Finishing off the flare forms

Today's task was to figure out how to finish off the flare forms. These are the series of quadrilateral shapes that really define the shape of the hull. I made the tops of them the other day (those are the beveled and notched boards). Now we have to make the sides and the bottoms.

First order of business of the day was to brace the strongback so it couldn't wobble from side to side. Everything we are doing here is about making things level and plumb, so its imperative that the strongback be plumb. A stringer is in order here.

If you're like me and have forgotten all your trigonometry, the internet is there to rescue you. Just go to http://www.csgnetwork.com/righttricalc.html and it will calculate all your angles for you. Easy peasy.

Each of the flare forms starts with the piece I shaped the other day. The next step is to make sure the flare form is correctly positioned relative to the strong back in every direction: Square, plumb, level.

I started out getting it square. What I found was that each form is going to tend to be off in one direction or the other, so screwing a block on the appropriate side, then screwing the flare form to it, is a good way to get is close. The block also establishes that the side of the form is plumb.

Next we want to make sure the form is square to the strongback, and that it will stay square. These braces do the trick. What I did was to hold it in place and sink one screw. Then I could make final adjustments to the position of the form (getting it perfectly square to the strongback), then a screw on the other end. All the while, I'm holding a level on the top of the form. This is pretty much a three-handed job, but if you go slow everything will fall into place eventually.

Even with all that bracing in place, you can knock the form out of level if you aren't careful, so be careful.

The next step is to make the bottom of the quadrilateral and mount it into place. The Barlow plans give the required length of these forms (actually, they give half of the length of the bottom of the quadrilateral, so work it out from there). I cut a board to the width of the base of the jig, marked the center line point, and then measured out from there the required offset for the length of each side.

Getting this thing properly positioned is a tedious job. If someone knows a better way to do this, by all means let me know.

The plans call for the top of the bottom piece to be 24" below the top of the top piece, so I started by measuring that distance and making a mark on the stanchion. Then I used a clamp to position the board as close I could by eye. From here its just an iterative process....measure for level, measure for distance from the top board, measure the distance side to side to make sure they are equal. If you are off a bit, use a rubber mallet to tap the board a bit, then measure all over again. Eventually your taps will get lighter and lighter as the board gets closer and closer to being in position. When you finally have it correct, screw the board into the stanchion:

The screws will lock you in in terms of side to side and top to bottom movement, but the board can still rock out of level. To solve that, I made diagonal supports that attached to the jig:

Put one of those braces on each side, and your horizontal board is going to stay horizontal.

Next step is to position the sides to the quadrilateral. Here's a tip I figured out: If you are working single-handed like me, clamp a block of wood to the end of the board you just installed, making sure it is perfectly aligned to the line you marked earlier (the offset from the plans). This will make positioning the side much easier.

Next I cut a piece of 2x4 on an angle corresponding to the angle on the end of the flare form from the plans, and then clamped it into place. This is where the block comes in really handy. Crank the wood clamp on top down hard, and the piece will stay in place as you screw it in.

And presto! Now just do the other side, and you are done with that flare form.

At the end of today's session, I have two flare forms completed. I still need to go back and trim off the excess on the bottom piece (see how it sticks out beyond the side), but that will wait. I need to get some new, sharp blades for my Sawzall first.

Speaking of tools, this chop saw has been invaluable throughout this process. It cuts all these angles with ease and accuracy. If you are going to start a project like this, I highly recommend you get a good chop saw (including a stand with extension arms) as your first step. I promise you won't be sorry.

For now, I am almost out of wood and deck screws, and am certainly out of gumption for the day, so I'll pick this back up next week.

Beginning assembly of the jig

With the strongback and flare forms ready, it was time to start actually assembling the jig.

I started out by making a frame out of 2x6 lumber:

The long ones are 12', and the ends are 8'. I decided to save a little space, so I made it a tad narrower than the full 8'. I'll go back and cut off those off with my Sawzall later. I got lucky and it turned out square without having to adjust it. But it also exposed how non-flat my garage floor is. 

Noodling on that for a while, I figured I had two options: Shim up the frame to make it level, or just level the strongback and just accept that the frame would be off. I decided to go with plan "b".

The Barlow plans call the legs that hold up the strongback "stanchions", so here are my stanchions. I cut some 2x4 stock to 42", then cut some blocks of wood to separate the pairs of legs.

After screwing them together (this is a great project for using up old boxes of decking screws), I pulled out the spacers and have two matched pairs of stanchions. Sunnie thinks they are pretty cool. Its his job to hand me screws.

The stanchions fit snugly enough over the strongback that I was able to dry fit it onto the jig frame without any trouble.

From there it was just a matter of leveling off the strongback, making sure the stanchions were plumb, then and screwing the stanchions into place.

