Lydius-F82R

Mainsheet and gloves!!!

2011-09-06T10:18:00.000-07:00

I got the Ronstan Carbon triple blocks for the mainsheet, just trying them out with some dyneema sk 75, this is for the big purchase, finetune is the same just a two block also with a cleat.

New gloves, great protection and good feeling.
People tend to use latex gloves.....LATEX MATERIAL IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH.......use nitril, and heavy duty if the job last for long or change gloves.

Here is the setup I use, white protection suit and gloves.

More update

2011-08-22T14:56:00.000-07:00

Bow with HD for winch u-bolt.
Carbon tube for bowpole stay(?)
Daggerboard case with carbon stringers. The red color comes from the spray adhesive used to hold fabrics in place before infusion. I know of builders that use syntetic stamples but I dont find them here in DK, they can be found in the Nederlands but in large quantities >5000 .

Per Folm sold me some 7 mm Dynex Dux line and Colligo timples to make shrouds, so I made the modified Brummelsplice, very easy to do.

Summer update

2011-08-17T12:10:00.000-07:00

Interior is ready to get boat out of the mold. Lots of firewood for the winter.....

Bottom of boat.

Filling holes and seams to infuse the bottom.

Deck infused, I choose to do it in two tempies, since working with the boat on the side makes it quite high.

Cockpit floor reinforced with layers of unicarbon both sides. An other layer of glass will be added once the stern is ready.
New roofing for the shed, the old one leaked a lot. This is a 15 mm plywood with prefitted tar roofing, self adhesive overlayes, quite smart, and very easy to install, thanks Jacob for the materials, and Grus for helping me.

Taping ancher well floor and forward bulkhead

2011-03-28T12:42:00.000-07:00

Hi there a note from the no-workspace-at-all department. I fitted the ancherwell floor in place before fitting the starboard side of the forward bulkhead. This mean that I was able to tape both the bottom and top of the plate in the watertight compartment. Plan origanally is to fit this floor from the top through the ancher hatch; so no proper taping of the bottom of the floor is possible. I had to fit the bulkhead after this difficult task was accomplished, and tape the bottom part of the bulkhead using a mirror to see that I was doing OK. I was taping through a 15 cm hole for a inspectionhatch. Below a shot from inside the watertight compartment that show the tape is fitted well. When I later do the ancherhatch I can do the remaining taping to floor and bulkhead. When taping difficult-to-reach-places, a good method is: apply a coat of resin to the joining pieces with a brush after the bog fillet is done. Wet out tape properly using brush, air roll and scraper on a table or piece of ply covered with plastic so no air is visible. Place tape over join, you can use a stick or spartel or whatever the situ calls for use imagination, use (long) brush/ cloved hand to remove air, maybe the alu roll, and last use peelply to make it stick and to make a surface that is almost ready for paint/filler. I even did upsidedown taping in the watertight compartment using two pieces instaed of one, makes it easier than one long that tends to fall down before you reach the far end. Giving a good coat of resin to the surface is an absolut must, dont be affraid to spend 25 g of resin on this. Also did some taping of deck and case with layers of unicarbon.

Fittting stem and HD inserts

2011-03-22T15:18:00.000-07:00

More tool info, I bought this cutter, but the blades are expensive so I tried to weld a japanese blade to a base plate from a used blade seen at top. I can make 5 of these from one japanese blade and it cost a fraction of the original ones. Works great.

I had to straiten the port side a bit before gluing stem together. I fitted a strip of foam from the inside and another one on outside (no picture yet).

I plan to make a through hull carbon tube for the bowsprit bob stay instead of an U bolt or a carbon tang as used on the F22.
After glassing inside I fit a block of offcut foam pieces. The top of it consist of 4x15mm HD strips, the bottom is plain foam. All glued and shaped to fit the corner of stem.

Here it is glassed. Before I fitted it 2 layers of glass was laminated 1x800 and 1x400 g. Guess that will be strong enough.

For the trailer I went for the trad. Ubolt since I got it already. Here is the inside HD double strip glassed.

Bulkhead cutting and tools

2011-03-21T15:29:00.001-07:00

I use a circular saw to cut strait lines using a guide that will cut right at the edge.

A jigsaw metal blade used for curved cuts.

Using an old template from the floats to support bulkhead while cutting.

Introducing RulleMarie (Rolling Marie) an old kitchen with wheels fitted. Here I use it for supporting mainbulkhead before glassing it.

Bulkheads for starboard side.

2011-03-17T15:49:00.000-07:00

I did not make bulk head for the starboard side ealier since I wanted to see if I got some left overs from planking and I did just enough to make all bulk heads I need without using a new sheet. I am short on foam and is saving as much as I can for interior cockpit etc. these will be larger pieces so it is nice to have full sheets at hand.

Bulheads just released from table, I used a plastic sheet instead of waxing the table it worked fine.
As before I mark the bulkhead before I glass it so I can cut it with peelply.

Joining main hull

2011-03-17T15:12:00.000-07:00

I got help from some neighbours to carry the port half back into the shed and place it on starbordhalf. It fitted faily well, but had to make some small adjustments. Also there is a 0.5 cm gap at the entrance I cannot get rid off, so I bog it and forget about it.
Hull resting on blocks, alingning top half to the bottom.

