March 2021

 We've made a bit of progress in this month already.  The forward deckhouse framing is nearing completion.  I've got to get some of the decking on the roof down in order to start framing the aft end of the deck house which steps up about a foot (30 cm).  The forward corner posts (on the higher part of the deck house) sit on the roof of the lower deckhouse.  Hopefully this will all be clear in the next few weeks.

The forward deckhouse framing is getting close to completion. The wide space between laminated athwart beams is where the forward hatch will go so I still need to frame the hatch sides.  I also will notch in deadwood lengthwise for where the plywood butts.  This deadwood actually will ensure that the roof beams make a smooth transition forward to rear since there is curvature along the length of the deckhouse roof.  Everything you see, with the exception of the front of the deckhouse, is permanently glued and fastened.  The deck clamps holding up the laminated beams still need another lamination.  You can see the long second layer of clamps lying to the left and right of the deckhouse waiting installation.

March 7,

Deck clamps doubled up and 1"x2" 'deadwood' laid into notches to support where the plywood for the top will break.  

Deckhouse roof plywood temporarily clamped in place.  There will be a ceiling and a 1" (2.5 cm) gap between the plywood and the ceiling.  Which is kind of a shame because this looks pretty good.  But I'll need the space for backing hardware and I think the air gap will benefit heat mitigation. 

March 14,

Starboard side mid deckhouse post ready to have bolt holes drilled.  I've since made the port side and drilled and bolted with temporary zinc bolts.  I had to order some 4.5" stainless bolts for these since I did not have the right size in my inventory.  This is the transition between the higher mid deckhouse roof and the lower forward deckhouse roof.  

This weekend was a slow boat building weekend.  Laura and I spent some quality time enjoying the wonderful spring weather and I worked on her 1971 Fiat spider that I promised to have running this weekend.  Well, the front end needs major adjustment (after a major rebuild) and there was a small break fluid leak.  I fixed the leak and rough adjusted the front end so that the car was drivable.  I'll need to bleed all four break lines and have the front end professionally aligned but we did take it for a short drive.  I did manage to spend a few hours on Saturday and Sunday working on the boat.  I got both mid deckhouse posts roughed in and laminated more deckhouse roof beams.  I'm getting about one made every two days.  I keep running out of clamps.  I buy more and I seem to run out even quicker.  Who knows.  I think the more you have, the more you need.

March 21,

Maybe I can put a charm on this saw and get it to cut the wood on its own. This is one layer of the deckhouse roof clamp where it half laps into the deckhouse post.    

These are temporary supports to ensure that the first layer of deckhouse clamp maintains shape and is symmetrical with the other side.  Once all the laminated beams are in place, these supports will no longer be needed.

The deckhouse is high enough to provide unencumbered head room but low enough for the pilot to see over the top.  You can see the pilot seat in the rear.  The pilot will sit on the deck with feet into the cockpit.

The first laminated beam over the galley set into place.  That board with the notch in it acts like an adjustable shelf for the beam.  I use a wedge to raise and lower the beam until it fits perfectly.

A close up of those temporary plywood braces holding the deckhouse clamp in place.  Notice the spacer between the plywood and clamp.  The clamp is two laminations and I've just got the inner lamination in place so I need that spacer to make the difference.

Well, that didn't quite go as planned.  I had originally placed the clamp (top 1x4) at the correct height on the corner post.  At some point I decided it was wrong ( I measured the wrong spot ) and cut the notch lower and glued and fastened it all together.  The next day, upon careful measurement, I realized that I placed it an inch (2.5 cm) too low.  I had to drill out the stainless steel screws and cut epoxy out and pry it off to raise it the inch where it needed to be.  Now I'll have to fill that little notch below the clamp.  Luckily I have just the piece of wood to fill the void.  Just about anything can be fixed.  Don't panic.

March 24,

From the pilots seat.  A nice clear view forward.  I've installed three of the laminated beams above the main salon.  

February 2021

 February 10,

This month we are planning to frame out the deckhouse.  I previously said that I would wait until the interior is finished before doing that but I have since changed my mind.  I think it would be better to build the interior to the deckhouse and not leave it pieces hanging that will attach to the deckhouse for later.  Besides I really don't think It will get in my way.  I'm not planning on putting the deck on yet (just the framing) except where the two deckhouses overlap.  I'd like to keep the boat open-air for as long as possible.  

So far I've cut all the upper deckhouse clamps and have started to scarf them together.  They are made of two laminations of 1" (2.5 cm) lumber.  I'm installing the inner layer first where we can attached the laminated beams that will support the roof deck.  I'm going to screw the laminated beams into place from the outside of the inner layer of the deckhouse clamp.  I'll then laminate the second layer of the deckhouse clamp and cover up those screws.

