Monday, March 31, 2008

March

I'm working on several of the larger parts. I make templates on paper using the dimensions given on the plans and then transfer them to the foam. For the forward bunk this allowed me to play with the curves, and the parts that are symmetrical port and starboard can be made by just flipping the template over. I found that poking the pencil through the paper and then connecting the dots as necessary was easiest.



The bunk is longer than a single sheet of melamine so I clamped two together and put a piece of vacuum bag sealant tape between them, covered with a piece of RR. This allowed for a good vacuum seal.


Layup proceeded in the usual fashion. A big bag was fashioned by reusing three old bags joined together.



The VB table 'extension' did get pulled up into the vacuum and leave a small impression on the part. As it was the underside, it won't be a problem.


I decided to break the decks into three pieces. I started by cutting out the HD inserts and making the high strength resin putty inserts.


Partial layout with stiffeners.


At this point I found that I wasn't satisfied with the foam that I had left. The remaining half-price cutoffs were of a variable thickness (only discovered after cutting in the inserts of two sections) so I decided I would save the remaining for settee backs etc., and put off further VB'ing. I was also finding myself short on RR and PP. All these things took significantly longer to receive than I thought -- coming from two suppliers and they were both out of what I wanted! A lesson in planning ahead and project management.

I switched to making the CF chainplates. Not much to say other than I relearned someone else's lessons. After layering up the CF I was concerned that it was resin-rich, so wanted to VB the part (realizing that's all I've done). This took care of the resin, but compressing CF that's wrapped around an end causes it to wrinkle slightly. I think they'll work fine, but my advice would be to wrap and tension PP around the edge, then do a 'poor man's VB' (for ideas look at Henny's : F-39 building project : Main hull : Beam bulkheads and folding system setup).



I ended up taking the last two weeks of the month off for non-boat related projects, including getting ready for April 16 -- the day our annual taxes are due.