Wa'apa Build - Part 38 (leeboard and rudder part 2)

Continuing leeboard and rudder construction...

The foil template used for shaping the boards

I cut the blank into pieces for rudder and leeboard so I could work on each individually...easier.

Lots of planing and sanding carefully to get to shape...

All shaped it gets a layer of glass for strength...then repeat for the rudder

In between glassing and fill coats of epoxy work on the aluminum plate which attaches to outside of leeboard.

Leeboard attaches to hull with a 1/2 inch / 12mm bolt. I used a 1 inch bit to drill the hole oversized first.

Sealed one side with packing tape..

And poured in some lightly thickened epoxy. When cured I scrape/sand it flush, then drill the 1/2 inch / 12mm hole through that. This keeps the wood safe from wear and water ingress..

Boards after fill coats of epoxy..awaiting sanding and several coats of spar urethane..or paint.

Also received my rudder pintles/gudgeons...

Along with lots of line and other hardware I've been collecting to get the boat rigged....

That's about it for now...to be continued....

Wa'apa Build - Part 37 (leeboard and rudder part 1)

The last big piece of the construction puzzle...the leeboard and rudder. I'm using the foil shape that Michael Storer specifies on his boats which requires me to create a very large blank exactly 22mm thick for shaping. With only my circular saw jig for ripping and hand planes for the dimensioning...I've been somewhat dreading this task knowing it will be a lot of labor and needs to be accurate. 

Luckily it seems I have gotten fairly good at dimensioning stock with hand tools, having done a fair amount of it now. Certainly saves a trip to the gym...

First step, prep the boards. Planing them smooth, mostly removing machine marks for good gluing surface.

And then ripping them all down to this. I need 22mm final thickness, but ripped staves to 30mm to give myself lots of wiggle room just in case things don't go smoothly at first. After arranging the staves how I thought best, was glued up to form the blank.

Once glue is cured out come the hand planes.

One face flattened, edges jointed, marking my 22mm thickness.

Then lots of work with and the hand planes and several piles of shavings later..

And all finished up at 22mm. A major workout but it worked out perfectly without any drama. Just keep the planes sharp and try to remember you (mostly) enjoy this..and at least you won't need a gym membership anytime soon!

Wa'apa Build - Part 28 (wae, mast partner, seat, etc)

Been slacking on the updates a bit...so here's a dump of various things accomplished lately...

Leeboard support and seat were constructed and installed...

Three layers of ply are laminated and fit in position. This stiffens and provides support for the leeboard which will go here.

Leeboard support doubles as saddle for one side of seat support timber.

Seat top being coated in preparation for gluing down. Can just see the plywood saddle which supports other side of seat timber.

Comblete, ready for filling, coating, etc...

The drainage/scupper holes for cockpit were cut out. Three in total, one in each corner of cockpit except corner where leeboard support is...

Very thin (like card stock) piece of craft ply used as a buffer when cutting to avoid causing damage to floor...

The wae got a bit of edge rounding and shaping, then glued in...

To facilitate making and fitting the mast partner I made a quick dummy mast section of proper size...

Mast partner construction and installation...

Four layers of 6mm ply laminated together...good use for cockpit floor hatch cutouts...

Nip, tuck, plane, sand, etc...and we have ourselves a mast partner...

Since bolts are going through, and partner will be under a lot of force..I decided to wrap the wae in a layer of glass to reinforce and protect against splitting or cracking..just in case.

After glass cured and I determined position of partner, I marked and drilled holes for the bolts.

Then partner was clamped into position, the bolts inserted and tightened slightly to mark the partner for drilling. These are 1/4 inch / 6mm stainless lag bolts and washers.

Marks from the bolts let me know exactly where to drill pilot holes in partner to receive the bolts.

Using my drill guide jig, the holes were carefully drilled nice and true.

Extra bracing was constructed and bonded into place to help strengthen and take the side loads from the partner.

Then the partner got buttered up with goo and bolted into place. I used a liberal amount of unthickened epoxy in the holes and on the threads to protect/prevent against moisture ingress. Bolts were tightened just enough to be good and snug and get good squeeze out...but not super tight.

Once cured everything got a few coats of epoxy to seal it all up.

That's it, except for a couple tiny things, this half of the hull is pretty much completed as far as construction goes. Of course I have to get the other half caught up (would be nice to have room to do both at once...)..but that one should go quicker.