Temporarily positioned deckhouse roof clamp into place for fitting.

This is where the upper deckhouse clamp notches into the forward deckhouse post.  

Cut, fitted and temporarily installed.  It was way too cold for epoxy work.

This is a side view of the new deckhouse upper clamp.  This is one of two laminations.  I'm affixing the deckhouse laminated roof beams to single lamination of the clamp and then I'll add the second lamination. 

Deckhouse laminated roof beams going in at 16 inches on center.

More deckhouse beams.  Not permanently installed yet.  It was too cold outside for epoxy work.

A view from the aft end of things.

February 20,

I needed to adjust the placement of those laminated beams just a little so the plywood would break (fall on a seam) better.  Rookie mistake that I have not made in 20 years but sometimes context will get you.  It was easy to do.  Sliding them aft an inch tightened them up a bit.  I had plans to adjust the cuts on a few but it turned out to be unnecessary.  Sometime you get lucky.  I also installed the lsat one forward off the bulkhead.  Tomorrow is going to be the first day in two weeks that temperatures will stay above 40 degrees (4.4 C) which is the minimum curing temperature for the epoxy.  I got some more beams prepared for laminating since I've installed all I have.  I was thinking about how to handle the top of the bulkheads. Do I only put one beam against the bulkhead?  What about the other side?  It would need trim and look odd.  My solution was to laminate a wider beam and cut it down the middle and attach them to either side of the bulkhead.  I think this will be a nice finishing touch.  The resultant beam against the bulkhead will be slightly wider than half the free hanging ones.  A pleasing look I think.  

February 21,

Very nice sunny day.  Still some snow on the ground but very lovely.  There was quite a lot of work on the boat that was fastened temporarily waiting on a day like this.  I got the aft deckhouse corner posts epoxied and bolted into place.  And I got the entire port deckhouse bottom clamp finished and some of the starboard side.  I had not finished making the starboard side because that is where I have a little platform to make it easier to get in and out of the boat.  I'll end up modifying that platform and finishing the clamp in the next week or so.  I really do not need it finished at this time so I'm concentrating on things that will stall progress.

In the back are the normal laminated beam layers being scarf jointed for the proper  length.  In the foreground is the 2 5/8" wide beam being laminated.  I'll run it through the table saw and make two when it is cured.  Much easier than making two with only one form.  I'll clean up the edges by lightly running it through the planer.   

We should have a few good weather days this week.  I'm planning on making those laminated beams before work or during lunch depending on the temperature.  This weekend is going to be raining and warm.  A great time to work on the boat.  No distractions.

February 28,

The weather was perfect over the weekend for working on the boat.  The work I had performed in preparation for the weekend was not so perfect.  When I installed one of the laminated beams, it was 2.5 cm too low.  It turns out that the laminated beams shown being glued together above were made on the wrong form.  The form showed above is for the deck beams which are all made.  I'll trace this mistake back a few months after I made the last deck beam.  I just removed the wrong jig.  It's a good thing I still had the pieces and they were numbered so it was easy to put back together and I only made two so it's not too bad.

This is the correct form.  You can see that there is a bit more curve to it.

I was still able to get the deckhouse clamp permanently installed and most of the beams.  I also cut down the forward deckhouse beams. 

This is the first of two laminations of the deckhouse clamp holding the deckhouse beams.  

January 2021

 January, 4

Happy new year.  Here is hoping 2021 is better than 2020.  

A new year and a lot of work was done in 2020.  Over the Christmas holidays we did a lot of work both seen and unseen.  

Matching the curve of the bilge for this plywood composite  member which  will support the floor athwart members.  The curve height is measured at regular intervals and gridded out and marked on the plywood.  Brads are driven into the points and a flexible batten is bent with the brads.  Then just draw the curve using the batten.  Make sure the nails are outside the desired piece so the pencil mark is where it is suppose to be.

A perfect fit the first time.  That is rare.

The athwart members actually rest on a small shelf on the composite member. 

More white oak.

The first plywood flooring that will be under the cabinets.  I now have an actual horizontal surface to work on.  That will be nice.

I've finally worked out all the tankage that we will need.  We'll have to get all that fabricated and installed with the plumbing lines before too much ceiling (flooring) can be installed.  Both the black water and fresh water tanks will be constructed of 3/8" HDPE.  It is both weldable and strong.  We are going to have two 100 gallon fresh water tanks about 48 x 48 x 11 inches and two 60 gallon black water tanks about 30 x 20 x 14 inches.  

Jan. 10,

I'm working out the corner members for the deckhouse.  Geometry is your friend.

Getting the pattern just right.

Rough cut with the table saw.  Now to the hand plane and then belt sander

A good fit but it will not work on the actual boat.  I've got to match this to the angle of the deckhouse which is a bit more than 90 degrees.  So I'll have to further modify these.

