Port ports

 The port float is now done, or at least as done as it will get until the beams are installed.  I am putting together short punch lists of details I need to remember to take care of when I install the beams and chainplates.  I have delayed installation of the chainplates until I know more specifics of the rigging I will use.  And there are a few minor touch ups needed.

Here is a view of the forward access port and main hatch on the port float being dry fitted.  I will need to add prep of the holes for bolting the hatches to the hull to my punch list.  The fit is good, and the mounting surfaces are fair, so the hatches should keep the water out.

Of course, the hatches also open properly without binding.  Just replace the wood floor with blue water and the shop wall with a clear horizon and we are ready to set sail!  In the meantime, we are on to building the form frame for the main hull (hooray!)

Central Mounting Modules glued

 We finished the initial assembly of both the forward and aft Central Mounting Modules.  In this photo you can see the last end of the last module being clamped together while the glue sets.  The filler putty that the plates are bed in tends to slowly ooze down and out of the vertical joints.  The putty is a mix of epoxy, cabosil, and microballoons.  More cabosil or microballoons would reduce the flow, but I found it easy enough to just babysit the assembly until the epoxy kicks.  I will add more putty to form fillets in all of the corners after the initial glue cures.  The CMMs are rather fragile with just thin lines of glue, but the fillets and glass tape will make them strong and capable of distributing the large forces applied by the beams.

Here is the first CMM I assembled in the correct orientation.  The wood beam pads will be mounted on either side of the slot at the top corners.  The "upper folding strut"will be bolted into the slot as part of the mechanism that supports the beams.  You may notice the scribbles all over the CMM.  These are marks to remind me that these areas still have peel-ply so I don't try to install the CMMs with the peel-ply still on.  I have been removing strips of peel-ply as I assemble the various components of the CMMs.  I am trying to keep the peel-ply on as long as possible so the surfaces are clean when installed into the main hull.

Assembling the central mounting modules

Last weekend we started assembling the central mounting modules.  The assembly requires the use of a jig described in the plans that I built last winter.  As you can see in the photo, a few clamps come in handy as well.  The assembly at the far end was done last week, and is now set.  Today I glued up the other end, currently clamped and curing.  The glue is epoxy thickened with cabosil.  I also use a putty to fill in the gaps.  Typically I wet all of the mating surfaces with the thickened epoxy glue to ensure good adhesion of the putty.  Then I apply a bead of putty and mate the pieces.  Following a little cleanup I leave it to cure.  I don't try to fillet and tape it until the initial glue is cured.  It is just too much hassle to work around the clamps and jig.  Over the weekend I plan to assemble the other CMM.  Hopefully I'll be able to fillet and tape both CMMs next weekend.  That should put us on track to be done with the CMMs before Christmas.

A couple posts ago I showed the woodworking I was doing to fabricate the beam pads that will go on the CMMs.  Well, here is another picture of the pads after all the cuts were complete.  It was a lot of work milling these to the precise dimensions, but I just love the look and feel of a well machined part, be it wood or metal (or fiber-reinforced boat hull).

After some sanding and prep, the wood beam pads were glassed on three sides.  The other sides are glassed once the CMMs are installed in the main hull.  I masked the unglassed sides with clear packing tape prior to applying the glass to keep the surfaces clean.  I just need to do some final sanding and these will be ready to be attached to the CMMs.  (And no, this is not suppose to be an advertisement for a trampoline company!)

Finishing touches on access holes

I know it has been a while since I last posted an update.  There hasn't been too much done on the port float that wasn't already discussed when we were finishing the starboard float.  We finished trimming out the four access ports.  I applied the fairing putty around the ports to blend in the glass reinforcing.  Then winter showed up and dumped snow on us.  So I've been a little slow to get out and sand the fairing putty.  But I did start on it today.  Here is a view of the forward access port on the port hull after fairing. It looks pretty good, though I can still feel the transition from the hull to the reinforcing patch, so I will add a second pass with putty to the punch list.

Here is another view of the forward access port with the screw-in port cover dry fitted.  I think it looks great.  The slightly recessed support plate makes the port flow into the rest of the hull, almost professional looking!  You can see the other three openings in the background awaiting the same attention.  The next round of winter storms is expected next week, so finishing these ports is high on my to-do list for this weekend.  It actually only takes less then an hour per port, so no problem.