I used the Menno way to attache the two half and it really works well, thanks Menno (actually I found the tip on Frams blog, so this blogging is quite helpfull). I fitted an extra stringer on outside tophalf with small wood blocks on inside overlapping the gap, they will keep edges alinged while the bog cures. Clamp outside stringers together by any means. Also I found I made a measure mistake, I made the uni layer on porthalf 55 cm to short, bummer... Can make an extra piece with plent overlap and say my prayers. Will do it when taping hull together.

Trying to close gap even with a tensioner around hull.

Old clamping trick in use. It is called " en ters" in danish boatbuilding where I come from. Very conveinent when you cannot reach with the clamp or there is no space for the foot as here.

Or you could buy a modern clamp that can even be reversed so it is pushing instead of pulling.
The clamping force of these are not great but for holding they are fine and one hand operated.

Daggerboard case install

2011-03-09T14:02:00.000-08:00

Installed case using battens on inside to align to centerline.

Finished sheettrack backingplate. It looks a bit dry but that is ok I know there is enough resin used.

Laminated starboard deck

2011-03-08T13:40:00.000-08:00

Crawling along inside adding peelply, I kneel on some layer of soft foam. Did all by myself and it went allright with slow hardener mixed with extra slow hardener 50/50%.

The glued bleeder and release film with some sprayglue, then only one sheet to handle.

Finished laminate, doing jibsheet track backing plate. Note I use vacuum not get it perfect, but to hold things in place since backingplace is beveled 45 degrees and that makes the laminete not easy to get right in corners.

Be sure you got first aid ready at hand, for those that do not read swedish it says: Instrument Surgical help department 1 set. And I got a backup box ;-)

And the faring goes on........more filling and more sanding, proberly overkill.

Fairing beams and prep. for vaccumbag deck

2011-02-28T15:06:00.000-08:00

Mixing fairing compound for beams.

First coat applyed, and sanded, it is not an easy job fairing beams, and the netrails does not make it any easier. Apart from looking nice I dont believe there is any weight saving at all, originally Farrier calls for small alu plates inside beam for tapping screws into and U shaped fittings on outside. If I had know how much work went into fitting and fairing netrails I might have chosen U fittings. Buying premade beams may be expensive, but it is a huge time saver, do it if they are available for you prefered boat (F22 and F32). Apart from that it is quite fun to make the beams, such a complex part of the boat and folding system.

All set for vacuumbagging deck. I prepare everything as much as I can, cut all material, laminate, reinforments, peelply, slipfilm and bleeder (as an experiment I have sprayglued film and bleeder together so I can apply them as one, more on this later). Vacuumtape all around and bag sealed to one side with airline attached, so work is minimised once resin is mixed. Not that I am in a hurry, I use extra slow hardener, but if something is wrong I got time to fix it, typically a leak in the foam.

Laminated starboard side

2011-02-26T00:44:00.000-08:00

I forgot to post this picture but it shows hull after vacuum bagging inside laminate, including uni carbon strip along keel. Also I cut down the extra stringer at top so this side is ready for hull join.

Also you can see the to high no. 12, 13, 14 frames to the right, that I mentioned in previus post.

Cockpit seat fitted + HD inserts for deckfittings

2011-02-26T00:02:00.000-08:00

Aft cocpitseat and stern plate fitted, it is a strait forward job, note I cut down the formframes no. 12, 13 ,14 all that was above hull, I should have done that on the first half, just a mistake when making the formframes.

I fitted all the HD inserts now, I stick to Ian Farriers setup, it looks fine and I see no reason to chance it. One thing that might be of interest is how far in/out the jib track is placed. It can only be seen when sailing. I think that if you try to pinch the boat it will go higher to the wind but much slower.

The remains from 12 mm foam, both deck halfs, pile on left to the bin, pile on right might get another chance, as some places you will need small pieces.
I think the waste procentage is pretty good, it must be 1-2 %, and it please me since this Corecell foam is quite expensive ( 12 mm x 122 X 244 cm is 103 € that is 34.50 € /m2). High density foam is ridiculous expensive, it is 127.50 € / m2, and the smallest sheet you can get is 0.9 x 183 cm.

Thermo forming

2011-02-24T08:25:00.000-08:00

Sometimes by bending the foam it creates a cap between stringer and foam, biggest where I put the screw. I found that if I heat it gently on the outside the, foam expand out and close the cap.
Using hotgun on the outside.

Same strip as above.

Planking starboard hull

2011-02-24T08:00:00.000-08:00

Planking in progress, note extra 5cm stringer at top for vacuumtape, also extra stringer where high density insert along keel.
I start at in the middle then going down and last working my way up.

Planking bottom is done.
After filling grooves high density insert is fitted, here the cutter is very helpfull. Seen is keel insert and insert for log.

Ready for the laminate.

New tools and marking tips.

2011-02-23T10:40:00.000-08:00

I bought this set of 10.4 volt litium battery tool set, an offer I could not resist. This set is perfect for a project like this. Drills are more than strong enough for the work needed and the cutter is very good. I used to borrow a Fein cutter but this one is more handy with no cord, although a bit thirsty. From left to right: cutter (and triangel sander) adjustable angle screwdriver, impact screwdriver, drill, LED lamp

Using a bicycle spoke to mark position of cockpit floor. It is long enough to make the mark vertical and easy to push through the foam.

View from inside.

Port side on trailer

2011-02-21T13:46:00.001-08:00

Port side waiting to join starboard side. Beams ready for fairing. These are in full carbon. The gray one is just rough sanded.