Right on the money:

The gap here shows how much I had to raise the bow end of the strongback to get it level:

With the strongback locked in, it was time to cut the notches that will allow the flare forms to rest properly against the top of the strongback. For this, I used a little Japanese pull saw to cut down the sides of the notch...

...followed by a chisel to break out the excess material. If you get lucky, the whole chunk will pop out in one piece. If you don't, you will be shaving it off all the way to the bottom. Of the four, only one went easy.

I was pleased to see that the bevels lined up beautifully with the curve of the strongback. Thanks, Mr. Barlow!

With all four notches cut, the flare forms fit neatly into place, and its really starting to look like a Pelican.

Next steps will be to add on the sides of the flare forms, and then brace the whole thing up nice and solid. But since I haven't ordered my plywood, fir or epoxy yet, I'm not in any hurry. 

Starting the flare forms

Tonight I started the flare forms. These are four horizontal pieces that attach to the strongback and establish both the width of the bottom of the hull, as well as the angle of the sides.

These are made from regular 2x6 lumber. It was something of a chore making them, mainly because everything about the shape of the boat comes down to how accurate they are. My scrap lumber pile now has two "duds" added to the mix.

Each flare form has a specific angle cut at the end, so I started out by cutting those using my chopsaw. Then I measured for length, and cut it square, making sure to allow for extra length. The reason for that is that the top of each flare form has to be beveled to correspond to the angle of the strongback at that particular point. By cutting them long, beveling them, and only then cutting to final length, I avoid the problem of the bevel cut spoiling the length.

This picture shows me cutting the bevel on the table saw:

After each flare form was beveled and then cut to final length, I needed to carve out a notch 1" deep and 6" wide in the top. This notch is where the keelson will rest during assembly.

I cut the notches on the table saw, holding bevel end flat to the table and eye-balling the board perpendicular to the blade. Two careful cuts (one at each end) then I just made repeated cuts until the remaining pieces were small enough to break off. Then I ran the piece side to side over the blade to clean up the bottom of the notch. It worked out pretty well:

Last step of the night was to cut notches in the bottom of the flare forms so they can sit on the strongback. I used the same procedure as the keelson notches. When it was all said and done, I dry-fit the whole business together. You can start to see the shape of the boat emerge here:

Next step is to cut notches in the strongback so that the flare forms rest inside of it. The idea is that the bottom of of the 6" wide notches will be flush with the top of the strongback.

Tomorrow I should be ready to start actually assembling the jig (assuming my daughter brings my drill back!!!)

Making the strongback...

Tonight's task was to carve out the strongback. I started by heading back to Home Depot and getting a 16 foot long piece of pine quarter-round trim. Then I drove a finish nail into each of the offset marks on the strongback from last night.

Next, I took some clamps and roughed in the curve, placing the quarter-round strip against the nails.

In spots, it helped to add another nail to hold the quarter-round flush against the mark:

With the strip in place, it was a simple matter to run a sharpie against the inside and mark the curve:

From there, I used a circular saw to carefully cut along the line, and with that, the strongback shape is established:

Tomorrow night I will start making the cross-frame members.

Started construction on the Pacific Pelican tonight

After nearly 40 years of thinking about it, I finally got started on building my Pacific Pelican sailboat tonight!

If all goes well, I will end up with something along the lines of this:

That is actually a standard "Pelican", where I am building a "Pacific Pelican"...essentially the same boat only the Pacific version is two feet longer.

First steps: Get a bunch of lumber and start the building jig. So a trip to Home Depot, including borrowing their very nice delivery truck, some help from the neighborhood kids, and presto! Pile of wood in the garage:

That's "Duke". He seems mildly interested. The kids were a little disappointed when I told them that none of this wood would actually become part of the final boat.

I built a set of sawhorses about 20 years ago, and they were shot. So I decided to make some new ones to start this build. Then it was time to mark off the "strongback". This is the big board that will run down the center of the jig and establish the curvature of the hull. The plans call for a 14' 2x12 board for this, but all Home Depot had was a 16 footer, so I cut it off. The plans also talk about striking a chalk line along the bottom of the board and marking your curve points from that, so as to ensure a straight line. When I struck the line, I realized that the edge of the board that I got was plenty straight already, so I just marked from that.

Looking at that board, the scale of this boat starts to become apparent. Its going to be bigger than I visualized. That's cool. Although I'm a little worried things are going to be pretty tight in the garage.

The top edge of the strongback will be curved, establishing the curvature of the hull. To achieve that curve, a series of offsets are provided in the plans, each at 1 foot intervals.

The next step is to find a really long, limber piece of something that I can use to connect those dots and mark off the curve, and then cut the board to shape.

To be continued...