dicko

After seeing one of these go over Easter earlier this year I decided i'd build one for myself. I pulled the plans off the net & sat down & converted all the dimensions from imperial to metric & shrunk them to 1/4 scale. I then drew them all up on paper & double & tripple checked everything. I couldn't use a single keel all the way from the bow to the transom as I needed room for the engine & also had to add in some rails. after a bit of messing around I got the measurements right & added those into my plans. Once i was happy i started to transfer them to the plywood. I started drawing on the wood Saturday & then cut them all out. So far i've only had time to glue the 1st, 6th & 7th frames in place. i can only do 1 or 2 frames at a time to make sure it all goes together square & neatly. This will be a long drawn out build, I hope your patient.

i have a Bonzi zenoah package ready to drop in once it's done & I am still going over what other hardware to put in once i've finished the hull build. I hope she comes together well once it's finished. just drawing up the plans has taken long enough (many beers were had, and many more are to be had along the way)

dicko

the frames cut out & mock built before gluing began.

martno1fan

Looking very nice mate keep up the good work,its refreshing to see someone building an old style hull for a change.After our chats i know your going with surface drive and i think it should go well for you.I would be tempted to try adding a skeg into the hull to help keep her from sliding in the turn as there isnt much of a vee in the hull.Just an idea but im looking forward to seeing this boat come together with great interest.Also regarding our chat id say go with an offset rudder rather than inline .Also offset the drive a little to the right 1/8" to overcome prop walk ,you can keep the drive kept parralell to the keel line but 1/8" to the right or you can angle it so the prop ends up dead centre which gives a slight angle to the left both will overcome prop walk ,the latter been the best way to do it.I can send you a word document on setting a mono up that covers all of what i just said its by John Finch .

BMAD01

Nice work dicko! Hope to see more of it as you progress.[:-] Brian

dicko

I just finished gluing frames 2, 3 & 5 in place. I have to add the curved strip onto frame 4 before I can glue that one in, also need to cut a groove into the rails & keel for the strip to sit into. Once that's done I'll need to get the runners along the gunnel & chine in place, i have to join the stringers together though, they aren't quite long enough, i'll do that tomorrow night so they have a few days to cure. After that i plan to glue on the extra transom piece & skin it in 3mm ply. So far so good. I spent a fair bit of time getting all the frames to line up just right. This is tedious & fun all at once.

Mart, do you still have my email address, or do you need me to PM it to you again?

Cheers
Jason.

martno1fan

Hi Jason i just remembered i think i allready sent you that document?.

martno1fan

by the way mate when joining wood allways cut them on an angle so you get more glue surface lay them side by side cut across both on an angle and then glue them.thats how we built full size boats use thin zap cement(super glue) .

dicko

Yep, I've always done that. I'm using epoxy with Q cells I use in my fullsize boat builds. I was planning at cutting it at 60 degrees to maximise serface area & still allow the natural bend of the wood. I just need to rebuild the Jig.

I've got the set up guide you sent, i wasn't sure if you had another one as well.

Cheers
Jason.

martno1fan

I never realised you were full size boat builder mate,i used to be many years ago mostly wood hulls ,or fitting out glass or steel hulls etc.You know what your doing anyways so ill stop offering advice on the basics of boat building lol

dicko

not professionally, I sail skiffs & do a lot of work on them myself, mainly with foam & carbon. I love working with foam, so much easier than wood, cut it with a blade, sand it in seconds, light as a feather & once layered with carbon, almost bulletproof. But I do like the look of polished wood, & that's hopefully what this build will have in the end.

dwr9

Very cool! Keep posting pictures. I don't know where you got those plans, but for anyone interested, plans for the Rocket and many other older style boats you can go here: http://www.svensons.com/boat/
Doug

dicko

That's where i got the plans. I googled 15' rocket & that site came up. I printed them out in JPG & started converting all the measurements from there.

dicko

I got the last frame (frame 4) glued in place tonight & also got the runner behind the frame glued in place ready to stick the skin to. I also joined the 2 lengths together for the runners along the chine ready to put on tomorrow (as long as the resin has set properly).

a pic of where she's at, runners are in the clamps in front of the frame.

