The Hied-Out Sailboat Building Blog

Airplane blog is up

2011-10-01T18:06:00.001-07:00

I have the new blog up to document the build of my sonerai. check it out at phillipsonerai.blogspot.com

New blog

2011-09-29T20:36:00.000-07:00

For all the people that have followed this blog for the cartopper build. I am building an airplane and will be making a new blog. So check back later for the new link.

Plans arrived

2011-09-26T19:01:00.000-07:00

The plans are here. Wow! There is a lot of information to go over with this thing. I don't know if I said it before but I think I'll be drawing it up in autodesk inventor before actually starting the build.

Time to build an airplane.

2011-09-15T23:11:00.000-07:00

It looks like I have a new project in mind. A rather long term commitment to build an airplane. Specifically the sonerai II lts. Low wing tri-gear stretch. The plans are my birthday present, and over the next few months in what is left of my spare I will begin building the various forms for the plane. I'm expecting this project to take 5 years, but hoping for 3 to 4 if money will allow. This will be completely scratch built, and as much as i hate fiberglass the cowl and wheelpants will be built by me also.

She Floats!

2011-06-11T12:45:00.000-07:00

If you take a look of the pictures from earlier today the boat floats, the motor runs and all is right with the world. We had a lit of fun at turkey creek on the boats maiden voyage. I did have a moment of panic about five minutes in when I Noticed we had a little bit of water in it. Maybe a cup or two total. I kept watching it and no more came in so it must have come in when I got into the boat. We were out for over an hour and not a single problem developed other than a few spots in the paint. I hate painting so I wasn't surprised. I am really glad about using the 6oz cloth and totally fiberglassing the hull. It really paid off on the boat ramp. Still some finish work to do when the winter gets here, but for now we are just going to fish(I'll have to learn this one), have fun, and enjoy her. Thanks everyone for following me on my journey, we will keep posting pics of where we take her and anything that I change.

Maiden Voyage

2011-06-11T09:30:00.000-07:00

Registered

2011-06-06T12:08:00.001-07:00

Finally got the boat registered today. So that means the maiden voyage will be either Saturday or Tuesday. It will probably be Tuesday because my wife will be off. can't wait really excited!

9 months

2011-05-27T08:58:00.001-07:00

So I've spent months trying to build a boat now they won't let me register it.

Cartopper is ready to float.

2011-05-24T14:05:00.001-07:00

Still a few little things left to do, but we will take it out this weekend whether they are done our not.

Painted

2011-05-16T20:00:00.001-07:00

Painted picture

2011-05-16T13:31:00.001-07:00

Thanks sarah.

Interior painted

2011-05-15T19:21:00.001-07:00

Thanks to the wonderful work of my wife the interior of the boat has finally been painted. I'll post a picture tomorrow.

More clamps

2011-05-09T11:07:00.001-07:00

I need more clamps. Brought the motor home. Also decided to mount the seats directly to the side. Over the weekend I also bought a cheap belt sander. Love it.

Still building

2011-05-07T06:25:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy week, but I am still building the cartopper. Just putting the finishing touches on the interior. namely building the seats. Instead of having a removable seat I decided on two permanant ones attached to the side panels with t-88 epoxy. I am also going to build a provision for a mast just in case I decide to build a centerboard and sail it.

Allergy

2011-05-02T09:27:00.001-07:00

So I developed an allergy to all the fiberglass. I wear a mask, but it forced me to not sand the interior of the boat any more than I already have. Which is okay. There are several ugly spots in the interior, but this was an experiment with stitch and glue construction more than anything. So it looks like this will be my last boat of that type. I'm looking at a few different clinker ply boats now for my next project. Anyway, here is the interior primed and waiting for a scotchbrite pad.

Done with rails.

2011-04-28T16:28:00.001-07:00

The title says it all. No more woodworking left to do. I'm lO a little sad about that. I just have a little finish work and some sanding. I think the boat weighs right at 90 pounds right now. So I think I'll make a boat dolly since I'm going to use a utility trailer to haul it.

I'm already getting comments on how pretty the boat is from neighbors. They asked where they could get a boat like that too. I said the lumber yard.

Quick note on strength

2011-04-28T09:16:00.001-07:00

The rub rail seems to add a substantial amount of rigedness to the boat. I wouldn't omit it.

