Framing the transom

Ooooh boy, Im in it now. I got home after being on the road for almost two weeks and immediately picked back up on working on the boat. I decided to frame the transom. I cut the cedar parts to frame the sides, the bottom, and the seat cleat in 2:45. I thought it would go significantly quicker, but it didnt because it was a little more complicated than I thought, and my framing was fraught with multiple mistakes. I also do not have a solid piece of cedar for the top piece, which needs to be wider than any of my stock. Maybe Ill use two pieces, maybe that will have to wait.

The first mistake was correcting an old one... the transom needs 7mm of extra on the sides of the ply and 12mm extra on the bottom. I figured this was extra that was going to be cut off, so I threw in a few extra mm to make round numbers. Turns out the 7 and 12 is important, because I will be basing the bevel of the sides and bottom off these numbers. Fortunately I read the section first before, cleaned up the lines to the correct length, and then cut and sanded smooth.

After that, it was a comedy of errors cutting the cedar to fit appropriately. In the end, it looks good, tight, and straight. Next up, I have to glue it all on and/or seal the ply in epoxy and then glue it on. I also do not know how to bevel any of this stuff. This is something I am going to have to ask about for because I dont know how to do it simply and without screw up. Time to phone the collective.

Bulkhead 2

Yesterday and today I worked on BH2. This went smoothly, with no problems. I spent some time shaping the side frames down to match the curved bulkhead. I was pleased with the result, though my plane is not working as well as I would like. Ive got a sharpening problem I have to deal with-- as in I have to learn how to sharpen my blade iron better.

During the construction of BH2 I realized that I screwed up on BH1, cutting a 19x19 mm piece for the bottom frame instead of the 45mmx19mm piece that the plans call for. I have not decided yet if I want to keep the original piece or put together a new one. The question is pending on the Storer forum. Im OK on wood, but I dont have a lot of extra, and cedar is pricey.

On the road for the next 8 days.

Bulkhead 4 and First Gluing Disaster

Jeezum Crow.

First, Ive been having problems on the employment front that has been keeping me out of the workshop. Today, Im feeling good, confident, its raining, Ive got nothing else going on, so I roll into the shop and quickly pound out the framing for BH4. Then, I decide to start my first gluing.

Holy Baloney, what a disaster the whole thing turned into. First, I cover most everything with plastic. I set up my pumps, prime them, get my yogurt cups, my ziploc bags to deliver my epoxy to the wood Storer-style, etc etc etc. I got medium speed epoxy, so Im feeling pretty good and I go ahead and throw in a mess of pumps to the appropriate 2:1 ratio for the "Marinepoxy" brand that Im using. I decided to start out as clean as possible with the Duckflat method mentioned on Storers website, ie. mix everything in the ziploc bag. So I pour in the resin and hardener, I "massage" the bag to mix, then I start dumping some silica into it. For this part, I placed the bag over a yogurt cup. Interestingly enough, the level of epoxy in the bag continued to get lower and lower as I mixed in silica. A hole mysteriously appeared at the bottom. If this was a self-inflicted hole or a heat-inflicted hole, I dont know. Whilst I was investigating the bag dropped into the cup. At this point the mix just freaking took off temperature wise. "Whoa Nelly!" Batch One, done. I sat it aside and kept an eye on it so it didnt combust on my workbench.

Discouraged but not out, I mix up batch Two. This time, screw it, Im mixing in a cup, and Ill pour into a ziploc bag. The mixing goes well, I dump in the silica, that goes well. Its thick, but not super thick, definitely not peanut butter thick, but the temperature was starting to rise, and I wanted the epoxy delivered on the wood before it took off like the previous attempt. So into the bag, I cut the corner and that stuff just started pouring out all over the place. Then the bag got super hot, I dropped it, kicked it aside and starting grabbing the top and bottom frames for BH1. I placed them accordingly and clamped them down, but they started swimming all over the epoxy and wouldnt sit still. Epoxy was oozing out of every seam all over the place, I was watching two batches now for tell-tale smoking and potential combustion, and I was worried like the dickens that my frames were going to set akimbo.

Son of a bitch! Everything is somewhat quieted down now, and things are positioned somewhat where I want them, but not as perfect as I imagined. Im not down with the ziploc bag idea with the speed at which the epoxy starts to hyperventilate. Ive got to spread it over a larger area to mix and then either pour into a bag or distribute it over the surfaces with a different method. Im going to try the sidearms tonight just for fun, but after I calm down.

Edit: Some ideas on gluing better.

Mark the centerlines on the top and bottom frames to line up with the centerline on the BH in case everything goes to hell in a handbasket and the sidearms are removed.

Mix smaller batches, as in 2 pumps to 1 pump. Just keep it small and work from there.