Planking starboard hullhalf

2011-02-21T13:38:00.000-08:00

I showed it before, and it works really well, cutting a rabbat using a table router.

Here I glued two strips together.

Tips for foam cutting

2011-02-21T12:06:00.000-08:00

I was running short of 12 mm foam so I found that if I cut all the sheets in 30 cm I could join them in one long strip and from that cut what ever lenght I need.

Another benefit from this is that it is very easy to bend and work by yourself. You can reach from a gap in the stringers and counter hold while fastening on the outside. Only the last few plank are made from 15 cm strips. I use to cut foam in 40 cm strips, but I find it harder to heat form and because shape of boat change more than on a big boat 30 cm strips work best (for me!)

Only one clamp holding piece in place. I scripe the gap to mark the cut off of the new strip. I do not use the rabbet here since I am short of 12 mm foam. Reason is that I did not understand Mr Farrier when he writes in plans that deck and cockpit floor should be made from 12 mm foam. I made the cockpit seats in 12 mm foam as well, but then I was short of 1 sheet. I am glad I made seatings in 12 mm since I will be walking on then as well as on the cockpitfloor.
I know of a canadian builder (Etienne and Annie's F82R, see link list to the right>)that made everything on the the boat from 10 mm foam.

Marking with dividers.

Infusion port side

2011-02-13T12:05:00.000-08:00

Hi all

It's been a long time but this project is not over yet allthough some might have that thought..... I tried to infuse the outer half of the BB side and it went quite allright. Reason was that I have tried it on my job (Mathis værft, Aalborg) and I could do all details that should be done later in one shot. That included window rebatted and the tube for the net. I shot a sort of video that was just for the fun of it.

Aft cockpit seat and stern panel bagged

2009-05-05T13:57:00.000-07:00

These parts are flat so I bag them on the big table. I use 400 gm2 inside and 600 gm2 outside.
I am quite surprised how many times I used these vacuum materials over and over . The bag is used at least 5 times. I cut a bag at least 20 cm larger than the table, so I can with a firm snap pull it away from the tacky tape. The tacky tape is protected from dirt when not in use with the same covering tape it came with. I take good care of this paper tape, since it is the best to pull off.
Also the release film can be reused, although this is a cheap material. Only the bleeder goes to the dump.

The panels can be a bit tricky to lift from the table. I found this tapered batten very use full, to push under the panels and lift them all over . This work especially well if some parts are very narrow, and fragile. Remember the epoxy is very long to gain full cure unless heat is used during bagging. I don't, I wait until parts are assembled.

Deck Planked

2009-05-02T14:19:00.000-07:00

Planking the front deck. It looks a bit dirty, I accidental walked on the planking. It will be removed when sanding bog later.

Deck/ foredeck transition,it curves just a bit.

Looking into the garden very nice, placed my moveable table out there. I cut the foam with an utility knife and a strait edge, much faster and easier than with the electric saw.

The boat shed viewed from the garden. That hedge needs cutting by the way ;-)

Last pieces (cockpit seat and stern decking) waiting for some epoxy, glass and vacuum.

I use almost everything, this is the scrap foam from the decking. I even thought about chopping it to powder and mix into the epoxy to use as bog.........

Hard to reach places are done with the extra head that came with the Festool drill. A great tool, but not cheap. I use it professional so not an issue.

Laminating inside port hull

2009-04-18T14:20:00.000-07:00

Flemming, Peter and Musse helped laminating inside.

Peelply is applied. We had a little trouble getting a prober vacuum, due to leaking seams. I think I will glue the overlaps of the seams in the future. It seems to me getting these seams airtight with just the bog from inside is hard to obtain.
It is most frustrating when I tried to make the seams as good as I can and that is not good enough. With the time running it is most important to get a good vacuum fast.

Also the bag had a small hole that was sealed with a bit of tacky tape.

Finally we got the vacuum good enough.

-0.9 bar is not perfect, but good enough for a tight laminate.

There were proberly more hidden small holes in the seams, that are difficult to seal since the stringers are in the way.

Relaxing and daydreaming!! A virtual trip down under

2009-03-09T15:39:00.000-07:00

My own 18 foot skiff BODOTEX

2009-03-09T15:38:00.000-07:00

Fitting top to beams

2009-02-25T11:47:00.001-08:00

Fitting top is strait forward. Masking tape is set on an angle on each bulkhead and web and a lot of bog filled into these triangels. Also edges got a nice big round of bog. I use glassbubbles for this bog. When top is fitted it is turned upside down so bog can form a triangel to top.
It is not my favorite way of putting laminates together, but it seems like the only option here. I guess Mr. Farrier knows that this will be ok.

Fitting strut bearing to beams

2009-02-25T11:06:00.000-08:00

I bought a complete folding set from Precourt Canada since do-it-yourself sometimes is not worth it. The finish and general standard of these fittings is very high, and it can be difficult to obtain materials in such small quantities and quality. In my opinion your time is better used building the boat. You would not build your own winches or would you??

The 4 bearings (on each beam) with bushes bought from Farrier Marine. And they fit perfect the Precourt fittings. This is a complete set of bushes from F-boat Store

The strut also needs a bush

Test fitting and drilling holes.
Checking device to make sure strut is in the middle. (Thanks Rod "Chillax" , F82R Melbourne, AUS, for the inspiration to this. )Care full mark is important, as well as enough bog, this time I use high density filler.

