SaltyNinja

Looking good! I'm going to make an effort to get back to work on mine. I have been distracted by work for a while now.

Thanks for the compliment Clueless! It took a bit of time, but I figured repairs are probably part of the process, as I usually need to improve things after screwing them up. Yeah, the part you are referring to is called the "false stem". It's installed on my boat already, but I forgot to note the installation in the build log. I put it on and sanded it pretty flush with the planking. I did notice today that I need to glue it better because it popped loose in the middle of it's length. I think I'll just use a diluted glue mixture so I don't need to sand any glue after it's dry. I was also considering trying to correct some warpage in the planking by wetting some areas with water and letting it dry. I think I'm going to experiment with that tonight. I have a few indentations caused by clamps also. I'm going to touch those up with some water as well. The instructions say that some water might pull the grain of the wood back at the spot of indentation. I'll probably put the last cleats in their place on the inside of the hull, attach the "bands" to the exterior top portion on the sheer plank, and glue in the gunwale tonight. I'm going to sand the transom and frames as well. After those steps are complete, I'll probably paint the hull before installing the seat risers and breast hook. I might paint the seat risers the same green as the cap rail just for a bit of contrast and color.

I decided to spend the evening continuing to fair my bow area planking repair. I found that I had previously sanded my repair too much and eliminated the plank ridges too much. I used a couple of files to restore the ridge to the planks a bit and to fair the repair more. While doing this I ended up breaking off one of the frame molding fixtures. I was supposed to have removed them already, but had been delaying that step for no known reason. Now I will be repairing the frame tops at the gunwale apparently. 🤪

I went ahead and made some small filler pieces to try and fair out my poor craftsmanship. I was a little too lax about lining the planking up with the printed black line. It would have been a lot more fair had I took more care in that aspect of the plank alignment. I spent a lot of time making the little filler pieces and tried different methods as I made each one. I tried my hand at the spiling method with a tape pattern, but the needed pieces were pretty small. In the end I just eye balled it, then sanded to fit and attached. It was much better to sand it very close to a smooth fit before attaching it. that way the planking adjacent to the filler pieces didn't get sanded too much additionally. I'm hoping a coat of sanding sealer, primer, and then paint will fill the joint transition at the repair to hide it. That may catch me adrift, but we'll see.

I decided to use that Americana DecoArt multi purpose sealer on the wood before painting the boat. I'm going to try and use an airbrush on the paint job. I will probably use a light primer coat after the sanding sealer stuff. I ordered a couple bottles of Vallejo paints to try out with the air brush. I think I'll be painting the hull pretty soon.

The more I work on this clinker boat, the more it turns into a clunker boat! I attached the sheer planks today. I soaked one side in water to form it up and let it dry. I attached it using AC glue along every glue point on the frames, stem, and transom to attach it. It went alright I guess. On the second side I decided to not wet the plank and attach it at the transom first with AC glue and let it set. Then I put wood glue on the frames and attached them. I lastly put AC glue on the stem and set it. I had a problem with alignment and popped the sheer plank off the stem while it wasn't completely set. I fixed my alignment and reattached it. I had a problem still, but decided to let it be. I would fix the problem it somehow. The problem was the alignment being off. The problem resulted in the ridge of the sheer plank to the broad plank was flush. I decided to try and put a very small strip in place and sand it back to reform the ridge. I think it worked pretty well. 👇 I have some issues with the fairness of some planks. I'm considering how to fix it. I need to look at it for a while and think. I might try a scaple knife and trim the offending areas to my liking. Not sure yet. I'm going to let the glue dry for today.

I'm from Santa Cruz too, I grew up in Capitola BTW!💪

Hey over there Valkyrja68, I'm new over here too.🎸🤘 It gets foggy sometimes but I'm learning to navigate and learn to use all the tools and instruments for safe passage. I think when the seas get tough and you see mountainous swells rolling your way, the kind that make you get that sinking feeling, this joint can help guide the astute. 👍

You look like you're a highliner already! 😁 I have the half hull planking kit too, so make up a nice build log and I'll tune in to get prepped for mine, and soak up any knowledge you share. Thanks for joining up here and keep up the great work on your fleet. I hope you can find the support you need to feel better.

