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Stripping the deck

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posted 2004 Dec 31

Now that the hull is complete and hung, it's time to work on the deck. I flipped the strongback over, and started by making sure everything was aligned. The list had said that stations 11 and 12 might need to be bumped up slightly to ensure everything was fair. In my case, I had to do a couple other adjustments - station 11 up around 1/8", station 7 down 1/8", and shims (one or two layers of Cheerios box) on a number of other stations. The biggest shim was on station 3, probably to match the shim I put on station 5 on the hull. I determined all this by laying a strip down the middle, and then checking to see if the strip touched or needed to be pushed to touch the station.

With things aligned yet again, I used my new bandsaw with my custom fence to cut my accent strips. These strips are regular 3/4" yellow cedar, but I decided to cut them slightly narrower for a bit of flair. My dad acted as an infeed, pushing the strips against the fence, and I pulled them through, and generally we got quite straight cuts (which you might not expect from a bandsaw). It wasn't perfect, but it was pretty good.

I then cut the bevel on the first two strips, numbered everything so I would know the right order to install them, and stapled down the centre strip. This one has to be perfectly straight since otherwise all the other strips are going to curve around with it. For all these centre strips, I taped them to each other to be sure I had good contact - I want to avoid glue lines if possible on the deck.

With all the sighting to get strips straight, I found that some stations didn't seem to be perfectly fair. I wound up going back and pulling the staples for a few stations, and installing shims underneath. I did this at stations 8 (1 layer), 9 (2 layers) and 11 (1 layer). Two layers adds about 1/8". These are small adjustments, but they seem to have improved the lay of the strips - anything more seems pretty minor. It's frustrating to have to make these adjustments now, after spending all that time truing the hull side of the strongback...

I had been worried about how many strips go in the centre, but it turns out that's not really a problem. Once the strips start to curve up the sides (and need screws to keep them in place) you know it's time to install the side strips. I stapled it at station 7 first, then worked my way to the stern (with it hard up against the wing step). I then bent it in place to the top edge of station 2, made sure it looked fair all the way along, and stapled it down from station 2 back to station 6.

Next up was the jumper strip which jumps from the outer strips to the centre strips. This one doesn't fit quite perfectly, it doesn't leave a nice flat, fair surface after it's in place - but it's going to be covered with fairing filler anyway. After that piece, it's pretty much just installing strips as on the hull.

(29 images)

Hanging the hull

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posted 2004 Dec 12

Well, I've finally managed to get the car back in the garage, after ten long weeks of being parked outside. Max was staying over for the week, so with an assistant to help out, I was highly motivated to ensure the hull was hung and the jig was flipped over so I could start on the deck.

My design was largely based on the Harken Hoister installation instructions, but beefed up to support more weight. The components could probably handle 300 lbs; the trusses should be able to support that as well.

First was installing the trusses. I used 3" long 1/4" lag screws to screw the 2x4s on to the truss - for each pulley, four screws. (Remember that the trusses in this house are not 2x4s.) The pulleys are 1/4" eye bolts with the tail of the eye cut off (so the pulley would fit on), then bolted to the other side with a fender washer and two cross-tightened nuts. I centered the pulleys between the ceiling joists to evenly distribute the weight.

With the trusses and pulleys in place, I installed the rope and webbing. The webbing has hooks on the ends - I tried to saw them off with my hacksaw, but couldn't make a dent in them. I guess there really is a difference between different steel manufacturing methods. The webbing is tied on with a figure eight knot - tie a figure 8 in the rope, then take the tail and put it through the webbing loop, then make the tail follow the trail of the figure 8 again.

Next up was the wall 2x4 screwed into a top support. It shouldn't be screwed into a stud - rather it should go into a horizontal support that runs all along the wall. That eye bolt is pretty beefy - but can only support 400lbs of weight. I then installed the winch at the bottom, and now things are ready to hang. I threaded the triple blocks and the hoist is ready.

