Thanks for the suggestions, Tumor. I've been thinking up something similar. I'll have to see which one will work best. Thanks, I've enjoyed your build so far. Some very good ideas, and great craftsmanship there. Beaver
So today was the day to put in the motor mount. Going to do a little documentation of the process. So first off, I drilled a hole in the center of the mount about 3/16" off of the front. Now taking that mount over the hull, I laid it where I wanted it and put a mark on the keel where the hole was. Then drill a hole there. Next, I cut a 5/8" long 1/8" threaded rod. This rod will be epoxied in later. Under the mount is a nut that I can move up or down to adjust the angle of the mount. I also have a nut on top to keep anything from moving. So at this point the motor fits quite nicely, and is not rubbing on anything. Now pretty much repeat this process for the back except don't use two nuts. The back of the mount is laying on a rib, this acts like your other nut, so no need for another one. Now once everything is epoxied in, it should be very sound. Some of you might be wondering why I only used two rods instead of three in a triangular form. The answer is that since the back of the mount is sitting on a rib, it is already stabilized and won't rock back and forth. Enjoy, Beaver
Nice work but have you thought of running screws from outside the hull to hold the mount down? It would be much stronger than the current method.
Indeed. I agree with Steve's idea, I've done it several times, you just drill a hole up from the bottom, stick the screw in from the outside, and seal it with CA glue. If you really want overkill, lay a strip of fiberglass over it
I could do that, but then I'd lose the ability to adjust the angle on the mount unless I used washers. In reality, does doing it your way make it any stronger than mine? Beaver
Mmm. Yep. Not down on your construction technique, just saying that vibration will work that motor mount mounting threaded rod loose sooner or later, and when it does, it'll be in the middle of the lake.
So as much as it pained me, I drilled holes in my ship. Need to make some bolts though. Ran out of small long ones. Became an IRCWCC member tonight. Don't you get some sort of a ID card or something from them? Beaver
Found some more bolts. Today I'm hopefully going to epoxy the bolts into the hull. Now before I glue the bolts to the hull, I have a question. Would it be advisable to glue a piece of FG cloth over the bolts? Beaver
I would, just to be safe. Not like it will fall out if the motor mount nut stays on, but I like the insurance
Bolts are in, and the epoxy is drying. Since I have to the wood, should I put cap-rails and decks on Suffren? Oh, BTW, I found 4 ply baltic birch at a local wood store. Less that $20 for a 5 by 5 sheet. Beaver
That's what I thought. It's really nice stuff for the price. It's even cheaper than Birch plywood from National Balsa. So should I work on cap-rails and decks? Beaver
What would be the best way to do cap-rails? Cut 1/4" wide strips and glue them on like Mike's Bearn thread. Beaver
That's the easy way to do the long straight-ish parts. At the bow and stern I usually trace the outline of the subdeck onto the 1/8" ply, and cut the curved parts that way, so like the front 1/3 is one big (but 1/4" along the outside) piece, and same around the stern.
Ok, so I was looking over my ship today thinking of how I was going to put the cap-rails on, and I noticed that where I did that fix there is a lump from the fiberglass and epoxy. Now I'm wondering if it would be OK to sand down the lump until it's level? (wearing proper safety gear of course ) Beaver
It would, but the glass part of the lump is important. You can also sand a little hollow in the caprail where that bump is. Is there an air pocket in the bump?
No, there aren't any air bubbles in the "bumb". Probably sanding a hollow in the cap-rail will work. I'll have to do it to the decks too. If nothing gets in my way, I'll be cutting 1/4" wide strips of plywood today. Beaver