martno1fan

looks good mate,for a great finnish on the finished boat you could get some thin veneer in any wood you like the look of and cut it into strips and plank over the whole skin then it will come out looking like this one in the pic.no its not mine its built by a friend .

dicko

yep, already spoken to a friend with a router to cut the grooves. that's a while away though. i'm trying o figure out how big the skeg on the keel will need to be. i know the one i've seen before had a skeg just before the step, but i can't remember how big it was.

i'll have to try to get in contact with him & see if i can go and have a look at it & get some measurements.

dicko

ok, finaly had some time to do a little more.

trimmed out a heap of wood to make room for the engine.

dummy mounted the engine to make sure there was room for it, the pipe & all the running gear.

glued the chine runners in place (they're just screwed in in the pics, but they're glued in now)

martno1fan

Looks good mate what grooves are you talking about mate?.Did you find out how big the skeg needs to be yet? i have a plan of a cracker box that has two skegs i dont know if you can tell from these pics of them how big they are but it will give you an idea of the scale.

dicko

those plans will be handy, with the amount of wood I have left over i could probably build one of them too.

i was going to cut small grooves into the deck & lay balsa wood in them to get the light wooden strips in the stained wood. if there's an easier way let me know.

martno1fan

that would work but id rather get some nice hardwood veneer strips to replicate planks and try two diff types of wood one for the planks and one for the inlay as you describe,the ordinary ply doesnt look the best when stained compaired to the hardwood veneers you can get the one you see was done using veneer strips just glued over the top of the plywood using zap (superglue) then sealed with varnish and or stain.by the way try opening those pics of the crackerbox using paint programe and print they should print full size (tiled) they did for me .if it doesnt work on here let me know and ill email them to you.

dicko

I got some more done over the weekend.

[ul][*]all the runners are in place[*]all frame joins are glass reinforced[*]transom plate glued on[*]1st 2 skins in place on the bow.
[/ul]

Next is to mount the engine, stuffing tube & strut to have all the hole drilled before the rear & chine skins go on. Once all those skins are on I can start cutting away excess wood from the frame & glass all the joins. It has a shape now, I think it's going to look good. I think I'll have to stain the side sheets before I epoxy them in place so that the stain spreads evenly & doesn't get effected by epoxy in the wood. The floor skins will be painted white, so they don't matter.

bentley marshall

looking good dick kep the photos coming

martno1fan

looking good mate ,one word of advice though leave the motor till last so you can balance the boat better.the hole in the transom for the tube doesnt need doing till the motor is in either.i used a dremmel to slot the rails on my build that way you can slide the motor for and aft to balance things before you tighten it down .

dicko

I figured out I need to drill the hole in the 2nd frame for the stuffing tube. I plan on drilling it now so I can easily get the drill in there. I have dummy mounted the engine to get the COG close to with room to move, then cut the rails down around where the carby will sit, I cut a section out so I can move the engine forward or back if need be. I'm not sure if I'll have room for a dremel once the skins are on, I might have to borrow a right angled drill.

I'm going to see if i can get some epoxy tint tomorrow to mix in with the resin instead of staining, then epoxy coating the wood. if it doesn't look good enough, i can always glue veneer over top.

I didn't get time to trim the rear floor skin up tonight. Cutting skins for the right fit is a PITA when you don't have plans for them & they don't come pre cut. I've been tracing them off the frame & so far getting pretty close, then sanding to get the perfect fit. It's time consuming to say the least.

martno1fan

Im sure you will work it out i was just trying to save you some problems later on,when doing the sides of the boat id try using 2 to 4 " wide ply going at a slight angle vertically this would be easier to do in my experience.I did that process when i built my sons pt boat from balsa,exept i went vertical but not on an angle as i wasnt staining it.Heres a pic of it after epoxy coating the hull.

dicko

I've already cut the side pannels, just haven't fit them, bending them isn't a problem. The tip of the 2 I put on wasn't easy though, they had to be bent & twisted atthe bow. The glue seems to have it stuck in place really well. I took the screws out & it held together, but I put them back in until I get a chance to lay a fiber glass ribbon down the keel to add a bit of strength. i'll put a few strips on the inside too before I take the screws out & lay the sides on.

Keep the tips coming, I'm sure there's plenty of things I haven't found the easiest way to do yet.

Cheers
Jason