The first one that is fitted to the corner.  That was a lot of work but at least I know now how to make the other ones.  I'm going to cut out a "Vee" on the underside to make these a bit lighter and easier to bolt onto the beams.

Very first one clamped in place.  

Second one clamped in place.  They are getting easier to make now.  It is important to make sure that the angles are exactly the same.

Temporarily bolted in place.  I've ordered stainless steel bolts for these.  When they arrive, I'll bond these with epoxy and bolt them.  Cutting that "V" in the rear (or inside) makes it much easier to bolt as well as creating a lighter structure without compromising strength.

The other side is bolted as well.

The forward deckhouse pillars must accommodate an angle closer to 100 degrees than 90.  So I have to redesign the forward pillars.

You can see that the "V" cut out is 90 degrees but the angle accommodated is much more.

I am getting the hang of it.  This one required only some minor adjustments after the first fitting.  

Do not worry about that large ugly knot.  This pillar is a third longer than it needs to be.  It fits great.

Both the forward deck house pillars in place.  You can see all four in this pictrure.

And the forward pillars are temporarily bolted in place.  The temporary nature is going to let me remove them when I want to fit the forward clamp that the deck house front will attach.  The same goes for the aft pillars.

January 24.

This side (port) looks pretty good.  I made a real mess of the other side (starboard shown below).  I'll spend some time fixing that side and hopefully it will turn out well.  The joint is flush with the outside as shown but on the other side it is recessed because the beam is thinner than the post.  This is by design to maximize the strength of the post.

January 26,

Well, I got the starboard side fixed.  The dove tail is recessed on the inside because the beam is thinner than the post.  I'm going to bevel the edges down and try to make it look better.  The dove tail joint fit okay but it needed a little epoxy filling.  I made a mistake when I cut this one out and did not take into account the difference in bevel from one side to the other.  The one above (the second one I made) turned out a bit better.

So this is the front of the deck house looking from the outside.  The beam is flush here because it needs to be.  It will be faced with 3/4" plywood and I'll make top member to mate the deck house roof.  The curved piece that is connecting the two posts is the piece of wood that I have been saving for some time.  It has a wonderful burled grain that will be lovely once finished.  This piece will end up just above our heads on the vee berth.

If you don't have lumber wide enough or long enough, make it.  This is the same cross member for the deck house except that it is at the aft end of the deck house.  This does not need to be a strong as the front,

How the beam above looks in full view before I cut the curve to match the deck.  This, like the one for the front will attached to one of my laminated deck beams and act as attachment point for the plywood deck house sides.

Jan 31.

It is the last day of the month and we've made quite a bit of progress.  As you can see I'm concentrating on the deck house.  I'm trying to get all the framing finished before finishing out the interior so I know where to frame the interior.  Also, I'm saving money to purchase high density polyethylene to build the water and black water tanks.  I need to complete all the plumbing before getting the sole installed and all the cabinetry is built upon the sole.  

The finished deck house front framing.  I'm just getting it rough sanded while I can get to everything.

I put it in place and tapped the bolts in and to my surprise it fit  perfectly.

And here it is from the front.

The aft beam for the rear of the deck house is temporarily clamped into place.  I then trace out the curve of the deck from behind.

I measured offsets to the curve traced from the previous step.   I use a baton to make a fair curve and cut one side. I then can use a gauge to score the other cut line.  I end up with a very lovely piece.

This is my favorite way of finishing the opposite face of a curved cut.  Once you have one edge made and finished (you definitely want to sand it smooth before you use the marking gauge) just make this simple marking gauge and slide it along an edge.  I use a small hole that just lets the pencil lead through.  

Clamp it back into place to make sure it fits and to mark the bevel cuts on the ends.

Everything temporarily installed.  I use the router to make a nice rounded turn over.  This is a nice touch and eliminates a sharp corner to bang your head.  I wanted to finish all the way around before I permanently epoxy and fasten it in place.  I might need to move it out of the way or take a piece down to modify something.  Keep you options open. 

This piece fitted to the deck house clamp will hold the deck house sides in place.  There is a lot of twist in this piece of wood and as you can see where it meets the forward post, there needs to be a bit more.  I made a quick test and the extra twist is easily achievable and I'll make sure we get it right when it is all bonded in place.

I managed to get the entire port side fitted in place and even got  half of it drilled and screwed with temporary fasteners.  Again, I use drywall screws because they are cheap and when I later permanently install these pieces with real screws, I have not destroyed the hole.  Drywall screws have a large pitch and very sharp threads so they go in quick and leave the wood in good condition for the real fasteners.  I also use longer permanent screws so they grab onto a virgin part of the hole.

The front part is all glued up and I even cut out and positioned the front of the deckhouse.