatively clear. I only had one knot to deal with and I just set it aside to cut up or shorter pieces.

After a nasty but freak accident  where a tiny piece of wood was sent at supersonic speed into my thumb, leaving it missing the nail and looking akin to hamburger, once I was able to get back in the shop I set about designing a safer scarf jig. This is what I came up with and I am pretty happy with it. I do need to make a couple of small changes. It forces you standing to the left side, out of the line of fire. The cutoffs fall on the table and with the blade against the sled it is very hard (not impossible!) for it to launch a projectile back at you.

Once the scarfs were cut I glued the joints together. Leave them over night and tomorrow they will be ready to go on the boat. I won’t be ready use them but they are ready when I start assembly.

Last project today was repair the stand. I kicked the bottom to move it and snapped the joints. I love these stands but now I know to add some braces in the corners. To much leverage on the end of those legs!