building my first boat (Rigger)

[michaelbarnes]

Good Day everyone,

I have just started working on my very first boat (.12 Cheese from Tom).

I am in the process of cutting out templates using 1/4" ply (Easier to make adjustments now, I think).

I have a 3/4" piece of ply and some angle aluminum that I am going to use to setup a jig to assemble the tub and sponsons.

The Jig will allow me to assemble each piece separate and then use it to assemble to sponsons onto the tub.

When it comes to gluing the pieces together what is recommended? What about sealing the hull (or is paint enough)?

Right now I haven't given much though to the engine for the boat, but currently leaning towards a Novarossi .12.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Mike

PS. I will take some pictures of what I have so far so people can critic how I am doing

 

[Bill Gibson]

Good Day everyone,
I have just started working on my very first boat (.12 Cheese from Tom).

I am in the process of cutting out templates using 1/4" ply (Easier to make adjustments now, I think).

I have a 3/4" piece of ply and some angle aluminum that I am going to use to setup a jig to assemble the tub and sponsons.

The Jig will allow me to assemble each piece separate and then use it to assemble to sponsons onto the tub.

When it comes to gluing the pieces together what is recommended? What about sealing the hull (or is paint enough)?

Right now I haven't given much though to the engine for the boat, but currently leaning towards a Novarossi .12.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Mike

PS. I will take some pictures of what I have so far so people can critic how I am doing

Okay Mike, The first thing you want to do is TAKE YOUR TIME and ENJOY your first build!! Everyone who builds wood boats has thier own methods....Im a firm believer that if you want the boat to stay together for a while, than epoxy is the way to go...The slower setting epoxy that you use along with proper preperation, the stronger the bond will be! You can use CA glues to tack things together, but on an outrigger i do NOT! I do use 5 minute epoxy to glue the skins on the foam for the sponsons and so that part goes pretty quick, but make sure before you mix the first batch of epoxy that you are buiding a STRAIGHT HULL! You gotta remember that once the glue sets, whether the hull is straight or not...your done!! You should seal the hull (and the sponsons, in my opinion) with a thin, slow setting epoxy that will soak into the wood...some guys even make the epoxy thinner with alcohol....I dont.......the mix of nitro, oil and water along with vibration can be murder on a wood boat, but you need to remember that the more epoxy and paint that you put on the boat the more its going to weigh and i would think that especially with a .12 hydro that can be detrimental to performance. Hopefully some other wood boat builders will chime in and offer thier ideas and points of view....I just hate building boats that fall apart in a year, so id still rather over do the strength issue than not.......Have FUN with your project!! Bill

 

[michaelbarnes]

Bill - Thanks for the solid advice! I wasn't sure what to use to glue the parts and seal the hull!

I am definitely taking my time on this build because I want to make sure its perfect. That is the reason for building the template pieces and a jig.

 

[MitjaJ]

For gluing wood polyurethane glues work very well. The bond is as strong as epoxy, waterproof, lighter. There is also no need to mix two components.