Thread: Another QLD PDRacer to add to the fleet

Well the 4mm sheets are all coated and pretty much dry, I will do the 6mm later when there is some room in the shed. I had ply left over from the Eureka so I have cut out and glued together all the bits and have finished making frame 1 and 2 for the centrecase.

I cant find anywhere on the plan, the size for the centrecase itself. I assume the height is the same as the Dims which is 230mm? The length I am not that sure on - is it 305mm which is the distance between grid lines + 57mm?

Col

Originally Posted by colburge

I cant find anywhere on the plan, the size for the centrecase itself. I assume the height is the same as the Dims which is 230mm? The length I am not that sure on - is it 305mm which is the distance between grid lines + 57mm?

Col

Glad you're building one too!

The drawing for the centrecase is on pg. 12 in the plans. Make sure you mark out the curve associated with the hull bottom before you cut.

As per usual I am blind, thanks mate.

Hi

It was my day off work today so I cut and glued up the bow and stern transom along with the Bulk head. I wanted to mark out and cut the side panels as well, but the bloody epoxy won't dry completely. I had the same trouble with the Eureka - seems that no matter how long I leave it, it wont dry. I have tried to be exact by weighing it, but I suspect it will still be soft tomorrow or the next day

I hate this epoxy stuff, it is sticky and gets on every bloody thing no matter how hard you try to avoid it. I am not going to bother laminating the chine logs, I don't have anything to screw them down too anyway for gluing, so I think I will just cut kerfs into them to bend them around - it aint pretty but I don't care. Any ideas for the spacing of the curf cuts, I was thinking a random figure of 15mm. I will post a photo of the mess when it is done.

Col

Spent a couple of hours last night on the PDR and have finished cutting the decks and side panels out, I am ready to glue the gunwhales and chine logs on tonight then I can glue the hull together and glue in the centrecase etc. The hull should easily be finished on the weekend at this rate, if there are no stuff ups.

Cost so far $54.00 for the framing and $113 for the ply. I have just ordered more epoxy and filler because I have been using the left over from the Eureka which was $172, I suspect I will not use it all either so can use it on another project.

Total $339

I just need the timber for the foils and mast,which will be fairly cheap I think, which just leaves the sail and ropes fittings etc. I reckon it will come in at under $500 if I am cheap with the paint.

Col

Sounds like it is going well Col,

The kerfing will probably be OK if you squeeze in some glue mix after and let it cure It also depends on the timber - some have found it goes on OK without laminating at all. Try kerfing at the two points where there is a bit of a hard bend in the side panel first - they are the problem areas. The rest might be OK

MIK

Thanks MIK I will try it if I can't bend the timber, I reckon it will bend thought the curve isn't as extreme as I thought it was.

Col

Tonight I screwed and glued the gunwales on along with the chine logs, luckily I got away without having to kerf the chines, they didn't want to bend but I got angry with them and they complied. I should have a completed hull tomorrow night, not bad for a few afternoons work.

Col

I had a crap day at work today so I was looking forward to coming home this afternoon to screw and glue the hull together ready for the floor tomorrow.

It didn't happen, as I made a monumental stuff up and glued the chine and gunwale onto the wrong side of one of the side panels, not an easy fix so I just went and drank some beer instead.......bloody boats.

Col

Hi Col,

I've done exactly that in the past too. So now when doing multiple panels I always lay them out as if they have unfolded from the boat - this gives a symmetrical left/right layout making it clear.

Cut them off with a jigsaw and then use a handplane to get rid of the remnants.

You could even potentially just remove the chine log and leave the sheer/deck clamp in place - it will be hidden.

MIK

Hi Mik

Thanks for the advice, I wish I had thought of cutting them off with the jigsaw, I thought it would take me forever to plane 19mm down so I didn't bother. I made lots of cuts with the saw along it's length and chiseled them off in pieces instead, and of course you can imagine the mess I made of it. To make matters worse when I tried to pull a piece of the gunwale off, I put a crack in the ply about 10cm long.....so I went and had another beer.

Woke up this morning early and went and retrieved the panel from over the fence. I didn't fancy a 1.5 hour drive to the other side of Brisbane for more ply so I decided to stick with it. I am going to have to put a butt strap on the crack I guess, you cant see the crack on the outside of the panels but it cracked through all the other layers. Of course it cracked in the portion that wouldn't be covered by any of the tanks. I will see how I go but I might have to chuck it and start again

Oh well

Col

Watching.

Originally Posted by colburge

Hi Mik
.....so I went and had another beer.
Col

Sometimes that's actually good for you in more ways than one. It calms you down and you go over the stuff you messed up in your mind a few times before you go back to the boat. After some time away you go back to building with a clear head. I've messed up so much building my PDR it's ridiculous.

I read an article by Lawrence Cheek on boat building in the New York Times that made me look at the building process a little differently.
Preoccupations - For Lawrence Cheek, Lessons From Boat-Building - NYTimes.com
The thing that really stood out to me was when he said negative emotions get built into the part you're making.

Hi

I have redone the chine and gunwale and glued them to the right side this time. I have just screwed the sides to the bow and stern and was about to screw in the front bulkhead. The plans for the bulk head show that the 19 mm framing goes all the way around, I don't think is right or I am reading the plans wrong. I think the framing on the bottom should finish 19mm in from each side so it can fit between the framing on the bottom panels.

Col