Building the houseboat

Buen viaje, Sebastian!

 

Thank you Hoyt, I will transmit.

I did this little sketch to show how the side deck will be with the shelter deck going to the side, and the stanchion supporting the end of the shelter deck.
I show also in slightly exaggerated the slope of 4 degree of the house living for the side deck a 18 inches space at the shoulder and 12 inches at the feet.

 

After several weeks of rain and bad weather, the work continue, under a cloudy sky and temperature around 40F.
Here I am sending the hull to be prepared for the first coat of coal tar epoxy, will be 4 in total to obtain the right thickness.

 

That little fall threw you off schedule a bit, it seems. Soon you will look back on today and wish the weather was up in the 40's. I'm glad Sebastian was able to lend you a hand, in the meantime. How cold can the weather be and you still be able to work with the epoxy?

 

yep back to it

 

how long does it take to hammer a few boards together?

 

Some pictures of the outside chine log.
For the coal tar epoxy 40 F seams right. I asked Richard and he told me that it will be no problem as long the coal tar epoxy is at room temperature for been able to mix it well. And the wood should not cold heather, but in afternoon sun under the tarp will be OK.
Wardd between one hour 30 minutes to two hours each plank.

Daniel

 

Thanks for the post; I was wondering if you'd been able to get anything done on the boat.

 

I bet it was hard hammering those screw into those boards. No wonder it takes so long! Did you try spinning the hammer during the downstrokes?

 

...I'd put money on it , that Daniel used a brace and bit.....

 

You know Daniel why they are named screws?

`cos when you hammer them in, you screw the job. Thats not uncommon though.

Do not overheat the stickum, just make it liquid enough to be applied easily. The larger the temp. difference, the larger the risk of failure. (bonding issues, vapour, micro cracks)
The "hot" Tar collects moisture while applied*, the heat due to curing, lets that become vapour. Not what one wants between Ep tar and plank.

Go, before the snow makes your socks white again!

Richard
* not out of the wood, that is as dry as it can get, when cold, but out of your own breath for example. No, not a joke.

 

I once worked with someone on a project

he would drive a wood screw in with no pilot hole until the last few turns then hammer it in

to say the least i was impressed

 

The opposite way is not uncommon, to hammer it in to some length, then drive it down properly.

In this case, it should (and was) driven in the entire length, I know Daniel.

 

- that was the way I was taught!

(but it's not the way I do it now)

 

I've seen this done a number of times, but it's the best way to start the job out with stripped threads. All screws need a clearance hole and a pilot, plus a counter sink if required. Anything less then this is monkey carpentry. This said, I've smacked a big screw with a hammer to start it, knowing it will thread itself into the pilot hole eventually. If you have enough wood to work with and a hefty screw there's nothing wrong with this, though it will likely be measurably weaker then one twisted in the full length.

Another old habit I've seen, that is wrong is many will very carefully line up the slots in the exposed fasteners so they all look the same. This is wrong too. A screw is turned down until the head bottoms and the pieces are drawn together. That's it, you're done. If you turn the screw a little more to align the slot, you've started to strip out the internal threads, cut into the wood, weakening the grasp it has on the fibers. If you back it off a little to align the slot, then you've not got the thing tight.

I don't know who comes up with these old "tricks of the trade" but they need to put this person out of our misery. I can think of a dozen of these stupid "tricks" none worth repeating for fear someone will mis-understand and use it.