Done and cleaned.

A look inside beam.Approximate position just upside down

Beams inside work

2009-02-22T14:26:00.001-08:00

After a long wait I can get on with the beams. I need to cut open the drains i made in the bulkheads. There are 10 in each beams, so a good metod was needed: I first cut with the Fein cutter.It can cut pretty close. Damn good tool.
I clean up the hole with the strait grinder. This is also an excellent tool, and cheap to (Biltema for those readers living in Scandinavia). Works much better than the Dremel wannabees I tried.

I also had to install the end caps for the UPS pin. First cut to size, securely fastened, you cannot hold a carbon laminate this small size with your fingers. (oucch%&€#"!?§§)
The entry side is opened up to accept the pin (19 mm) Big drill needed!

Preinstall to see that all fits before messing with epoxy.

I needed a pulller to get the pin out. In the book Ian Farrier writes the pin should be able to rotate (yeah man with some force it will.)

The two caps are glued in place with the waxed pin in place. Also the plastic tube is fitted to prevent water enter the beam.

After the glue had cured I had to really blow the puller hard to get the pin out, even with several layers of wax.

Bogging port hull

2009-02-08T09:36:00.000-08:00

I use the Australian word, bog for this. The American/English word putty sounds like something you might eat..... Bog is a mix of epoxy and a filler, fillers can be wood dust, glass bobbles (very very small) micro balloons, silica and various others used in boat building.

For this purpose I use micro balloons a brownish powder.

First I cut the seams open with a sharp utility knife and for tricky places I use the pneumatic

straight router. It is like a Dremel tool, I chose this version since I burnt out a Dremel (a copy though) doing carbon fiber. The carbon got stuck in the bushings I believe.

Then using a candy bag I apply the bog two times with no sanding in between ( apply second layer in less than 12 hours).
Sanded and ready for laminate. Note the 5 cm edge of bog at the perimeter of the hull. This is for the vacuum tape. I do not trust that the foam will make a airtight glue with the tape, although other builder do without. But not much extra work to be sure.

Lower port hull planked and HD inserts

2009-01-25T12:14:00.000-08:00

The planking of the lower hull is now ready to fit HD inserts , short for high density ( hard foam 200 kg/m3). These pieces are used everywhere compression will occur, like fitting locations, but also along keel for trailering loads.
First I had to fit another batten on top to hold the extra foam, needed for vacuumtape.

Here I marked the two cutting lines for the keel HD, with this simple guide.

Cutting the foam out using a Fein cutter (this machine, I borrowed from a friend, is very usefull in a project like this)
Test fitting the HD strip.

Fitting foam on mainhull

2009-01-20T10:42:00.001-08:00

Jess has been helping me before and I asked him to help fit the foam since when you are two persons, it is a lot easier and no screws on the inside is needed. As with the floats I cut the foam in 40 cm strips and route a shiplap each side (see feb. 2007 for detail). From frame 4 and forward we went to 30 cm strips since the bend is sharper at the keel.
We fasten a new strip in the middle and start hotforming the bottom part first (actualy it is the top but on the picture it looks like down!!!). As Jess is moving the heatgun I apply pressure and try to overbend it since it tends to springback a little. Proper heating is very importent since the holding power of the screws are poor. The strip has to be shaped to lay close to the battens as possible.

I
Foam is screwed from the outside. Jess is pressing the foam down as we go. Some places needs two or more screws to hold the foam.

Setting up frames

2009-01-20T08:44:00.000-08:00

The frames was cut from fullsize drawings and set at 60 cm distance on the frame. Here from the stern. The frames are cut 18 mm larger than the hulskin itself to add for the battens.

Seen from the rear.

Fitting battens

Setting up building base...again.

2009-01-20T08:08:00.000-08:00

I had to set up the base again for the mainhull. I asked Thomas and Hjalte (his son who took the pictures) to come and help since Thomas got a rotating laser level ( makes a red level line all around). It was a great help and good to know that the base is level and fair.

A little tobacco while evaluating the job.

The round "Arto Dito" on the orange box is the laser level. Now Thomas can check that the red light hits the same number on the ruler on all points on the frame. If not we put thin plywood shims under the frame.

Thomas cuts shims from a plywood left over.....in a not to safe way if you ask me. Maybe I need to tell him......

"Thomas you better cut the damn plywood without cutting yourself...."

"Are you talking to me...punk ?? "
"You damn right, no cut off fingers on this floor, I just wiped it clean."
"Yeah right..when is the food ready by the way?"

"When you are finished you can eat, do you think this is Buena Vista Social Club."

Almost done, frame are screwed to the floor.

"Done, let's eat ...."

Beams

2009-01-20T07:56:00.000-08:00

The beams are made in a mold with a top added after all the interior part are done. The process are foam inside, covered with layers of uni and 45/45 carbon ( I choosed carbon since I want my beams to be as strong and stiff as possible. Next bulkheads and webs are added. Now I am waiting for the last fitting to be finished so I can start fitting the struts. More on this later.

Mold with foam

Topplate with Uni and 45/45 carbon and a 0/90 on top.

This messy picture are 2 of 8 coverplates for the Upper folding strut bolts.

The plate in a wise for a closer look. They will be cut smaller later.

Floats moving

2008-11-23T13:30:00.000-08:00

Floats are painted with a Hi-Build filler and stored for assembly with the mainhull and beams later.

