Building the walk through cockpit version of Harrigami.

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Week 4 : Monday 23rd, Tuesday 24th & Friday 27th of December 2002

On Monday morning we removed both hulls half from their strongbacks and sanded and bogged the inside surfaces. We then glassed them both, replacing the temporary mould frames before the epoxy cured. Meanwhile we also planked and glassed the beam caps. The beams will be needed soon once the hulls are joined as they're used to build and align the beam sockets.

The 1st top quarter of the lw hull was the next shell to build so the frames were set up on the strongback. More planks were scarfed at an 8:1 taper on the table saw using a simple angled sliding fence. Both ends of each strip are scarfed so planking offcuts can be used. We glue the scarfs together, as we need them, using a hot glue gun. This method is a bit contriversial as many builders frown upon the use of hot glue in a boat. In reality the scarfs are only there to hold the planks together in a fair curve while planking. Providing the joins are staggered they are being supported by a plank on both sides and a glass laminate on both faces, plenty of strength.

The first strip laid was down the centreline. This holds the frames verticle at the correct spacing. The next two strips are around the bottom join. We found the best planking pattern was to plank down from the centreline past the deck curve, then plank up from the bottom. By planking just past lowest deck plank the tapers can be cut in one go using a jigsaw. Again we used the dry method of planking then removed and glued the strips back. This is proving to be a very efficient method for hulls needing lots of tapers. The shell was then disc sanded with 40 grit paper then quickly touched up with a 'torture board' before bogging and glassing.

We took Christmas and Boxing day off so that was all the progress this week. We hope you all enjoyed the festive season as much as we did.

Hours: 48 (total 256)

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