Wa'apa Build - Part 13 (Making hollow beams #2)

Continuing on...

It took a few hours but the 4 main boards are all whittled down to size. I have a number of lengths of western red cedar 2x4 I can make use of for the interior blocking. Of course its rough and over sized, so more thicknessing to do...

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Cutting didn't go so well...think I'm overdue for a new blade.

Planed and sanded..

Then I measured and marked the boards for the blocking. Made sure to get blocks to cover where the beam goes over the gunwales, then spread the rest around at regular intervals.

Then I got it in my head I should taper the ends a bit just to give it a little shape...and for better or worse it's all done now...

I still need to mark for, and get the blocking prepared for the other one...then should be ready to glue it up.

Wa'apa Build - Part 12 (Making hollow beams #1)

I decided to leave the hulls alone for a minute and work on the iako (cross beams). I am building them hollow like Gary Dierking wrote about here.

I decided to just use some cheap and readily available radiata pine boards for the iako, and grabbed them from the local big box store. I also dug an almost clear (one knot towards one end) 2x4 with good grain out of the $3 pile. I'll be able to rip some good lengths out of that for things like the rudder mounts and some other stuff later.

The radiata boards are 8' x 3.5'' x 3/4'' (2438 x 89 x 19 mm). In Gary's article, he commented that as a rule he makes the hollow beams 10% larger than their solid counterparts. For me that will equate to beams of 77 x 62 mm. Since I'm using 4mm ply for the beam sides, I need to reduce the board width by 20mm, down to 69mm.

So I set up my ripping sled for 20mm cut and ripped a length off one of the boards; then promptly realized I forgot to take into account the size of kerf...so I ended up with 67mm instead. Oops, so my beams will be 75 x 62 mm then, no big deal I think.

The article used 5/8'' / 16mm boards, mine are currently 19mm. My beams will just be straight boxes, no bending or anything, so I could just leave them at 19mm I guess. However, I'm trying to keep things as light as possible; for one because I'm adding extra weight elsewhere with the self bailing cockpit, rudder stuff, etc; and secondly because the lighter it is, the easier it will be to move around, lift on a car, etc...and be all around more enjoyable to deal with I think.

So anyway I weighed the boards, did some calculations, and came to the conclusion that reducing the boards to 15mm will shave off just over 3 pounds. Doesn't sound like much, especially when I think about the work I'm in for using a hand plane to do it...but every little bit helps. Save me a trip to the gym anyway... ;)

I work the plane down the board at an angle, across the grain. When I reach the end, I work my way back with opposite angle, making an X like pattern. Going straight across grain results in tear out; a scrub plane or at least a cambered blade would probably do a cleaner, quicker job. Starting with largest cuts I can get away with without knocking my makeshift work bench around to much, and getting lighter as I get closer to the line. Then I switch to long strokes with the grain to smooth and flatten it out, and finish with a sanding block.

Marking gauge set for 15mm.

Board marked on both sides.

Trusty jack plane put to work.

Done yet?

Looks good!

And only three more to do! A lot of work, and a bit time consuming, but enjoyable and rewarding in its own way...

Wa'apa Build - Part 11 (Two halves and a lug?)

The other half of main hull is now glued up and with the bottom on and everything is looking good.

Twins!

I used a bathroom scale to get a rough weight measure. They come in at around 25 pounds each so far. Not bad so far, but obviously they are far from finished...

On the subjects of rigs...

I like the look of the rig specified for the Wa'apa, and it seems it also performs quite well. It seems to have limited reefing options though, which has me pondering other rigs. However, most rigs require some knowledge to design and make so they actually perform well.

I like the look of and apparent ease of use and reefing of the junk rigs, and there are lots of templates and info about that I think even an amateur such as myself could get something reasonable together. However a junk needs several stiff battens, seems to need a fair bit of rope, blocks, and other hardware and materials that would really eat up the budget I'm trying to stay close to. So I think a junk rig will have to wait; maybe when I extend to 24' some time in the future...

However, I do have the ozracer/pdracer plans from Michael Storer, including plans for building the balanced lug rig option. So I spent some time sketching that rig on the Wa'apa in 3d and 2d, to get a feel for how it might look and fit.