My first plan was to finish paintjob now but I find that it may be easier to do float together with beams when they are joined together.

CMM'S

2008-11-23T13:24:00.001-08:00

Central mounting modules (CMM) are now ready to fit in the coming mainhull. On wood blocks added the arms will sit .

Carbon mast

2008-11-23T13:03:00.000-08:00

I just got hold of a Marstrom carbon mast, only problem is that it is in two parts. I should be able to join the pieces where the spreaders will be. Profile is 210X 90mm.

As seen here the bottom is fine. The ball socket is also there, I just remove it for further reinforcement.
Forestay attachment is ok but the spinnaker is too low. Don't know if the u -bolt are for 2:1 hailyards. Anyone??

Making beams

2008-04-06T14:46:00.001-07:00

Hi again, I'm back. And with a lot of new things happening.

I was going to do the main hull now, but went for the beams instead as I want to paint the floats now. So I can paint floats in the new workshop, and do beams in the old. I like to do more than one thing at the time, to be able to do different kinds of work, or spread out more nasty jobs , like sanding.

First a jig is build.

In center is the recess for upper folding strut (UFS).

The surplus of the chipboard is used to for another jig used for making upper corner and the top of the beam.
The corners are heat formed as described earlier on this blog (see floats).

A flange is formed. More on this later.

I have to do this for 4 beams as with all processes when building your own beams.

Also these parts will be needed. Fiber bearings for UFS. ( why is the circles carbon? Because I had a nice pro-made piece at hand, thats why!)

Making daggerboard case

2008-04-06T13:11:00.001-07:00

Daggerboard case is normally done in plywood and wooden battens, but i saw that the F22 is done over a mold with glass tapes as joints. So I opted for this solution. Also I made the foil longer and slimmer than the original, that is referred to as high aspect foils.
Doing so I made the case width 120 mm shorter( than original).

Here I made a full scale model of my idea. Board up.

And down. The original board is also seen

F 35 board. It is sticking up higher than normal. Mast raising is done ether on the water or using a special u shaped gin pole.

Laying up the ply and reinforcement. Black band is a double 300 g/m Uni carbon, both sides.

Vacuum bagging port side with the groove for down line and block.

After cure. Mold visible under part. This is just some chipboards with plastic tape. Used a crowbar to release!!!!

Film and bleeder to the garbage. ( delivered to waste deposit as paint to be destructed)

More carbon after joining the two parts. Also see Rogers F22 Page for more info.

Starboard side.
Port side. Hole for down block screws set from inside glassed over. Inside is painted with epoxy added graphite powder. I will paint anti-foil later.

Curing floats at 50 celsius

2008-04-06T12:38:00.000-07:00

First I need to cure floats. The epoxy will get stronger if temperature is raised. My Ampreg 22 cures fully if temp. is raised to 50 C. in 14 hours, or 70 C. in 5 hours. So if the high level can be reach it is cheaper to do this!

But to get to even 50 C was difficult for me. I made a tent from alu. tubes and plastic and tried to insulate as well as possible. Next time I will prepare this better as insulation is key. I used a 9 kW electric fan heater placed at one end, and an 200 mm air duct from the other end, to return air back into the heater. This way the heat was evenly distributed.

After 14 hours at 50 C they were finally done.

Lesson learned:
Do this before fairing.
Insulate well.
Get an airdust or similar.

Assembly CMM

2008-01-19T13:53:00.000-08:00

To assembly the CMM bulkhead and the solid glass plates, I built a jig. This is my idea since Building book gives no details of how to do this. But it is very important that the holes lines up and are at the right distance. The jig consist of a base with two right angle alignment plates. The one to the right is screwed to base, the other is not. Two ply bricks of 8 mm height keeps the bulkhead up, see pictures below.

A 19 mm bolt aligns both plates. In between glass plates is a 28 mm spacer.
This is to ensure there is enough space for the Upper folding strut.
Bulkhead is aligned with center mark.

The part are glued.

Bulkhead is ready for the next assembly. This is not the right bolt here, just to illustrate what this is about.

More jigs is needed, first an assembly jig, for the complete CMM.

Next another right angle to hold bulkhead in position.
Glass plates fits into topplate.
As well as end plates.

Now pushed against jig that will set different plates in correct angles. All CMM ends must be the same.

Alignment lines should match up with top plate.

Bolt plates of solid glass.

Bogging and fillets all joints.
'

Using a mouth examine stick to smooth fillet.

Poor Saddam H.

Taping is done, and removed from jig, (remember package tape on jigbase !!)

Turned upright.

Jorn assist panel department

2008-01-04T06:00:00.001-08:00

More panels are made, this time core is 6 mm plywood, used for CMM parts and for beam recesses later.

Jorn is making a pleat in the vacuum bag.

Vacuum being applied.

Making parts for folding system, CMM

2008-01-04T05:29:00.000-08:00

CMM central mounting module is the component in the boat in which the folding struts are attached. I need a lot of parts to be made before the actual assembly can take place. From a pattern I transfer lines with a utility knife, to a 4 mm sheet of solid glass. Jorn came visiting again, and is drilling round doublers for the part above. Then edge is shaped to 45 degrees.

The two parts are glued together using a 6 mm bolt thrue the center hole. Now it need to be drilled to 19 mm.

