01112011(scaphing the bottoms)

We reached making the scarph joint of the bottoms using wedges pushing down up against the face of H-beam under the roof and a couple of screw on the plywood. The thickness of the bottom is 12mm of plywood, BS 1088 okume, and the scarph joint is 75mm. First, we drew the bottom plan and the transom one on a piece of cardboard then transferred on the plywood with using batten. We had to make sure get 75mm of faying surface for scarphing and let the plywood bigger enough than the exact size. We made two holes for being able to see the centre line to draw one half and another half after flipping over the cardboard. Jigsaw was used for this job and had to be aware of the proper direction of grain when using it. Before planning the scarph joint, we used small hand band sander (I don’t know the name) and finished by using plane. Making midship laminated frame and laminated stem, we used temporary frame on station 3 and 1:1 scale stem plan, respectively. Yesterday, we laminated both using epoxy (WEST system) made up with resin, hardener and powder (?). Chris showed us how to use them and mix them properly with an ice cream box, a small piece of wood for mixing and a wooden plate from rubbish bin for spreading them. Lately, we can’t do all of the things to do together because it is getting specialization so we can’t hear the explanation of Chris for all discipline. Sometimes, I have to explain what I was told from Chris to classmates but mostly I am hearing. We made sculps (I forgot the name…) which is for drainage at the bottom of the boat on the corner of the midship frames. We used the method of making 10 degrees for the transom incline, chipped out by using hand drill and chiseled on top of the bulkhead for fitting the stem in it, beveled by using a long batten running through each edge on each station. Chris showed us how to make a lovely joint with using cramps and handsaw when making half-lap joint or whatever and told us what the bearding line is which was a reference line on the stem plan for beveling. At the end of today, Tapu and I laminated another bits of wood on the round corners of the forward surface of the stem to fill the gap on them. During this job, one piece of wood had a small crack but we didn’t know if it was alright or not.

Kahikatea (white pine)