The Frames explained.

 It dawns on me that I haven't shown a decent picture of what the frames are and where.

1: frame-1 is at the foot of the berths.  My feet will stick through this when sleeping.

2: frame-2 forms the front of the cabin area and so its upper portion is also a 'bulkhead' between the cabin and the fore-deck area.

3: frame-3 meets only the bottom and sides the hull.  

4: bulkhead-4 is the largest and is the bulkhead between the outside cockpit and the inside cabin.  It will contain a door.  The roof of the cabin also has a sliding hatch.

5: frame-5 is the middle of the cockpit area.

6: bulkhead-6 is the front of the enclosed stern area which includes the motor well, and encloses the outboard motor.

7: although the Transom is the back of the boat and is double thick plywood, in this case it does not support an outboard motor.  The outboard is mounted on the front of the motor well structure. 

 

So far I have completed the Transom, frame-4, and frame-1.  The others have been drawn on the plywood and rough cut around them with a jigsaw.  Getting all the frames done and coated with epoxy is the goal for the winter and can be done inside a warm basement workshop (I'm still working full-time during this period).

 

Progress on Frames (Frame-1 completed)

 I've been delayed a little with work and minor health issues.  A bad back had me spending most of the weekend in bed.

I did manage to get the #1 frame completed.  It was one of three frames that were cut in 2 pieces and had to be scarfed back together.  This is not the plywood scarfing that boat builders usually talk about where the plywood is cut at a taper and joined so to keep the plywood the same thickness as if its one long piece.  This is what I'm calling a 'construction' scarf.  In home building if you're joining two boards in length you add another board along side it.  That added board is known as a scarf.

Here's the completed frame-1 (soda can for size perspective.)  You can clearly see the glue joint down the center. 

 Here's the back side, showing the two scarf boards.  Frame-1 supports the fore-deck which may have two people standing on it, so I chose to do the scarf the full width to make the top of frame-1 a more solid beam.

 This is the butt-joint of the two pieces with the scarf board over it.

The bottom, top, and sides were cut at angles to align to the hull and deck.  These are just approximate angles.  It all gets embedded in epoxy glue and fillets, so precise match of angles is not necessary.

Just for fun, I added a fillet and sanded round the ends of the scarf boards.

Frame-1 is the foot-end of the sleeping bunks.  I used a router to round over the sides and top of the inside of the frame so that bashing your toes is a little less painful.

Boat Building made Easy !

 Just clamp an outboard to the Tiki bar....

 

Cabin Height

 I'm very concerned with having a cabin that I can at least sit fully upright in.  I don't want to be crawling around on my hands and knees like some sailboat cuddy's appear to be.

The plans include a note of putting a hinge at the front of the cabin and having it tilt up so at least the back end is higher.  Filling the open gap with a cloth like a pop-up tent.  Many years ago I saw one at a boat show.

I've pondered on various methods of having a roof that raises and lowers, but any scheme is either awkward or complicated. 

There's a guy in Australia who built a Redwing-18 and raised the cabin roof a mere 2 inches.  Enough for him and his wife to sit upright on the bunks.  I'm thinking this is what I'll do, just make the roof higher.

I wanted to also see how this would change the appearance.  Here's the original drawings modified to show the changes.  (the pictures are animated gifs)

Drawing 1:  Raising the cabin 5 inches.  Not a terribly bad change, but makes the overall shape odd somehow.

 Drawing 2:  To diminish the effect, I decided to also raise the motor-well and the anchor-box.  The plans call for an 'anchor box' to be built on the fore deck just in front of the cabin.  A place for the anchors, ropes, etc.  Raising the anchor-box 2 inches and the motor well slightly less, helps to even the overall proportions, to balance out the cabin change.

 Drawing 3:  The plans call for a large wooden cleat in the middle of the fore deck.  I doubt I'll do this type of cleat.  Removing it changes the look of the sheer line forward.  Also, the plans place the ship's wheel on the front of the motor well, where I intend to place it on the rear of the cabin.  

Drawing 4:  This covers the underwater portion of the boat's profile.  This makes the original appear as a fairly low profile.  Part of the original design has the pilot sitting on the benches of the cockpit near the motor well and being able to see out over the top of the cabin.  With the raised cabin will I still be able to see over it from the bench, or will I need a higher seat or chair than the standard cockpit benches?

 

 

Frames

 Little progress this last weekend.  Had some work and other projects that filled my time.

Got the rest of the frames, 1, 3, 2, 5, and 6 drawn on the plywood and 1, 2, and 3 rough cut to separate them.

#2 and #6 I left extra tall because I still have little idea how tall the cabin or motor well actually need to be.

(sorry, no pictures)