JEM Watercraft

I am now a week into my build (bought and marked out the ply last Wednesday). 3 planks either side stitched on and they all seem to fit together and to the frames which amazes me - a testament to Matt's design and instructions that I have so far failed to make a major mess of things.
I would add photos if I knew how!
Ply is fairly good quality 3.6/4mm exterior grade and I have managed to avoid sanding through the outer layer (mostly).
I had one failed butt joint because of excessive shrinkage of the glue due to absorption of resin (I suspect) so I have applied neat resin to all edges and sanded them down after cure before assembling the panels.
I used SketchUp to draw up the panels and adjust the nesting diagram to enable me to work from 8'x2' ply blanks (meant I could get them in my Honda Civic). I also aligned the paired panels in the model using Matt's QA method (offset from line between tips) and read off reference points 1200mm either side of the splice. I marked these on a 8'x4' sheet of white melamine faced chipboard that I had lying around and put nails in to act as guides for the panels. This seemed much easier than trying to hold the string line and measure the offsets and seems to have worked.
By the way, the larger frames are extended, so that the tops of all frames should line through. I thought this may make it easier to align things before starting to glue - we shall see. (This would make sense if I had managed to add the photos)
Keith

Here are the photos:




Keith

Apart from a minor glitch with the shape of the keel line (see Questions section), I feel I have made decent progress and am pleased to be able to see the shape of the hull without all the ties:

Just finished filling in between the tack welds. Lots of sanding to look forward to tomorrow!
I am going to give the hull a coat of epoxy and sand again before setting about glassing it.

I was a bit worried about how easily the end jigs would come free but a couple of gentle(ish) taps with a small hammer and then a good yank (as in pull, not US resident) and they came out fine. So far this build has been more about expecting to hit snags than actually doing so - long may it continue so.

Keith

Yep, that looks like a boat to me .

It's a bit hard to tell from that angle and with the mottled effect from the epoxy but it appears to be a nice smooth hull. Even if it isn't, once it's on the water nobody will be able to tell the difference.

Thanks Bob

It is a bit smoother now after three and a half hours of sanding. I am hoping that only I will be able to see the evidence of my "learning experiences" once it is complete.
Next big step is applying the glass to the hull - await cries of anguish about this time next week.

Keith

Great work

Mike

The hull is now glassed on the outside with a couple of thin coats of epoxy - it will need one or two more before I paint it eventually.

Turned her over this morning to get started on internal filleting, glassing etc. I might tidy up the garage before going much further!

This is how she looks now:



Keith

kjeremiah wrote: I might tidy up the garage before going much further!

What?! I was going to suggest that you make some more mess - it's far too tidy for what we do!

I didn't hear those cries of anguish you predicted during the glassing so presume it went well . Hope the inside goes OK too.

That hull shape is nice with the 5 panels per side - almost a true compound curve.

Bob

Would you believe someone thinks we ought to put the car in the garage when I am not actually working on the canoe! Some people have no sense of priorities. Anyway the clear up did mean I found some of the tools I had mislaid so not all in vain.

Yes the glassing went better than I had feared. I found a good working in of the resin with a brush to get initial wetting out and then firm squeegeeing (and a little judicious gloved finger work) did the trick. I didn't try the roller method which Matt recommends. I put an extra run of tape down the centreline.

It was the sweet shape which sold me on the Sasquatch rather than a simpler form for my first build. I certainly have no regrets.

Thanks for your continuing interest and support.

Keith

Have you thought about leaving the wood finish?
Looks like the fillets cleaned up well enough.
I think i saw someone else write that you want everyone to see that you've got a wooden boat.
Stand out in the crowd and feel a bit smug when they say 'Did you really build that? It looks fantastic!'