Joy Oh ! Joy , Yeah Right

Skinning of section 2 is now complete , so on with the Fairing and Sanding ( Joy Oh Joy - NOT ! ) .
Must remember to make a detailed log of the next sections build , must analyze times for each operation and determine why build is taking longer than expected . Need to progress Faster ! , or at least understand the delay's .

As can be seen in the picture , not much Curve in this section , just a nice gentle change in pitch as we progress down the hull . If I can get the sanding complete this week , we might just start the fiber-glassing on the weekend . Glassing is a real pain when there's only one person doing the job , wonder if I can bribe the kids into helping  .

The frame shown is the last of the Tank frames ( frame 6) , 900 mm behind this is Bulkhead #2 ( frame 7 ) and behind that is 3 open timber frames ( 8 thru 10 ) . Each hull has 21 frames each so we still have a way to go . Better break out the caffeine .

Houston , We have separation !!

We have run into some delays , some expected and some not . Part of the process i guess , never thought it was going to be easy .

Over the Christmas Period we started on the tricky Join Section between Section 1 and Section 2 , Second section was created and formed from the first so as to create a smooth transition . The Interior Scarfed frames were created and screwed together to hold everything in position and then the exterior plywood added to stabilize the join . Now comes the Nasty bit !

Removed the internal scarfed joiner pieces from the inside and using my Trusty Skillsaw
we cut the plywood and separated the two Hull Sections .

Having continued skinning Hull Section 2 we have also made a start on the Cradle and the turning frame . With 8 pieces to rotate it made sense to build my own System to turn the hull sections over . This will consist of a semi-circular turning frame attached to the side of the Steel cradle  . Both are made from some Heavy gauge angle steel cut and welded into shape .
Again my equipment is failing , just got the steel cut and bent into shape when I started the Welder to join the sections an arcing noise was heard ,  not at the welding rod where i expected it to be but from inside the welder itself . DAMN !  .

This is the Turning Section before Welding ( attempted ) , but after another weeks delay I have managed to get the Welder Functional again and this section is now Fully Welded and awaiting the creation of the steel cradle to which it will be fitted .

Frames to form the Structure

Now that the first section is complete , we now start making the frames for the next . Jigsaws frames come in three forms , Sheet frames , Bulkhead Frames and Open Solid Timber frames .

This is a Sheet Frame , basically formed from a single 12mm sheet of Plywood with a solid Timber reinforcing structure  made from 25mm thick Kauri  . Strength primarily comes from the plywood , the solid timber stabilises the plywood structure and allows for edge fastening of the longitudinal stringers ( you can't edge screw plywood ) . We use a number of these frames between the first two bulkheads as they also form the sides of Fluid Storage tanks for Sewage , Grey Water , Rain Water and filtered water .

 

 



 

This is a Bulkhead Frame , again it has a solid timber reinforcing structure ( 38mm thick this time) , but  both sides are covered in 18mm Plywood ( one side still to be fitted to this frame ) . These are the primary structual entities in the vessel and link from one hull , across the accommodation levels and back down to the other hull . Jigsaw has five such frames across her width . They also form watertight bulkheads in the hull thus splitting each hull into five  sealed sections . 

 

 

 

 

This is the Open Solid Timber Frame , these get used in the second,third and fourth sections of each Hull , Made from 150 x 38 mm Solid timber these allow for the open storage area's in the hulls . The timber sections are half jointed at the side intersections and will be fitted with plywood reinforcing across the joints ( not yet fitted to this one ) , the bottom intersection is butt jointed with 38mm solid timber on one side and 18mm plywood on the other ( this is also the hull floor level ) . Each Hull has eleven of these frames , Five Bulkhead frames and Five Sheet Frames , ( thats a lot of Frames ! ) .

Better plant some more Tree's .





 

 



The Birthing Process

The Baby takes its first look at the Big Wide World

Bit by Bit it moves further Outside , But things are getting Tight !

Looks like the Clearance to the roller door is OK , but the Outer  Cladding is getting very close

Very Very close , now down to  6mm ( 1/4 inch ) clearance  !!!