Rubrail attached

2011-04-27T17:09:00.001-07:00

I used stainless ring shank nails every six inches to attach the rub rails

Attaching the rub rails

2011-04-27T10:16:00.001-07:00

Just takes lots of nails and clamps. I had to scarf two pieces of fir for enough length.

Interior sealed

2011-04-26T10:55:00.001-07:00

Finished sealing the interior of the boat. I need to scarf the rub rails, attach them and paint the inside.

My dogs enemy.

2011-04-22T16:54:00.001-07:00

A toy truck I took apart and programmed to chase anything that moved. Would have been easier with a few more sensors but was still a fun project. Used a genetic algorithm so it could learn the most efficient way to navigate. It really needs a wheel encoder to work more efficiently. Also experimented with averaging the mean and median of the white Gaussian noise to average the sensors values, but eventually chose to use the more system taxing invariant extended kalmen filter. Overkill I know, but I plan on building an unusual uav.

Construction overview.

2011-04-22T16:45:00.000-07:00

Laurie this is for your power-point about me. If you want I can also let you have the first transom I tried building but realized I screwed up and some fiberglass for your class to see.

Construction steps:

I bought 4 sheets of 1/4" waterproof plywood

Sheet 1

Measure outer and innner frame dimensions

cut out to the outer dimensions

Sheet 2

Cut in Half

Sheet 3 and 4 were butted against and fiberglassed to each half of sheet 2

Sheet 3

Side panels bottom panel and stem were measured and cut out

Sheet 4

Bilge panels, transom and remaining stem pieces were measured and cut out

Stem assembly

Each piece was layered, epoxied, and clamped together.
The bevel was drawn and planed down with a hand power planer

Transom assembly

Douglas fir was cut to various dimensions and beveled to fit around the edge of the transom
The motor-board was beveled and epoxied into place last.

Hull assembly

The two center frames were set on temporary structures some distance apart.
The hull bottom panel was aligned on top of the frames and held in place with nails.
The stem was aligned, epoxied, clamped, and permanently nailed with Stainless nails
The Transom was aligned, epoxied, clamped, and nailed into place.
Both side panels were temporarily nailed to temporary blocks attached to the center frames.

They were simultaneously brought together at the transom epxoed, and nailed.
Simultaneously brought together at the stem empoxied and attached.

The bilge were test fit then epoxied and nailed to the transom then stem
the final frame was installed
The seams were taped on the inside then puttied with an epoxy/wood flour mixture along with the stem.
The seams were sanded smooth then fiber-glassed with 6-ounce bidirectional fiberglass tape, the stem got two layer.
several days of curing went by
Each frame was filleted with the epoxy/ wood flour mixture and fiber-glassed
The inner panel seams were filleted and fiber-glassed as well.
The deck, and seats were built
Now it looks like a boat
The fiberglass was sanded to a feather edge
The hull was flipped, sealed, and fiberglass cloth was applied to all of it.
The hull was sanded, primed, sanded, sanded, sanded, sanded etc.
More primer
The new motor arrived at my parents house
Flipped again.
Interior in sanded, corner knees installed sealed, and primed and painted.
Deck and seats stained, varnished and installed
Hull flipped again and painted
Rub rails installed
Bow eyelet installed
Motor test fit.
Finsished

My audience.

2011-04-22T15:53:00.000-07:00

I just had a look at my blog stats. I never thought that my personal blog could attract a worldwide audience. Thanks for your time and here are the hits for this week:

United States

702

United Kingdom

178

Canada

Australia

China

Germany

Netherlands

Switzerland

Israel

Singapore

New motor.

2011-04-22T15:34:00.000-07:00

This is my new 1965 Johnson seahorse 3hp motor. results of the leakdown test were 3%. New recoil, rebuilt carb, new points, perfectly clean fuel tank. Starts the first time every time. Thanks Dad!!!!! He found it in Maryland, bought it, had it shipped to his house, and did a cosmetic restoration. Needless to say a big thank you is in order.

Tomorrow, the boat will be flipped again. The interior will be sealed and primed. the deck will be completed along with the bow seat.. i will also make some corner knees. Tuesday, the final paint will be applied, rubrails stained and installed plus any small details taken care of that I may have missed. I will also get a home-built title, and register the boat. I am unbelievably excited for my first launch. It should float just fine.

Primed

2011-04-17T18:23:00.001-07:00

Almost ready to paint. Just have to smooth out the primer a bit still. So more sanding.