Beam pads

 As promised, here are a couple photos from today's woodworking adventure milling the pads that will eventually support the beams.  These pads will be subjected to large compressive forces, so a high density hardwood is a must.  This is lovely white oak, used for centuries to build ships thanks to its natural rot resistance and strength.  So my F-82R will have a direct link to all of the great ocean explorers of past ages (okay, not exactly a direct link, but close enough!)  These are the blanks after being milled to thickness.  Each blank is about 3-feet long and will produce four pads.  The burn marks are due to a combination of dulling cutters and tough wood.

Five hours later (said with a french accent, a' la Sponge Bob!):
The eight milled pads awaiting glass laminate and installation on the central mounting modules.  It is amazing how seemingly simple jobs like cutting blocks of wood into these parts can take so long.  But I prefer to take my time and double check my measurements so I only screw up a quarter of the cuts!  Actually this all went pretty well.  I know it is hard to gauge the scale of these blocks, but the caliper to the left is about 9-inches long.  The blocks in the foreground are about 6"x7" and the blocks in the back are 10"x6".  So these are not too small, and there are few right angles.  The crazy bevels made each cut a challenge in set up.  Just a couple more small tasks (drill a few holes, laminate pads) and we are off to assembly of the central mounting modules (patented by Ian Farrier).

Oh yeah, and I also made a little more progress on the ports in the port float.  The weather was kinda damp and cool (a rarity in this part of the world), so not the best epoxy weather.  We should be able to glass the ports next weekend and be done with the port float for a while.

Parts cut for mounting modules

 In addition to the progress on the port float, we are preparing to fabricate the first parts of the main hull. If you recall I was vacuum laminating various panels a couple weeks ago for the "central mounting modules" (patented by Ian Farrier).  These modules provide the load bearing structure supporting the beams on the main hull.  There are some big loads on these components when the wind is trying to heel the boat over and the leeward float resists by push into the water.  Ian includes lots of warnings with skulls and crossbones to make the point that these modules must be built carefully and to his design.  I spent the past few days carefully laying out the components and cutting them to size (note the tools in the photo were mostly supporting actors, the table saw and band saw played the lead roles).  Many of the cuts are at odd angles, so I had to carefully think about how I was going to make the cuts to ensure accuracy.  Here you can see most of the parts just about ready for assembly.

The highest load components are cut from 4.5 mm-thick solid glass reinforced laminated sheet.  This was one of the panels I made on the vacuum table.  Ian's instructions estimate the solid sheet will require about 9 layers of 12-oz bi-directional glass.  In actuality, mine required 12 layers, with alternating layers of bi-directional (0-90 deg fibers) and double-bias (45-45 deg fibers) fabric.  I am not sure if the extra layers were needed due to the vacuum press, or due to the fibers being more uniformly spread out in my double-bias glass, and hence thinner than the bi-directional glass.  In any case, the panels is solid and heavy.  Feeling the weight of the solid panel compared to a foam-cored panel really shows the difference in weight of a solid laminate boat compared to a cored laminate boat.

In addition to the numerous small parts, there were also four large sections that form the backbone of the modules.  These sections are about six feet long, and will eventually span the main hull.  Next time I'll show you the high-load bearing pads I am currently fabricating out of lovely white oak (very old-school, indeed!)

The fairest of them all ... with ports

 I know it has been a while since I last updated our progress.  It's mostly been sanding and fairing, so not too much more to say that I haven't already.  The good news is I finished fairing the port float last weekend, and it looks great.  There is some minor touch up remaining on the deck, but mostly in the vicinity of the ports, so I decided to address these issues when I blend the ports in to the hull.  Fairing went somewhat quicker (or at least less painful) on the port hull.  I didn't do as many iterations of applying filler followed by sanding.  To summarize, I did the following:

1 - Fill holes and seams in foam,

2 - Initial fairing of foam with extra-long fairing board

3 - Fill significant low areas in foam and fair,

4 - Laminate outer surface and install bow,

5 - Skim coat entire surface,

6 - Sand with fairing board,

7 - Fill any remaining low spots,

8 - Final fairing pass.

 Here is another view of the port ports!  I followed the same basic steps I used for cutting the openings in the starboard float.  I am still working on blending the ports into the hull form like I did on the other float.  Once I get the epoxy putty shaped, I will apply glass tape on the inside and glass fabric on the outside to reinforce the openings.  Then this float goes on the shelf while we move on to the beams and main hull.