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Cleat

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Everything posted by Cleat

  1. Cleat
    The bow strip was a challenge. I soaked the walnut piece for 30-45 minutes. My plan was to do two soakings, one to set the general arc, the other to set the final contour. I was wondering how I could clamp it in place. I managed to get the clamp to sort of trap the piece in position. I let the half circle dry overnight. I used the plywood scrap from where the deck was removed as a template for the second soak. I had a hard time gluing the piece to the front of the deck. Between trying to get the clamp to work on a non-flat surface and the wet glue causing the piece to move around. Once the glue got tacky I could set it in place and use the palms of my hands to clamp the piece in place (for about 3-4 songs). I drilled the holes with a 2 mm bit, then with a 2.5 mm bit. I realized I glued the piece in crooked. I debated about trying to unglue it, but I don’t have a lot of experience un-gluing stuff (mixed results) and I was concerned I’d loosen other pieces or break the piece. I chose to let it be.
  2. Cleat
    I worked on the doors. I discovered there are two sizes of the rectangular doors. I tried to stain the plywood doors but I didn’t like the results. I applied deck planking to the doors but I didn’t like how that was working out either. I picked up a 1/32 inch (0.8 mm) piece of birch plywood at Menards (they have a hobby wood section). I finished the birch with a sealer, nutmeg stain, and many thin coats of finish. I glued the doors to the back of the birch plywood. I drilled holes to define the corners of the windows (smaller holes work better). I got a couple divots when while processing the doors. I found a piece of nylon screen (from a window screen patch kit) and glued them to the back of the doors for the windows. I drilled holes for the eyebolts with a pin vice. I put a ring on the eyebolt with a dot of glue on the tip and pushed them in, I bent the pins over because the pins weren't a little loose. I glued a brace (kit scrap) on the back of each door and glued the assembly in the doorways. I planned on gluing the double doors in place. I couldn’t figure out how the brass hinge pieces worked until I looked at other logs to see how the hinge should work. They are folded over to make a hoop of the narrow section, each hinge is two pieces with a pin through the hoops. My skill with tiny components isn’t very good so I decided to make it less complicated and apply a single brass piece as a decorative hinge.
  3. Cleat
    Building the ventilation windows was an interesting job. I finally got to use the x-axis part of my drill press. I bought the Vanda-Lay Acra Mill about a year ago and so far I’ve mostly used it as a fixed platform for my Dremel tool. I made a drill press table with clamps (not knowing how I’d actually use the x-axis part). My clamps worked – barely (I already have a new design in mind). Since I had to clamp the work piece, I could only use a portion of the x-axis travel so I had to reverse the piece to continue the drill spacing. I glued each ventilation window frame together to ensure my drilling aligned the top and bottom beams of the frame. I made a couple mistakes when I had to reverse the piece to complete the drilling, it took me a couple tries to figure out my process.
  4. Cleat
    I like your idea to skin the doors. I was looking at your build and noticed you did some raised panels which is giving me some ideas to try.
  5. Cleat
    I’m working on the doors. I used a nutmeg stain on the traditional doors but the stain was absorbed unevenly (I should have used a pre stain). I’ve been playing around with the color and I’m not happy with my results so far. I don’t think I can get an even tone, I might have to paint the doors a sold color. I noticed the instructions show a pattern on the window, I wonder how they did that. I found an aluminum piece from a small hole patch kit that has a pattern that might work for me (I haven't decided whether to paint it or leave it shinny). I’m wondering if I should mount it on the back of the door (easy) or try to fit it in the opening (hard) and if should I use the clear plastic for the window. The double doors are undersized, I can add another set of door frame material for a nice fit. I
  6. Cleat
    After cutting a couple hundred planks for the first deck and structures I decided to get a Chop-It tool. I tried it out making planks for the second deck. The tool makes cutting planks much easier than the small miter I was using. I have four 31 mm rows so I made the calculation to determine that a 45 mm length would work. I test fitted several pieces to see how it would work out. It was fairly tight but it looked like 45 mm pieces would work. But when I glued the first pieces in each row, I realized I didn’t center the first pieces exactly on the deck. OOOPS I noticed some tiny gaps as I was gluing the planks and wondered how the error would add up. That’s when I noticed that my alignment was drifting to one side, one side wasn’t clearing the edge of the deck. I couldn’t figure out how to correct it without making the change obvious so I finished the planking of three rows. My rows drifted about 5 mm for the length of the deck. I cut some longer planks to finish the last row. Hindsight Tip I calculated the length of the planks precisely based on my measurements but I didn’t give myself much of a margin for error. I should have made my planks closer to 50 mm.
  7. Cleat
    Thanks Bob, Your technique worked out pretty well for me. My pieces don't have a consistent width and others not parallel (I'm still getting used to working with small pieces). For the curve, I used a needle file to make the inside arc with mixed results and used the overhang technique for the outside arc. Overall I'm happy to have a result and I learned a new technique. I also noticed that sapelli wood has different grain patterns on each side, most of the door frame pieces show the good side (something I'll pay more attention too when using it).
  8. Cleat
    I'm scoping out how to make the doors. The instructions call for the planking and trim wood with the stock sizes of the kit but the pictures look like the wood used is about half the width of the wood included with the kit. I tried cutting a piece of scrap but I don't know how to make uniform pieces (as shown in the right door). The left door shows the stock wood width.
  9. Cleat
    I'm making progress. I've assembled the first deck structures and planked the exterior. I've noticed in other builds that the vertical lines of the planks are highlighted, I'm wondering how they did that (and whether I want to do it). I also wonder what I want to do about the empty tab slot of the forward structure. I've added the structure corner accents and a light coat of wipe on finish.
