How shall I fix this Swampscott Dory?

[ubjs]

Everyone tells the beginner, build a dory.
After trying to build a couple of ¨ordinary¨ boats with poor results, I bought the Bluejacket Swampscott dory.
But it went bad right away. This was a few years ago and I have since put together a few hulls with decent results.
Today I took out the Dory kit and I still can't figure out how to fix it or how to start from scratch.
I hope you can see picture 2 in the description. That's where everything went wrong. These parts that you have to glue without any kind of jig on something that is not perpendicular anywhere, must of course be completely straight and perpendicular.
But how can I achieve that?

Edited October 30, 2023 by ubjs
Changing title

[Bob Cleek]

Sorry, but I only see one picture in your post and can't tell what's wrong from looking at the picture.

 

[ubjs]

Sorry, picture 2 is the one in the instruction, bottom left in the instruction in the picture.

[ubjs]

The problem is that my eye measurement was not good enough and the stern has ended up crooked which makes the whole hull crooked.
How do I get it all straight if I start from scratch with new parts?

[druxey]

It's hard to see how crooked the hull is. Can you take a photo 'end on' so we can judge? Also, what glue did you use?

[ubjs]

 

I can see it's too much and I remember giving up when there was no way to get the other laser cut parts to fit.

Unfortunately, it looks like I've used a one component glue on this one.

But I don't see any major problem with making new parts, I think I have 1 mm linden at home.

[gsdpic]

It is still a bit difficult to understand what the problem is.  If you are referring to gluing the frames to the base piece, there are various ways to get them square and vertical.  Some people have metal blocks or metal squares that are perfectly rectangular that they clamp the frames too, others use lego blocks as their reference for 90 degrees.

 

I built this kit many years ago before I discovered MSW.  I do recall that the laser cut plank fit was not exact.  In my case, the ends extended past the stem or stern a bit, at least in some cases, and they were trimmed and sanded after the hull was built.  Also, I recall it being easy to get confused about which end of the plank was the bow end and which was the stern end, which also affected the fit.

 

There are a few other build logs for this kit that you might want to search for and take a look at to see if any of them provide clarity for you.   You'll see that some others struggled a bit with the planking as well.

 

[ubjs]

What I find difficult is getting the stern piece right.
It leans on the hull that I started.
I think the frames looks ok.

[JacquesCousteau]

If the transom is a bit crooked, you will probably have to detach it from at least one side of the planking to fix it. With the planks already in place, you could probably reglue it straighter.

 

The transom became crooked on my dory build (model shipways, though, not bluejacket) when I clamped the garboard plank to dry to the form. I was able to fix it, but before I glued on the planks.

Edited October 30, 2023 by JacquesCousteau

[druxey]

If you can remember the exact glue that you used, we may be able to help you select the best way to unglue any pieces.

[Jaager]

From your picture, it looks like the plans have full size patterns for every component.

It may require use of a steam iron first, but you could scan the patterns, adjust for the built in scanner aberration, and print them out for a redo.

Using something better than Lime  gives a bit joy to work with - but I advise avoiding any roll cut veneer.

 

[ubjs]

 

I cut everything off with a knife and think I can at least use the bottom part.
The other parts are easy to replace.
But I have to try to get some sort of jig to get the fore and aft to line up right. If anyone has suggestions for such a jig, that would be great.

[Jaager]

53 minutes ago, ubjs said:

If anyone has suggestions for such a jig

That sort of puzzle is one of the brain activating parts of all of this.

Think about it when trying to go to sleep - you may wake up with an answer.

Take a step back and imagine the sort of structure needed to hold the parts in place.  Sometimes, this support structure is as much as 90% of the whole.

Construct jigs with screws and ways that can be taken apart - so that the parts can go into a scrap box to be reused for a later project. 

[ubjs]

Yes, coming up with some good solution to a problem is of course satisfying.
But I've done a lot of thinking and haven't found any when it comes to this boat.
If I can't get any advice from here, I'll throw it away.

[Keith_W]

How about answering the questions that people have asked you? The solution is simple - unglue it, reposition it, and reglue it. You have already received many answers on how to reposition it so that it is square. The only question left unanswered is how to unglue it, and to know that, we need to know what kind of glue you used. It may be as simple as water soluble PVA, in which case you simply use water. Otherwise, most glues will dissolve in Acetone. 

[Jaager]

Isopropyl alcohol - the 91% first aid stuff - will debond PVA and alcohol does not swell the wood and dries fairly quickly.

PVA is not sensitive to acetone,  but the hated CA is.  Duco nitrocellulose is.

Hide glue is completely denatured by hot ethanol.

I use Titebond II (a yellow PVA) - with is water resistant - because we live on a water planet.  Titebond III ( an amber PVA) is waterproof.

 

A flat board wider and longer than the dory.

Draw a center line the length of the board,

A block of wood about 1/4" thick -  cut one end at the same angle as the slope of the transom.

A couple of holes - counter sunk under the base board and drilled thru the block can be used for threaded bolts to hold the transom support block - If the holes are a tad larger in diameter than the bolts, there will be some play to allow adjustment to square before the washered wingnuts tighten it to the baseboard.

 

Fix it to the base at one end.  The slope and flat edge of the block will support the transom at the angle cut and if mounted correctly square to the midline.

A similar block can be cut to match the stem and fix it square.

 

I would use Dritz 3009 1 3/4" quilting pins - at #70 hole is tight enough, but does not freeze the pin.   A bamboo trunnel can fill the holes or a brass pin - do not leave the steel pins in the model - they will rust,

 

Outboard blocks can be placed outside the dory body at each rib location . if placed square a wood strip connecting them will hold each rib perpendicular and vertical.

 

Once all that is setup and bonded the fore and aft blocks can be removed and the side blocks used to secure the inverted hull.

 

Use a curling iron - a rheostat may control the heat - to bend the planking - only heat is needed - water just swells the wood and it does not return the wood to its greenwood state - Prebending allows for an easier glue bond - no resisting forces.

 

With a jig this involved, you can go into the mass produced dory model business. 

 

If you know the dimensions of any future models, the baseboard can be cut large enough for their use.

Edited October 31, 2023 by Jaager

[ubjs]

Thanks Jaeger, I'll try what you suggest, I'm stuck with this step and somewhere you reach a limit where you have to make drastic decisions.

Keith, I already cut all the parts apart with a knife. Thought that was what I wrote but my English is not perfect so I use google translate.

[ubjs]

Here is the bottom part and where it came from.

Maybe I can use this to get it perpendicular.
I'll find a square hook and some Lego pieces.