I attached the broad planks yesterday, as noted above. 👆 I got a few pictures after a bit of sanding. The planks look fairly level/even at the top so far after the sanding. I thought one side was going to need a bit of leveling, but it looks alright to my eye so far. There are a few waves along the run of planks. the worst offending spot was because of the clamp was pushing the plank out and it escaped my attention. another lesson to note >>look closely at your clamps to be sure they're as correct as possible on all sides. They should probably only touch on the actual clamping surface of the clamp and not touch on the sides of the clamp because of a tough angle. It might push on the material you're trying to form and put a ripple in it, like it did to me. I think I'm going to wet that area of the poor spots on the plank(s) when I glue the sheer plank on and see if the sheer plank can pull it in fair. I'm going to be spray painting this boat and starting to wonder, I guess I should prime it very lightly to seal the grain, then sand it lightly to knock the grain that raises when it gets wet from the primer? The primer seals it and then the grain won't raise again. I read this somewhere, but I'm not sure where.

Sounds like some great news Clueless! I hope you're able to do that and have a good rest from the stress of ill health. 👍

No druxey, I didn't try elastic bands yet, but these cords are stretchy like elastic and cinch up nicely. I will try them again when necessary. On the broad planks tonight I tried using super glue. My technique was flawed on the first side, but it went a little better on the second side. I like how it cures fast. I used regular wood glue on the frames and the super glue on the stem and transom. A little more practice with that method should prove worthy. Thanks for the intel Dan. I think I'm may only stain the thwarts. I'll be painting the hull and cap rail. I've got glue stains in too many places for a staining job to look alright I think. I have tried rubber bands and they worked well for me in the middle portion, but on the ends I'm going to stick with the elastic cord stuff I tried. I'm also going to use super glue. I'm going to start with painting wood glue on the frames along the length of the plank, except for the stem where I will put a dab of super glue at the last second. Then I will attach the plank to the super glue and quickly align the plank across the frames with wood glue already applied. I will hold finger pressure until the super glue dries enough to hold. After making sure the alignment is alright along the plank I'll clamp it or use rubber bands (tonight I clamped the plank to the frames). Then I'll apply super glue to the other end of the plank and hold finger pressure until it grabs solid. I did this tonight and it worked well enough that I think with more practice it will be a smooth method. I'm going to repeat it a few more times to see if I get comfortable with the super glue on the ends. I think I read somewhere that super glue hasn't been proven over a long period of time yet though?

I'm preparing the broad planks. I found the length a bit long, so I trimmed some of the extra after some alignment. I sanded the bevels on both ends and the length of the upper edge. In the picture in the instructions it looks like there is a bevel on the inside lower edge along the length too, but I'm not sure. I did bevel the inside lower edge length, but didn't on the opposite side broad plank. I'm going to compare the result once they form up and dry.

Thanks Drux! I'll look at that and take note. I'm still not smart enough to figure out this clamp issue when trying to glue the second plank on the adjacent side of the boat. So far I resorted to the elastic thick string again as it holds it nicely without slipping frustrations. I guess I'll really look at this over here soon. My clamps aren't on a ball joint pivot, so don't make good purchase on the compound angles, even with sandpaper (which does help a lot). The clothes pins aren't opening wide enough. I'll figure out what works best for me, but I'm really thinking it's going to be yarn as it seems like it wound cinch and hold well, but I'll have to give it a try. I may resort to pins in a serious planking job. I'm after a snug mating of the joint with no slipping issues. Only practice will determine the method I ultimately use, adapt, or develop. Thanks for listening at my thinking out loud. I often talk to myself and even answer at times. 😁