Saturday, July 13, 2013

Time, Precious Time...

I must provide proof that the build is still proceeding...

I finished up the bottom panel by touching up the scarf joint. I found that using packing tape provides an excellent barrier for epoxy and can generate some nice lines.



I was then able to cut out the bottom panel using my jigsaw. This was a major milestone for me and was glad to have done a nice job on the joint. What great curves Summa has....


Some time passed.....

I then started working on the center case. I had cut out the side panels previously so I needed to complete the doublers. This only took a couple of days to complete and the end product looks great. I will have to wait on the forward and aft posts until I am able to obtain some hardwood. 



I still have to drill the hole for the swing keel attach. This will also have to wait until I purchase the hardware.

Some more time passed....

The next major milestone was the ripping the stringers and keel batton from the 1x6 Douglas Fir. As stated in one of my previous posts, I needed to purchase a table saw to complete this task. I ended up (after quite a bit of research) purchasing the Dewalt DW745 10" compact table saw. I do not have a lot of room within the garage so this made sense. Now I just needed to learn how to use it...having very little experience with table saws. Luckily, we now have a huge amount of informational data available to us in the form of videos...youtube...I instantly became an expert.

Since the Douglas ranged in length from 11 to 13 ft, I needed to make an infeed and outfeed table. Using some scrap 2x4's, plywood, screws and a little ingenuity, I turned the jig into a set of tables. The table saw was small enough to fit between the rails so I built a quick stand to raise it to the correct height. 




Now it was time to begin. I was a little nervous about trying to rip the stringers alone (considering their length) so I asked my Grandfather for help. He and I spent a good 4 hours ripping stringers. The saw and tables worked perfectly. I owe a lot to my Grandfather for his assistance because I would not have been able to complete this task on my own. 



Even more time passed....

I am now getting ready for some major installations. I have to scarf the keel batten because my Douglas was not long enough to span the length of the bottom panel. I started to scarf joint as shown. 



Once this is complete I can then ready the jig for frame installations...that is...when I get some more of that precious time.