I must say I do like the look of it, and it seems like it could be made to fit well. One draw back of course, is it's much larger than that specified in the plans; ~90sqf compared to 54sqf. Of course it has several reef points; the first of which gets close the original 54sqf size, and another even smaller yet. So maybe it would be ok if the full sail is just reserved for lighter winds and/or another person aboard to help as ballast...hmm.

I'll have to ping Gary Dierking and see if I can get his thoughts...

Wa'apa Build - Part 10 (Dry fit #2, syringes, hatches, etc)

With glue cured I planed and sanded the excess off the bottom. I then put that half of the hull aside, grabbed the bits for the other half, and got it dry fitted.

On another note, I found these syringes cheap and have been using them for all my epoxy mixing lately, one for resin and one for hardener.

Now I'm able to mix the small batches I actually need, and combined with experience gained thus far, I manage to use almost everything I mix without much waste at all. Great!

Also I ordered and received my inspection hatches for the end compartments, 6 inch quarter turn.

I still haven't cut the holes in the bulkheads for them though. I will have some through hull pieces of timber right behind the bulkheads on which to hang a rudder. I'll wait until I know for certain the position of those so I can place the hatch where there will be the least amount of overlap.

All for now!

Wa'apa Build - Part 9 (Gap filling, bottom gluing)

As you can see I didn't do the greatest job getting a tight fit between chine and stems, with a fair bit of gap to be filled on the outer side.

So I'm not a master joiner... :)

Nothing to fear though, a stiff mix of microballoons and wood flour will fix it up good...

While that was curing I epoxy coated the inside of bottom panel...

3 coats, wet on wet...

The next day with everything cured, I sanded the filled gap fair.

What gap? ;)

And got the bottom panel cleaned up and ready for gluing...

Then after hitting the bare wood of bottom and chines with a quick coat of straight epoxy, I mixed up a few batches of stiff wood flour mixed, spread, and bottom screwed down to cure.

Once that cures I'll plane and sand it fair, then probably put it aside and get the other hull half assembled as well. Getting there slowly, excited to get both bare hulls done and bolted together for the first time....

Wa'apa Build - Part 8 (Hull bottom, floor template)

I got the hull bottom cut and fitted in preparation for gluing it on soon...

Hull placed on ply, then shims placed under the ply to bend it up to fit against the hull for tracing.

Ready to cut...

Cut, about 2mm oversize...

Temporary screws fitted in prep for gluing...

Not quite ready to glue the bottom on yet, so I decided to see about making a template for the cockpit floor.

String pulled taught between bulkheads at floor height to provide a center line.

Then measurements were taken at regular intervals along the line. 

Measurements recorded... 

Then transferred those measurements to a large piece of cardboard I dug out of a recycling bin. 

Once plotted I bent a batten around the marks and held it while a helper traced it. 

Then cut out and trimmed  bit... 

And makes a nice fit...

Won't actually cut the floor out of the ply yet, not until I've got the other hull bottom cut first. The floors come from the remnants of the one 6mm sheet after the bottoms are cut...and one of the floors will have to be in two pieces.

That's it for now..will get to prepping the bits for the other half of main hull for assembly while I wait on some supplies to arrive.

Wa'apa Build - Part 7 (Glued hull, fillets, and chine beveling)

Finally, after much delay, I glued up one half of the hull and left it to cure...

The next day after a bit of sanding and prep, I added the epoxy fillets on either side of the #1 bulkhead.

With those cured, sanded, and cleaned up..I sharpened my jack plane and got to work beveling the chines to receive the hull bottom.

Pile of cedar shavings and a fresh smell for my efforts...

Book says to lay bottom sheet of ply on the hull and trace it...but I don't think I can do that in my limited space. I'll have to get some card board or something and make a template to trace on to the ply...but that'll have to wait for another day...

Wa'apa Build - Part 6 (Bulkhead surgery continued..)

Continuing with the bulkhead bolt hole surgery...

Cured epoxy sanded flush with bulkheads.

Bulkheads carefully aligned, marked, and ready for drilling.

Some time later and drilling complete.

Success! The bolt holes are now very clean, very tough, and water/moisture cannot harm them. Should guarantee trouble free use for a long time to come.

I also decided to do those 4" cutouts while I was at it. If I were to cut out top half completely, down to where cockpit floor will go..I think I would have enough room to put my legs through and be able to completely lie down in there. Something to think about later...