Finally, after a week long of celebration for me coming into the nice age of 40, the built continued. After last week failure on the keel, I figured I needed some jigs for my table saw if I both wanted my keel to be straight and keep my fingers attached to my hands. That being done, I am now the proud owner of some very nice and straight keel.with that done, the sub-deck cut was also expedited. Current status: All hull parts are now cut to shape. Next steps: Cutting the notches on all of those parts so that they assemble together properly. Just have to solve my dilemna of using either the router or the scroll saw for those. (And if using the scroll saw, if I want to pierce a pilot hole at the end of the notches) So many choices!
Happy Birthday! (said in a Frosty the Snow Man voice) What I used for my cruiser was a jig saw; using the width of the blade to cut out the notches. Works pretty well if I do say so myself. It's also hard to mess up and saves you the trouble of possibly messing up once or twice with a router. Beaver
Happy Birthday for turning the Big 40. I thought it was a big deal but I am turning the Big 50 this sunday so your still good to go.
Here is my Ribs notching process Start with non-notched rib, cut to scale Put it on the Drill press, to drive stop holes at the end of my notches Then straight to the scroll saw I make sure to cut "inside" the lines, so that the notches are a tad too small. this is verified with a first test fit: I can then adjust the fitting and the cleanliness of the lines. I use a 1/8 file and a strip of sandpaper pulled over a scrapepr (For a thin and flat abrasive surface). that usually provide me with a clean fit: That I can dump in my growing pile of completed ribs... Same process will also be applied for the subdeck and keels... still a lot of work to do before intial asembly of the whole thing!, but getting there, slowly:blush:
Indeed, very nice! Does your saw accept spiral blades? Might make it easier to cut out the notches. Wouldn't have to drill holes, just cut. This build has been awesome so far, can't even wonder how much more it's going to be later on. Beaver
The drill would accept spiral blade, but since its just that tiny bit out of alignment, it got that wobble I do not like. I would not feel safe to use the spiral blade jsut because of that. and I too like the laser lines! no matter at wich depth I am drilling, they are always close to the center (Close... not perfect) I use them for rough positioning, then when I start to lower the drill bit, I perform the slight adjustment needed to correct the position.
While working on the prow portion of my keels, I figured it was a good time to shape it to break the wave properly... I did not liked the idea of a 1/2" wide prow. So I did a quick transformation of my sanders... So that I can shape properly the prow: Picture don't do jsutice. that prow is slick and thin! Still, the flare at the top should have been wider. Noting that I can't fix with some putty later on.
Program of the evening: Piercing the stern keel to make room for the central stuffing tube. I would have been able to wait later in the project, but that dificult task would only been harder! For reference, I had to pierce a 1/4" hole, 3 inch long, centered in a 1/2" ply, with a down angle of 2 degrees. Too much to hanle with my hand drill with confidence (3 trials on a scrap of wood proved that quited efficientlyinch. And I am not able to put that keel under my drill press... the piece is simply too long.:cry: So ere is the little story of how I created a mess with my tools, to achieved glory!!! Started by disantling and reversing my drill press, so that it clear the table and support plate. Added backing boards and clamp to hold it in place. Rotated the support plate to support lateraly my keel. Added a support brace, clamped to the support plate. Also clamped te keel to the support brace and backing boards... So many clamp! Of course, I had to use a wood shimm to "tune" the 2 degree angle:blink: Pilot hole at 1/8 seem good So I then move from 1/8 all the way to 1/4, in i-size increment to enlarge the pilot hole. (Don't search for the 7/32, it is installed on the drill press ) At 1/4", got an issue: Im not through my 3 inch of path... So after the first enlargment, I reseted the bit so that it "Start" from already inside the hole... (Just hope it did not catch the wood on start, and rip the whole piece apart:ermm::ermm::ermm Succes, I see the exit point from below. And centered! And at the right angle! so cool to see the light at the end of the tunnel I will probably have to file a bit just to tune up a bit... but that can wait for later!
I was planning on waiting a bit longer, and having the subdeck ready at the same time for the photo... But I'm just too excited. Here is the little photo story of a test fit session, without a drop of glue. An on with the pictures! (4th rib from the stern as a little play in it. The glue will fix that...)