Making flat panels

2007-12-14T11:52:00.001-08:00

Flat panels are bulkheads, daggerboardcase, CMM's, bed-and sittie top and sides, cockpit-floor and bench, and a honeycomb plate I will use for various interior panels.

I start by preparing the foam. Cut it 10-20 mm to big (not accurate, but easier to glass over edge and then re-cut precise later. The marking is still there under the glass)
Then making holes. I use to do it with this fakir instrument on first picture, but pulling it out was to tiresome, so now I drill holes, but through both plates at one time ( st board and port side).

Cutting peelply

Cutting glass. Now using a proper pair of scissors (very expensive, but auto-cutting, mind controlled!!), much better than the cheap ones I used in beginning.

Wet out peel-ply with no wrinkles.

Wet out bottom glass.

Placing foam on top. The rest is the same; glass wet out, peel ply , wrinkles removed by gloved hands. Then comes release film and bleeder.
Note: I use the same vacuum bag several times, seen on the right, still attached to table at one side. It is more than 20 cm to big all around. When removing it it is like pulling off a bandage, do it quick.

Vacuum on.

Finished panel ready to cut. It can be cut with the peel ply left on.

Honey comp sheet.
It was to long for the table so I had to cut of a bit seen in front.

It is not possible to do both sides at ones, the combs would make an impression in top layer. I only make this, because this sheet was a leftover from a repair on the 18 footer cockpit.

After curing, cleaning the table with a 2 inch chisel, not to sharp and vacuum cleaner. Quite easy and no scratches.

Fairing float

2007-12-14T11:16:00.001-08:00

Mixing the fairing compound on a laminate plywood. Easy to clean with a rag and some alcohol.

Fairing is done making thin ridges with a candybag, at 5-10 cm intervals, then sand them down to almost 0 mm ( lowspots shows easy this way). A hissing sound occur when sanding in fibers so then it is time to stop sanding and move on.

Next comes the difficult part. Filling the rest of the fiber. It is best done by first apply fairing with a smaller spartel, I prefer a 15-20 cm for this. I apply more than I need, and then fair/ scrape of the remains with a 35 cm. To fair I try to make strokes with a even pressure and I do it several times across float.
You need to fill between ridges several times as it is not possible to fill in one go.
I do it in two, but other use tree times to fill, It is very easy to use to much fairing. Of course it is easy to sand but it gets heavy too.

Here is first filling.

A few shots of different parts of the float.

Autum 2007 part 1

2007-12-11T13:39:00.000-08:00

Back on the blog. So I been doing lots of boatstuff this autum. Installing a big table for vacuum bagging flat panel, Freddy was so nice to give me a leftover 38 mm chipboard covered with laminate.

And the SB float i faired ready for post curing, Hibuild and paint.

The bowcap is now glued in place and
shaped using powerplaner and long sanding board.

Vaccum the glass in place.

Before going any further some apples had to be picked. Our new tree from this season gave 10 apples, I was really surprised by this. The tree is just to the left of me.

And back to buisness, mixing fairing compound.

I use SP S'fair 600. Very easy to mix and spread easy.

TIP if cans are heated a little in a box or so it will get a lot softer and easier to mix

More skiff sailing

2007-09-04T13:05:00.001-07:00

No work done for a long time but I did have a lot of fun racing and training in the 18 foot skiff. Here we sail under small rig in Sonderborg, DK with GP Covers middle crew Thomas Ebler in wonderfull 25 knots of wind, going 23 kn. max this day, since waves slowed us down a bit. Note Thomas is having a firm grip in my trapezebelt to prevent me from being slammed forward when hitting waves.

Here a shot of our new Ullmann sails under regatta in Sonderborg,DK.

Sailing 18 footer

2007-06-06T13:56:00.001-07:00

So why is nothing happening here, well I do other things like sailing the 18 footer seen here on Lago di Como, Italy, where these pictures are taken. And I go to Italy again this time Lago di Garda where the European Championship are held. We sail a tour called 18 footer Grand Prix
if you want to see more

Foam bow and beamholes

2007-05-13T12:45:00.000-07:00

I almost used up this pile of scrap, so my waste is almost nil. That is the good thing about this foam, you can join it for details like these bow caps.

Before I fair the floats I need to add a sacrifice bow, or a bumber. I use scap pieces of foam and glue them together with polyurethane glue ( foaming glue ?). It makes the same material as the foam, very easy to plane with the power planer.

Here the bow is fitted and faired ( bog not sanded yet). I then need to glass it.

I also cut the round hatches open a made the holes for beams. Note they are offset a bit aft.

Laminating second float

2007-05-02T13:24:00.000-07:00

Some readers of this blog have asked different questions regarding vacuum and laminate, so in this post I will try to cover these steps of the building.

Starting cutting the different layers. Here the peelply. Once cut, the pieces are put aside for later use. Preparing is rule when vacuumbagging. All materials should be ready once the epoxy work starts. I made this rolling rack to move the diffrent matrials around. From the top you see bleeder fabric, perforated film and 40 + 60 grit sandpaper, peelply, and bottom is glass.

Rolling the bleeder and put aside. What is going on besides this I do not know, Musse seems very exited about this, I look more skeptical.

Preparing the seal at hatch with tacky tape. Glass is ready for

Mixing epoxy by weight.

