January is a slow month in the Northeast US, so it is still time to do a lot of odds and ends.
Floorboards - ripped 8 10 foot fir boards to make the framing and the flooring for the forward cockpit. Nothing remarkable other than it taking twice as long as expected. I put a 1/2" gap between the planks and made the frame 1/8" smaller than the hole overall. Will sand all and glue this week.
Starboard floorboard braces have been shaped and installed. I need to go back and do the port ones. I do need some support at the forward end as the seats flip when I step on them.
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| Floor board temporarily held in place with sheet rock screws. |
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| A 1/2" chunk of mahogany scrap was made into a pile of spacers. Close enough for jazz. |
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| Starboard floorboards in place. I do need to add a small support piece at the forward end as when I step there, it wants to flip up. A small 3/4" brace will do the trick. Otherwise, success. |
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Test fit is excellent. If it werent so damned cold, I would take a nap. the little space heater doesnt do much. Small wedges will be put on the floor to hold it in place when in the down position.
While the saw was set to rip 1.5" boards, I ripped a 10 foot 2X6 for the stock to make the sprits. These will probably warp. If so, will go to laminating or birdsmouth for these parts. |
1-21-15 SPRITS
Started on the sprits today. The 10X6" plank yielded one and a half suitable pieces for the sprits. Therefore, I made the main sprit first as it is the longest. I will go back to the lumberyard tomorrow to get another plank. In the meantime, I will make a mizzen sprit from the remaining piece, but I am not confident that it will hold up in any kind of weather.
Process is pretty simple -
1. Rip the 1.5" strips
2. Mark the pin end and cut to length (a little on the plus side)
3. Set up cutting lines 3/8 all around the end for the 3/4" pin. I made my pin 2.5" long, It would probably work better at 2" as it looks a tad long.
4. Rough cut the 3/4" pin just proud of the guide lines. smooth up with a rasp.
5. round out the last 3 at the pin end. I use an 8 sided jig that I constructed many years ago to mark the "plane to" lines for 8 siding. Quite honestly, I didnt take the time to get it perfectly round as this is not critical to the overall effectiveness of the piece.
6. round off all corners
7. cut 7 degree plane on the side the block will go on (mast side). this will be opposite for the mizzen sprit.
8. sand all and varnish.
9. add hole for main sheet / mizzen sheet block later.
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| Planed end for block |
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| planed end, better view |
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| Pin for sail clew (pin goes through loop of webbing at clew) |
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9 2" overall, and ready for some varnish.
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1-22-15 EPIC FAIL
I only got one good stick out of the 2X6 spruce plank that looked so good. The other two pieces had too many knots and wild wood going through the lumber to support any kind of weight, plus they are a little heavy. Epic fail on the mizzen sprit. Albeit, I applied 200 lbs of force to it.
2-15-15 Update on Sprits
So far, I am not blown away by the quality of the sprits I have built. They are heavy and a little warped. Will try my hand at Birdsmouth style or make some fiberglass tubes.
3-12-15
Today, I splurged on a couple of 10 fir boards. these are clear, a little heavier than the spruce, but will look MUCH better than the spruce. Additionally, they are straight! Will attempt to glue the boards up tomorrow and rip on Saturday.
5-15-15
The laminated fir boards worked much better. I now have two nice straight and strong sprits. Just need to trim, and shape some.
