Valkyrie II
PROJECT PAGE #1
Cutting the Parts
Well, there's the new
boat...sort of!! All the plywood needed for construction,
plus 2x4's to be ripper into framing pieces. The plywood includes
two sheets of 3/4" MDO (Medium Density Overlay), four sheets
of 1/2" MDO, and four sheets of 1/4" Okoume marine-grade
plywood. These woods were chosen to help eliminate future problems
with checking.
The other item in the picture is the 6 oz.
white polytarp that will become the gaff sail for my boat. I
elected to forgo purchasing a complete kit this time, and will use
machine stitching instead of adhesive tape to build this sail.
I've also redesigned my basement workshop for this project. I have one workbench that is nearly twelve feet long, making it easier to work on long pieces. The various power tools such as the drill press, miter saw and grinder are on smaller, dedicated benches on the other side of the shop (not shown in this picture). The 12 x 12 foot area will be used to fabricate the frames and other small pieces, which will then be brought up to the garage for final assembly..
No, this is NOT a
heated garage- welcome to boatbuilding, Chicago style!. Here I am
beginning to draw out the side panels of the boat on one of the
sheets of Okoume. The 48" aluminum T-square is a big help in
laying out the data points.
The work surface is a sheet of
1/2" particle board laying atop a pair of saw horses. The
horses are sized so that the work surface is at the same height as
the other workbenches in the garage. This will make it easier to
support the wood when it is time to begin cutting. My thanks to
Chris Feller of our Chicagoland Messabout group for the idea on
the work surface.
I am using an 8-foot
piece of that lathe they sell for constructing window screens as
my batten. It's cheap, light and flexible. In this shot, the
batten is laid out to define the upper edge of the aft rear side
panel. The batten is held in place by one-inch brass nails, spaced
as needed to achieve a fair curve.
The Craftsman 18-volt
rechargeable battery is one of the most used tools in my shop. It
projects a powerful beam of light just about anywhere you might
need it . Here the light is helping me to be sure I have a fair
curve, before I actually draw the line.
This being the week of Thanksgiving, I am not really expecting to get a whole lot done on the project, but at least we have a start. I should have all the large pieces drawn out by the end of next weekend. The plan is to cut them out, and then switch gears for a bit and work on the leeboard, rudder and other small pieces.
January 19, 2009
Yes, I am still on the
planet, and yes, It's been a while since the first posting on this
particular page. Sorry about that! The holidays got the better of
me, but I am back on the project now!
Got most of the
plywood parts cut out now. Here they are. The stack includes both
halves of the bottom, all four side panels, most of the bulkhead
pieces and the plys for the rudder and leeboard. Not cut yet are
the top halves of the aft cabin bulkhead and the bilge panels. The
bilge panels will be traced out and cut to fit after the hull has
been partially assembled, per the suggestion of Chris Feller and
others on the Michalak Yahoo forum.
I used both my jig saw
and the circular saw to cut out the parts. In this shot, I had my
work light sitting right on the plywood as I worked, keeping the
area brightly lit. Worked fine while using the circular saw, but
when I switched to the jig saw, the vibration caused the light to
want to "travel" quite a bit!
I also decided not
to cut the matching hull sides at the same time. The cutting
process was going along just fine, and I didn't want to create any
additional clamping marks or screw holes in the parts. Instead I
cut out one side piece, finish-sanded the edges, then used that
panel to trace the matching piece for the other side.
I also ripped material
for the framing members out of some select-grade 2x4 studs today.
The process was quick and easy, if a bit dusty, and gave me plenty
of lumber for the framing parts at a much lower cost than if I had
purchased finished wood for this purpose.
Epoxy supplies
were ordered from US
Composites
earlier this week. Since much of the boat is being fabricated from
MDO, the Titebond
III used
on my Vector would not work well. By the time the epoxy arrives, I
should be ready to frame up all the bulkheads.