Musse roll epoxy on the fabric, I use a sqeegee to remove the surplus. It should be like a good hand layup when finish, only vacuum help clamping it together at elephant weight/m2 or something like that. There is no air left at all, all corner are tight, and more epoxy is absorbed by the bleeder fabric so a higher glass/epoxy ratio is achieved.

Peel ply extending past the laminate, which overlap the keel.
The Perforated film. Starring Martin F with friends.

The perforated film 2 . Starring Martin F in absentia.

I here show one sort of vacuum port I got. The two parts are twist-locked together with the bag between them. And the bleeder is put on .

I seal the bag around the hatch. I drilled a 3 mm hole in the shroud bulkhead so air can get into the aft end of the float. If this is not done the float will collapse. On the float is a batten with the vacuum hose attached. It got 4 outtakes. I do not use port for these ( I will maybe by some) I just seal them in the edge of the bag.

The bag is ready
The very smart vacuum coupling, sorry I only got one.
Musse connect the push in ( not up) hose.

The Blue lines are from the old Dupont ( see below) the transperant runs to Dupond.

Vacuum is being drawn.

My old pump, an Edwards from england. Cannot get along with the new so I had to seperate them by a wall, but there is no door so they can hear each other. Very handy if one of them falls asleep. What a story this is????

My new pump, an Edwards from england. Confused, welcome in the club, so I named them Dupont and Dupond. This one then being Dupond. This one got some kind of exhort filter seen on the top. Very happy with the floor marking though.

Unwrapping the cured float. Bag can be seen at the end. Bleeder on the floor.

A look at the laminate close up. It almost look dry but it is loaded with strong juice. Very course fabric I got from my supplier, a roving this is. This is super.

Again a look at the final laminate with additional reinforcement, seen as more green in the middle. This is an extra layer on each side of the float.
Good night everybody.

Laminated one float.

2007-04-09T10:32:00.000-07:00

Jorn came by to spend some days with us, fishing, and helping me out with the lamination of the outer skin. Here we unwrap the last half (did one side at a time). If I had those synthetic staples then maybe I could do both in one go, but I don't mind splitting the process into two sessions. I use the same bag, sealing it at the stern and bow. It is so big that I just cut of the sealant tape at one end and reused it. I can still use it for the other half.

Checking the quality and it is fine. Sorry I did not use camera while laminating but I was alone the first half, will shot some the next half.

Note hat competition: Who got the highest stupid looking hat. And the winner is me off cause(to the left just to be sure)

Sanding and filling

2007-04-03T12:37:00.000-07:00

So I am filling and sanding two times, first I fill lows then sand with longboard(1/2 hour each side) then another fill, then a pass with the excenter, which is connected to the vacuum cleaner and therefore cleans all the dust from longboard. The longboard could be made with a connection to the VC but I don't think it is that dusty yet. Maybe I do it when the real sanding gets going after the lamination of outer skin. It look like a lot of bog but it is quite thin. And I think I save some work in fairing a bit not instead of doing all fairing on top of glass. I shall see if it proves to be the way to do this. All Farrier writes on this is like: fair until reasonable fair but avoid using to much bog as it adds weight. True but the boat needs to be fair and it is better to sand foam than fairing compound. Well I hope I'm doing fine. I must admit that I should have been more aware of the scallop effect I wrote about earlier. It could have saved some pounds. I think I used a kilo of bog per float, and then I sanded 30% off so we are taking 0.75 kilo. Compare to the estimated weight of the outer skin that will be glass 7 kilo, epoxy app. 6 kilo = 13 kilo. So then the bog is not a weight issue to me. But I fear that the fairing compound will be a lot more weight, I guess 5 kilo pr float maybe more. But we will see........ From the corner again

Float Hatches

2007-04-01T15:17:00.000-07:00

I know this should have been before fairing and chainplates but I did not find time for blogging until now, so I do 3 blogs in a row.

So a hatch needs edges and I start with the ends

Then I do the corners first and fix these to the hull.

A screw here and there keep sides in place.

The sides are now glue to ends and a filling bog is set in the vcorner for glassing.

Ready for glass. I do both in-and outside. This is to fasten the vacuum bag later so the outer fabric will overlap this layer.

Glassed and peel ply on top. Peel ply is so nice to use and it make a great texture to bond next layer without or minimum sanding.

Finished hatch opening. A little bigger that in the plans but I hope it is alright. I got some big light hatches very cheap so that is why. But a big hole is convenient to load stuff, and to work in, when upside down .

This is the hatch I bought, 35 euro a piece, that is a tenth of a a normal hatch with alu frame and acrylic glass. And they are light!! I hope they are water tight, manufacturer claim that they are.

Chain plate install

2007-04-01T13:57:00.000-07:00

I test the fit before filling bog in corners and glassing.

Tip: Do install chain plate before joining, it is much easier than to do it through a 150 mm hole.
High density foam in place.

Final fitted stil with peelply , great stuff that keeps the glass tight.

Fairing and closing holes

2007-03-31T09:47:00.000-07:00

I'm now working on both floats. When one is curing up I can do work on the other. My plan is to laminate the outer layer this easter. ( Yes, I got a 10 days holiday.) So to do this I need to fair the outside.

I am a little in doubt here, since some of my foam is scallop which means that a single sheet of foam hollows from edge to edge as much as 2-3 mm. This has to to with hot forming foam. I found in the end of the process that each piece of foam has a curved shape so by placing this to the outside and heating from both sides some of the scallop can be overcome. I could fill this before i laminate or after, or both. So I settle on the latter, bought a 50 m roll of good quality 40 grit sanding paper, and made up a 1 m longboard from 6 mm plywood.

