JEM Watercraft

Upper side panel joint repaired & the final glass splice applied today after a morning of braining rat kingfish (I think you guys call them yellow tail?) in Sydney Harbour & off shore.

Let the stitching begin

Just a few stitches this afternoon but so far it looks fairly square & true.
I'm hoping to have this all stitched up before NYE & at least start stitching the upper side panels.

Al

Some good, bad & ugly.......

The good,
It's actually starting to look like a boat!!



Side panels are stitched on & alignment couldn't have been easier. The bow & stern look nice & square & the stitches required very little pressure to get everything mating up.

The bad,
The bulkheads are supposed to sit 3mm above the side panels. Well, B3 (Bulkhead behind the seat) sits 2mm above on 1 side & 5mm on the other. all of the other bulkheads are 1mm or less, ie flush with the top of the sides.
I'm not sure if this is a measure/ cut issue with the bulkheads or if it's got a twist.

The ugly,
It's now at least 35º C in the garage so time to stop for the day. I'll do some measuring tomorrow afternoon to see if I can find the cause of the issue.

Al

Not much progress unfortunately. I've been playing with alignment issues & a fair bit of fishing.
The bulkhead height is looking a bit better, acceptable anyway. Now I have another issue .

Question,
When checking the diagonal measurements between the bulkheads, what is an acceptable tolerance?
I've got a 6-7mm (about 1/4") difference between the 2 rear bulkheads (F3 & F4). Everything else is within 2mm (about 1/12")but I can't get those 2 any better. Everything else looks plumb & the joint gaps are beautifully even.

Should I continue on or start pulling it apart to try to get it squarer?
Thanks.

Al

That's plenty square!

Thanks for the quick reply Matt.

I've leveled out the saw horses & flipped it over. Looks nice & straight so ahead we go.....
I've just put on a wet out coat in prep for the tacks tomorrow.

Al

Just don't put any tax on the tea.

I sure am glad to be in Sydney at the moment.
Down South it's so hot the trains don't work & something like 14 people have died as a result of the heat, up North they have floods (You're not washed away are you Mick?).

Some progress over the last week or so. I'm starting to really enjoy this build now. An hour here & there after work, very relaxing.

Weekend work, tack welds on prior to removal of stitches.


This week. Hull panels are glued together & stitches removed with the exception of the bow & stern which I want to tweak around a bit more. It's probably ok as is but I figure a little more time spent now will be worth it in the end.



I've been using a zip lock plastic bag to spread the glue. Aside from a nasty bag split incident that shall never be mentioned again it has worked a treat.

The last batch was the biggest & by the time I finished applying the glue the bag was so hot it was starting to melt.
Bag seen below sitting on a steel drip tray incase of fire. At this point it's too hot to touch & the bag is like hot melt glue.


Looking forward to flipping it over (The Yak not the bag).

Al

G'day Al,

That looking real nice mate. Re the glue, I mix about 120ml of resin & hardener to the woodflour at a time. that way there is little to no waste and no panic to get it on before it gets too hot.

Re the weather, We have been getting some nice cooling rain & SE winds every day (typical wet season) but nothing like the poor buggers further north. The only gripe I have it is making my grass grow that fast I can allmost hear it growing. bloody green cancer. Gotta mow my acre house block every 4 days. (I need a bigger mower) or some goats, but those coots eat all my fruit, and roses. Cardwell has recieved over a metre of it in the last 5 days.

Ossie Bruce lives in Townsville and I have been talking to him back channel. They're getting a flogging too. and another cyclone is forming in the Coral Sea.

Re the heat down south. bloody madness. News here reports the current death toll at 65 - but who really knows?

Hi Al,
Looking good, if building is half the fun then take your time, and have a better craft as well. I can not start building because of the weather up here.

Contrary to popular belief, I have not fallen of the end of the earth. I am however, Working my way towards the world record for the slowest build......

Now that it's warmed up a bit, I thought is was high time to get some glass on the hull.


You may notice that my slow building is NOT the result of time spent cleaning my garage.....



Look out for more updates soon (in six months).

Al