If this Baby gets Stuck ! ,there's going to be tears !  (  alas  Mine ! )

Further out now , but still only millimeters to spare

And then all with a Rush , it bursts forth into the World !!

Bit of a Stumpy Baby this one , as is only 1/4 grown

This side looks a little strange as the Dual skin and the fiberglass don't go all the way
to the gunwales , this is because there is more Boat to build on top of this Piece ( Jigsaw 's
Pieces go Horizontal and Vertical, like any Jigsaw ) and this allows an overlap of the Skin from
the other Sections so as not to concentrate all the breaks in the skin at a single point . The other side doesn't have this problem due to the Wingdeck section between the Hulls .

Feel the Conflict within us

I build Jigsaw with an internal conflict , Its a Houseboat , not a show boat or a Gin Palace , not even a Racing or Pretty  Little Sailboat . The Question is ? , just how much time do I want to apply to the attainment of a perfectly smooth finish . I don't want it to be ugly  , but I don't have time to waste .
Its a BL''''DY BIG BOAT .

 After an initial round of fairing and sanding ,we finally got around to the fiberglassing , a single overlapping ( at the chines and keel ) layer of 12 oz ( 400gm ) biaxial cloth and West Epoxy Resin . Used Peelply for the first time during this phase  , interesting stuff , seems a bit of a waste of cloth but worth the result . Where I got the cloth to work correctly , the surface was damn near perfect , almost ready to paint , on other areas it still need a little re-work , but far less than if I hadn't used it at all . So after another round of fairing  we started in on the Paint job , using a 2 pot Epoxy Primer to start the process we applied it with a roller rather than spraying ( Hey , its a Houseboat ) , the fumes are bad enough with just rolling it on , hate to think what its like if you spray it  .
Its almost time for this section to be delivered into the world ( that is , if I can get it out of the garage door ) , it will then be positioned in front of the garage and we can make a start on the next section that will use the first as its joining template . Once the shape and connection of the second section is confirmed , then this initial Bow section will be removed and Rotated to its proper orientation .
Should actually start looking like a boat !!

Bugger !

We have had a little Bad luck  ( Bugger ! )  , Used a 2 pot Epoxy Fairing Mix on the Conical stem and for some reason it refused to set , dunno if I made a mistake , or it was a bad batch or just the weather was too cold , but after waiting for 7 days for it to harden up I gave up and stripped it off . Went back to West Epoxy and the fairing powder , hardened overnight and was finally able to Shape off the Stem .

 

 



 





Have also made a start on the Capping strip , the front section of this is made from 4 laminations of timber over the curve of the forefoot and matches up with the bottom of the conical stem  . The Aft piece will be  solid timber  as there is no significient curve to deal with .
These pictures were taken just before I fitted another 2 layers of fiberglass over the stem and capping strip to finish off the sandwich construction of the Bow . The entire boat will be covered in a layer of fiberglass which will overlap at the keel , chines and stem , with an additional reinforcing strip along the keel and chines thus giving a total of  4 layers of fiberglass over the stem and 3 layers over the keel and chines .
The rest of the Hull is being sanded and faired and no matter how much I tell myself ( I love sanding ) , I don't actually  , so the quicker that this gets done the better .

Gluing , Screwing and Torture

Someone asked me the other day , " What are you up to ,on the Weekend " , I repied with " Gluing , screwing and Torturing ( Pause )  sheets of Plywood . Funny thing  , he gave me the strangest look !
Doesn't Everyone ??

With the Bottom 2 layers complete  and the second skin on the sides progressing from the front , I have also made a start on the conical bow section . Made from strips of 25mm timber narrowed at one end ,layed vertically over some temporary forms to create the shape  . Epoxy glue is forced into the gaps between and when set , the assembly will be removed and fiberglassed on the inside .

Removed the Conical bow and have added the layers  of fiberglass  to the inside of the strip planks , this can now be glued back into place and we can continue with the fairing of this section into the main Hull .
( OH No  , more Sanding !! ) .
 Additional layers of fiberglass will be added on the outside once I'm happy with the shape and we will have created a nice solid timber strip plank sandwich .  ( Tasty Huh )
I'm glad I kept the Conical Bow design  , it makes a real point of difference over the typical plywood boat design .