Thread: Eureka - Ready to glue - Stupid Question

I'll let Mik address your stitch adjusting question, but a tried and true old school skill, for any reasonably competent wood butcher, is to build a some saw horses. Five lengths of 2x4 will make a very simple one. Toss some plywood gussets in the mix and they'll get quite strong. Substituting a 2x6 for the top, laid on it's flat side, is a more solid platform to support stuff. Lastly, Lowe's/Depot has these metal clips that can be nailed or screwed onto 2x4's, which instantly makes them able to serve as self clamping, saw horse legs. They don't cost much and can be removed and placed on new legs if necessary. A few concrete blocks make pretty good saw horses too.

Jumping in again. Here is my situation, I have the twist out of the boat, but if I put a level on the sheer panels, they are definitely not level. Do I worry about that now? I repeat, the boat is no longer twisted. Is this something where I will plane on the sheer clamp on the high side later on?

This doesn't seem like it could be right.

Danielle

I reply I made about the floor question seems to have disappeared. You can do it on the floor, but just put two pieces of timber under to act like the tops of saw horses.

You don't need to adjust the stitching ... If it all went pretty well and the ends of the boats are equal on left and right sides it is OK.

There is probably not a lot to worry about at this stage. The stitching is OK if it has pulled everything together and the joins are not moving around.

You can probably just go ahead unless there is something a long way out. A few mm or a quarter inch is not going to make any difference.

The main visual reference points are the stems That the bow and stern don't look obviously twisted relative to each other. If a little out you have several chances to correct things along the way as the shape gets progressively more and more locked in gradually.

The thing that finally locks in shape are the buoyancy tanks ... enclosed volume always gives a hullshape huge rigidity compared to everything previously ... so when the decks go on the buoyancy tanks you have no options left. But also they screen any slight twisting that might be able to be picked up by comparing the stems when standing at one end of the boat.

That all said ... you did do the bevelling of the spreader bars a little differently from the plans ... I would make sure the screws on the ends are loose enough that the ply can find its own angles ... it is just possible that one of the more accurate bevels you cut compared to the crappy ones in the plan (a cunning plan that!) might be controlling the shape too much. Just ease off the screws that hold the spreaders in a little so the bars can be wobbled around without jamming against the ply.

After making sure of that ... I would just go for it You know the bottom is about right and you can fix any sheer discrepancies later with more adjustment or some subtle planing.

One really important thing to remember is that eyes are the most important tool. You can actually have things quite a long way out and still have the boat visually right. Eyes take precedence over measurement. From every stage from the fairing batten on.

Stand back and look carefully ... if it does look OK ... it probably is

Best wishes
Michael.