Building Dave Gentry's "Annabelle" SOF Sailboat

Discussion in 'Boatbuilding' started by lewisboats, Dec 8, 2013.

  1. rwatson
    Joined: Aug 2007
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    Location: Tasmania,Australia

    rwatson Senior Member

    Sure, as I said " if you have timber of good enough quality and size " steaming, soaking, laminating works fine.

    But

    If you want to have an instant dry, epoxy ready result no waiting days for the soaked or steamed timber to dry out) , or if you are using thin Western red Cedar or more brittle local products, doing the 'outer radius' with glass is an effective, trouble free way to go.
     
  2. lewisboats
    Joined: Oct 2002
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    Location: Iowa

    lewisboats Obsessed Member

    But nothing on the boat is glassed and the epoxy is only used as a glue, not a finish.
     
  3. SukiSolo
    Joined: Dec 2012
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    Location: Hampshire UK

    SukiSolo Senior Member

    I'd even go down to 7 - 8mm (5/16")thick to get sweet curvature over these kind of lengths. Easy with half decent WR Cedar. The one that catches you out is the stretch/compression along the length putting stress in. On some stringers it is the difference in bend from one side of the stringer to the other more than the pure lateral bend that cause the stress.

    To test it, just put a thin table/circular saw cut sideways through 95+% of the stringer leaving say 4" -6" as original single piece. So a flat rectangle now almost cut in two, 90 deg to the longer flat side. Bend into position and see how easy. My take is to glue up the newly created 'slot' and later rout and fill a couple of inches - where the gap at the end ofsaw cut is,with a small piece of scrap. If the other end shows one side sliding over the other by say 6 or 7mm (1/4" +) it just shows how much stress there was. Most useful for awkward stringer shapes. Gunwhales and inwhales are usually OK without this. Sometimes you need to glue another similar lamination on top to get enough strength, in which case I offset the 'slot' in each laminate.

    Stuff that calls for or needs 19/20mm (3/4") I know will not bend unless in rubber!, so I usually just do 2 X 10mm (3/8").
     
  4. rwatson
    Joined: Aug 2007
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    Location: Tasmania,Australia

    rwatson Senior Member

    That's if you build it to plan.


    Luke may have to cope with inferior materials and substitutes where he is
     
  5. laukejas
    Joined: Feb 2012
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    Location: Lithuania

    laukejas Senior Member

    It's laukejas, not luke :) All right, I'll go with this method of bending when the time comes. You're right that finding quality materials will be extremely difficult where I live.
    Strange that I never heard of this method before, and I've been researching quite a lot. Thank you for providing this great tip!

    Steve, looking forward to more updates on your work, keep going!!
     
  6. Dave Gentry
    Joined: May 2010
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    Location: Charlottesville, Virginia

    Dave Gentry Junior Member

    Yup, this works great for reinforcing stringers that seem a bit dodgy. Note that fiberglass and epoxy is not necessary - one can also use just about any fabric and waterproof glue. It's exactly the same as "backing" a bow - bows for archery, that is. Bowyers have been using all sorts of materials (not just sinew) to back (i.e. reinforce) their bows . . . some folks are even using snakeskin these days.
    As well as fiberglass and epoxy, I've used cotton fabric and Titebond 3 to back gunwales that I thought might crack, and it has worked fine.

    Sorry I missed you at Sail Oklahoma this year, Steven. Looking forward to seeing your boat get done!

    Dave Gentry
     
  7. lewisboats
    Joined: Oct 2002
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    Location: Iowa

    lewisboats Obsessed Member

    Update:

    This weekend my son and I started back in on the boat. We milled the wood for the cleats, seat supports and daggerboard framework. We also cut the deck piece from the template I made and the Thwart/Seat plywood along with the side pieces for the DB Case. I was too pooped from the 13 hour shift last night, grocery shopping and bill paying running around this morning plus the dog walking to do any assembly today. Hopefully I'll at least get the DB case installed/assembled tomorrow morning. I might cut out the transom too. I decided not to bother doing the veneered design I was going to do in the interest of saving time and actually getting the boat done before spring. This is probably one of the longest SOF builds on record so far.
     
  8. laukejas
    Joined: Feb 2012
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    Location: Lithuania

    laukejas Senior Member

    No wonder it's taking so much time with all the things to distract you! Keep on the good work, I bet a lot of people here are tuned to your updates. You have my full support. If you could manage a photo or two, I bet lot of us could better appreciate your work :)

    You got my attention when you mentioned wood cleats. As I'm designing a boat right now, I thought I'd buy marine cleats as they come as cheap as 2$ here, but they don't come in sizes smaller than 5 inches. How are you making these wooden cleats? Solid wood instead of plywood, I gather? Could you take a picture sometime when you have one finished?
     
  9. lewisboats
    Joined: Oct 2002
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    Location: Iowa

    lewisboats Obsessed Member

    Not that kind of cleat... not yet anyway. These are cleat material to support the deck/seat etc. Strips of 1x1" doug fir to glue and screw to.
     
  10. lewisboats
    Joined: Oct 2002
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    Location: Iowa

    lewisboats Obsessed Member

    It's hard to admit when you've been stupid, but... I can't reach into the boat. I mounted the building framework onto one of those plastic folding tables. Now it is too high for me to reach over and I can't work between the stringers... my arms are too big and it is too awkward. I'll have to dismount it from the table but I can't do it myself... it's too heavy and too likely to go pear shaped and either damage the boat or myself. I'll have to wait until this weekend when my son can come over to help. I did get the front deck mounted though. It's still -10 f outside so I'm not going to tackle the transom either. Things will just have to wait til this weekend when I have help and the temps are going to be 50 degrees warmer.
     

  11. lewisboats
    Joined: Oct 2002
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    Location: Iowa

    lewisboats Obsessed Member

    I'm impatient so I figured a way of lowering the boat, table and all. I was able to cut and fit the vertical DB case spacers and I trimmed the side panels to shape mostly. I had to spray them with a little water as they somehow bowed since I cut them. I clamped them flat and will let them dry. Hopefully they will stay flat after drying out.
     
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