The hardest part of all this was figuring out how to replace the centre pulley system on the original hoister. My original idea was to use two large Home Depot pulleys attached by a quicklink, and have all four lines go through the pulleys. This didn't work - the pulleys weighed too much and didn't run. So I picked up two blocks attached by a ring, and only put the line on the front through the pulleys (there isn't enough room for all four). The ring won't fit through the metal pipe-holder. It would have been better if it was hanging from it - better clearance for the line. Maybe an eye-bolt would have worked here? (With an eye bolt it could be twisted for the right alignment...)

And, with all that complete, we have a hoisted boat! Now I just have to find a place for the cradle. It weighs 56.5 lbs (pretty heavy, I have to admit). I considered hanging it too (it will fit over the garage door, I'm pretty sure), but at the moment I'm tired of figuring out how to hang stuff from the ceiling. So I just put it behind the workbench.

All told, this hoist cost me about $270, compared to the Harken Hoister cost of $200. My solution will hoist an additional 100 lbs at least. Of that $270, $32 was on the winch, and $115 on the three Ronstan blocks I needed.

qty	item	supplier	safe working load, lbs	breaking load, lbs
2	Seadog stainless flush-pin D-shackle	Fisheries Supply		3300
100'	1/4" poly rope	Home Depot	95
2	10' cam buckle tie down	Home Depot	400	1200
1	Ronstan RF30302 30mm triple block	Fisheries Supply	1100	2420
1	Ronstan RF30312 30mm triple block & becket	Fisheries Supply	1100	2420
1	Ronstan RF30286 30mm single linked blocks	Fisheries Supply	660	1650
50'	3/16" XLS Yacht Braid (white)	Fisheries Supply		2200
1	Fulton T600 trailer winch	West Marine	600
4	1 1/2" awning pulley	Home Depot	110
4	1/4" eye bolt (to hang pulleys)	Home Depot	90
	1/4" fender washers, 1/4" nuts	Home Depot
1	1/2" eye bolt (attaches to wall)	Home Depot	400
	1/2" fender washer	Home Depot
18+	3" x 1/4" lag screws, 1/4" washers	Home Depot
1	5" nylon cleat	West Marine

I stress tested the 1 1/2" awning pulleys with 1/4" eye bolt assembly (and the 1/4" poly rope) by hanging 180 lbs on them (my weight). Nothing broke (or even creaked), so everything seemed to be within breaking limits.

(21 images)

Making the chainplate blocks

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posted 2004 Dec 3

The deck plan says the centre hole for the chainplate blocks should be 91" aft (measured from station 0 - you can use bulkhead positions to find this location), and 29" out from centreline, port & starboard. I put a post in the trunk and then used a carpenter's square with a wood extension to find 29" out. Initially I used the same 2x6 to find centre as I did to check for vertical - but I found that the 2x6 has a slight cup, and so the square wouldn't sit quite square on the post. This lead to a noticable (1") difference in the position of the holes on the hull, relative to the bulkheads and edge. I switched to a piece of solid cedar I had lying around (which is flat) and the measurements got much more agreeable. I also switched from a piece of strip as the extension to a piece of metal strip - the metal is thinner and straighter. Be sure when you do this to measure the 29" out from the actual centre - the far edge of the post is a bit past the centre, and so an adjustment is required.

I also wanted to ensure that the drill guides I have would drill vertically, since I'm drilling a 1/4" hole in a 1" wide piece of cedar. They're dead on - the drill guide has been very useful.

So, with a rough idea of where the cedar would go, I transferred the angles to the 1" thick cedar block, and cut the piece. I then planed the bottom edge down to the angle of the hull, and checked for fit. The chainplates are supposed to be parallel to the edge of the hull, and installed so they are at 90° to the deck (or slightly turned inwards). I measured everything so they would be slighty turned inwards, but there's a lot of play in the blocks and a slight turn causes a lot of difference in the hole position. I cut away the top edge so it matched up with the top edges of the gunwale, and also put a slight inwards angle on it with the plane.

I set about cutting the second one as well. I drilled holes in the first plate (centre hole and the two outer holes), but decided not to on the second one. The chainplate position is a class measured position, and I want to try and gain some additional accuracy when I fit the deck - I'm a little concerned about the cumulative error of all the measurements from measurements I'm making. Being out 1/4" on the position of these holes wouldn't be good.

(12 images)