  10. Cleat
    I forgot about the large drawing, it is folded up because I don't have anywhere to display it. It is a pretty detailed drawing (I need to remember to reference it more). I test fit the second deck to see which tabs work.
  11. Cleat
    I'm learning how to air brush. I spent $90 for an airbrush, $100 for a compressor (with tank), and $25 for a 6-pack of paint and cleaning fluid. It takes a lot of time to learn and there are a number of variables to figure out. It takes time to clean which is a chore. I'm still getting used to it; I've only mastered full on and I'm still practicing the art of small finger movements to adjust the amount of paint. I use my airbrush more like a can of spray paint. I decided to get an airbrush with a pistol style trigger because I prefer that feel over the top button. I'm getting a lot of practice cleaning the airbrush and I still practice dots and daggers (beginner exercises). I see how useful an airbrush can be but it is a skill that takes a lot of time to learn. While I'm learning I have gotten good results on projects that didn't require precision.
  12. Cleat
    Bummer When I test fitted the first room structure, I discovered what Jeff5115 identified. One of deck slots doesn’t align with a structure tab. I did the other structure and it has the same problem. It is another challenge to solve. Hindsight Tip Construct a structure before cutting the deck slots to determine if the slots match the tabs.
  13. Cleat
    I don't know how the shingling happened when I glued the hull planks: I managed to sand through the edges without going through the thin planks.
  14. Cleat
    I finished the hull with Minwax Wipe-On Poly (clear/satin). I finished the deck with Watco tung oil thinned with mineral spirits (50/50). I wanted the deck to look more polished than the hull.
  15. Cleat
    I sanded the deck and hull and left the saw dust on the pieces. I applied some finish and used wet/dry sandpaper to create a slurry to fill gaps and openings in the grain. Before: After:
  16. Cleat
    Hindsight Tip The gap on the #8 frame from my clamping mistake turned into a gap when planking the hull, adding ax extra plank turned into a new problem. When I tried trimming the plank, it broke and separated which required blending a smaller piece into the hull.
  17. Cleat
    I'm fine tuning the sternpost. I filed the sternpost a bit and I filed out a channel for it. I'm off center on the bottom of the hull but I registered my contact patch by filing the V of the bow bulkheads. I'll square up the channel and fine tune it.
  18. Cleat
    I started to plank the hull but I didn’t like how my process to apply a thin layer of glue worked. I decided to plank the deck to work out my gluing technique. I set up a jig and cut the 10 cm planks; I cut 26 plank strips, I got 5 planks and 1 slightly shorter plank from each 60 cm plank (I kept the last pieces separate and used them for short sections). I like using the Rockler silicone gluing tools, one of the applicators worked well applying a thin coat of glue.
  19. Cleat
    I sanded the bulkheads and the bottom board to the same angle around the bow to achieve the best contact surface but I didn’t check the other bulkheads of the hull which created a few small gaps. I used some scrap from the laser cut panels to reinforce some of the bulkheads.
  20. Cleat
    I'll plank the deck before gluing it down. I'll need to access from the bottom to open the tab slots. Plus I read in another build that the slots should be moved so I'll look into what that is about. I have the basswood strips too (I was referring to the laser cut panels). I'm using a metal ruler to fine tune the flatness of the structure (mostly adjusting the height of the stern). The bow bends up while most of the structure is flat.
  21. Cleat
    Test fitting the first deck I noticed that the lower structure isn't flat. With the forward tab engaged I discovered the rear tab was off a couple mm. The deck will need have a bow in it. I'm trying to decide if I should attach the deck to the structure before adding the deck planking it or if I should plank it then mount it to the structure.
  22. Cleat
    I test fitted the bulkhead sides but when I came time to clamp it I had to use some larger clamps. At the time I didn't notice that the frame pieces weren't completely square. My clamps held the top in place but the bottom wasn't a tight fit. So my lesson is that there are nothing square in a boat.
  23. Cleat
    I decided to bend the bulkheads before I sanded the bow knightheads, I wanted to visualize how the curve needed to be sanded. I soaked the bow tips of the bulkheads in hot water for about 20 seconds and used a clothes iron to create the bow, then I loosely clamped them to the structure. (My clothes iron has a steam feature and I wonder if anyone had used that feature to been thin wood). I also sanded the first four frames to angle the edges a bit and apply a progressive bevel to the bottom board. I test fit the bulkheads to measure my sanding progress.
  24. Cleat
    I wasn’t sure how the upper stern should be attached. When I test fitted the upper stern to the false keel tab the upper stern it didn’t contact the bottom board. I elongated the slot so the upper stern contacted the base board and I beveled the upper stern to fit the bottom board. In hind sight I should have followed the instructions, the manual picture shows a bevel on the bottom board and a complimentary bevel on the upper stern .
  25. Cleat
    I got the King of the Mississippi kit for my third build. I’ve reviewed several build logs for this kit to prepare for my build and I referred to many when I had questions, they are helpful. There are a lot build logs for this kit (popular kit). This kit includes several laser cut planks, small parts are in a plastic containers, and documentation. The documentation is pretty good, it includes a large drawing showing the completed boat with the part numbers identified, the part numbers are referenced in the instructions which includes a parts list. The instructions include a manual with color photographs showing various steps and a manual with text in four languages (the text is minimal but adequate when used with the pictures). I test fitted the frame pieces and I remembered that other build logs mentioned that frame pieces 4 & 5 were mislabeled (thanks for the heads up). The frame pieces fit very well, they fit snug and I could press them in place by hand.

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