Author: The Slow Boat Builder

Time to fit my deadwood to the hull. The main piece is a big chunk of wood. Aft and forward pieces guide into position. They provide a nice flat surface to take the remaining layers to build up the full keel. As well as being glued with epoxy, there will be a number of keel… Continue reading Fixing the Deadwood

As well as the main deadwood at the stern, I need to add a piece at the forward end to fair the keel into the stem. My steel rule produced a reasonable curve to mark out the template. I marked out and cut Iroko pieces from the template. Below, you can see 2 layers being… Continue reading Making the forward end

The Skeg/Deadwood needs an outer facing of Iroko hardwood, and I need some nice flat and smooth blanks 30mm thick to do this. I bought all my Iroko as (rough) cut planks. You can buy the planks nicely planed and cut to the correct dimensions. Any sensible person would do it that way, but then… Continue reading Back to preparing planks

It has been cold – really cold for Weymouth. So much so that my most important boat building equipment froze overnight!. Ice in my espresso machine and kettle. My little space heater has been working hard, but I can’t do any gluing until the weather changes. If you go back a couple of posts, you… Continue reading Fun with a Router

Literally, I have made a breakthrough and here is the proof. A hole in my hull. I spent a lot of time worrying about this step. How do you get the angle of the drill right when the plan gives you one fixed point outside of the hull and one other fixed point inside the… Continue reading Breakthrough

Meanwhile while I continue with sanding, I decided to start on the deadwood (I know. All my wood is dead) as light relief. The deadwood has to fit the curve of the hull at the bottom (upside down as constructed) and provides a flat surface at the top tapering to a point at the highest… Continue reading Meanwhile, the Skeg/Deadwood

Despite the huge gap since my last post, I have been working. There have been gaps for holidays and other enjoyable interruptions, but mostly, this is just slow work. There is quite a bit of planing. And even more sanding. Sweeping up the shavings is somewhat disheartening. I paid good money for that wood. There… Continue reading More Fairing / Sanding

Those lovely lines produced by wrapping the planks around the bulkheads don’t look quite as smooth when inspected closely. Planks are rectangular in profile after all, and the layer of fibreglass needs a nice smooth base, so time to remove some wood. The first stage is to use a sharp fine set plane to remove… Continue reading Fairing the Hull (slowly)

Adding planks underneath rather than on top feels slightly strange. I clamped on a couple of brackets to support the plank while I clamped it in place. In the picture below, you can see the line of epoxy resin filling the groove in the plank, all ready to be fitted in place. The floor provided… Continue reading One side planked