Also bought 10x 0.3 kg of microballons as this disappears fast from the stores, so I hope I got enough of this expensive stuff.

I then faired one side of a float to see how it worked. Use a thin batten to see if hull is fair. After filling lows i sanded with longboard for about one hour, then sanded all with the orbit sander with my vacuum cleaner attached. I just worry to fill to much as it adds weight but I do need to fair the hull some way or another. Maybe I sand the foam more roughly before filling next half.

Tips: When filling with bog (here, microballons and epoxy) I found that the bog gets more and more dry as you work it on and of the foam, this is because the epoxy gets squeezed out. So i just have a little cup with some fresh epoxy, I add a squirt and mix with the remains. This way the consistency remains the same. To dry bog is very hard to work with: it rolls of the foam and is almost impossible to level with the trowel. I use 3 sorts of filling knifes/trowels, a small for use in the bucket and two wider ones for spreading.

I use a router to fit high density foam. I think this is a easier way than doing it while still in foam frames.

I close all holes to make vacuum bagging more easy, except the big hatch which is already glassed. The bag will seal around the edge of this. Also stern and bow is now closed. I fit a bumper to the bow later so hull is kept watertight if a front collision should appear.

I close the bow with a pregassed sheet ( a cutof from a hatch). Later a bumber piece well form the bowprofile.

End of this fine day. I start now to take a shot from this corner to see the how things change from a bigger perspective. The grey stuff on the nearest float is S-fill a twopart epoxy filler ready to mix and apply. I bought it for fairing outside after glassing so this is just a test to see how it is to apply and sand. Very easy to apply, easier than my homemade filler.

Inside floats

2007-03-25T11:32:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile, but I am back in blogging business. So what happened?? First I got the joined hulls away from the floor so I could remove the strong back, after care full making the position on the floor for reuse for the main hull. Then I sanded the floor to give it two coats of 2part varnish I was generously given by Jorn Bagger (see ealier blog: the guy in the grey work suit, a great friend of mine). This makes cleaning much easier, since glass fibre stick to anything, so a smooth floor makes it easy to sweep.

I then started taping the half floats together:
First a fillet of glass bubbles and epoxy is spread with a bakers bag, and smooth of with a stick.

A glass tape is saturated with epoxy using a plastic sqeegee. I use this plate with a vacuum tape edge, and a plastic sheet. Then I can easily change the plastic, the next day. The plate can be moved around as well.

This is a bit tricky to reach all areas, so a stick to place the tape is handy, as well as a long brush. Peel ply is used to help create a smooth surface, this I found out during the fitting of bulkheads. I cut a 10 cm roll out of the big one I got so it is easy to apply a strip to the glass tape.

The gusset between stringers ready to glass in place. Gusset is foam, glasssheated.

The finished chainplate with carbon and glass on top

I fitted a high density foam in after i fitted the chainplate to see what i was doing inside. The big mistake here is that I should have fitted the chainplate before i joined the hulls, much easyer and better. Chainplate testfitting.

A selection of the tools I used so far, including nailboard in middle to perforate bulkheads before vacuumbagging. Japanese saw is great for trimming foam with only one side glassed, since it cuts when pulled so glass is not forced away from foam but against. This is not all the tools I used but most.

Preparing float for joining

2007-03-03T13:53:00.000-08:00

Elevated top half with a stack of insulation plates. I can lift the half with one arm and push the plates under bulkhead to support while cutting holes. This is lightweight building. I am used to heavy oak wood so it is quite a relieve to work with these materials.

End of float need a little adjustment but these half's fits very well, within millimeters.

Checking where to put battens before gluing so edges match up. It is like edges pops out of shape when released from mold, but easy to match with lower half, and once glued they stay in place. Note that I still wear ear protection, my wife is present.... ;-) Sorry but that was just the only stupid comment I could think of now.

Winter came by.

2007-02-28T08:43:00.000-08:00

Winter outside shed, showing double door that can open in summer.

But inside my warm shed I start the carbon chain plates soon to be fitted in floats. Here foam is being straitened with a big power plane. Working with foam is like very soft wood.

Next a groove is filed in top to accept thimble.

And glued with high density bog.

Wipe of glue and let set. The top 50 mm is high density foam. I see from the F22 builders that they use a G10 tubing for thimble, maybe that is the new style (lighter) or maybe not strong enough for F82.

The winter came suddenly with surprise to all in Denmark, all though this happen every year with traffic panic etc. Had to go to Copenhagen in the blizzard. But we managed well.

I was going to christen the future crew, in this case my nephew Sofus Felix Klein Friderichsen, son of my brother Anders (to my right) and his wife Rikke( to Anders right). Far left is Jacob the second brother of mine.

Last float half laminated

2007-02-18T13:17:00.000-08:00

Jess, another old boat-builder friend, came in to assist in laminating the last float. He use a plastic squeegee to spread the epoxy and to squeeze out the surplus. Work clothes is not present at all, quite demoralizing for a pro!!! Green cloves are nitril rubber.

I work the front end fixing the stringer ( pre-drilled with lots of holes to let the air out from underneath) and adding reinforcements: glass then carbon uni and a cover of glass, seen here.

Finish, with a good vacuum, not 100 % but -0.95 bar is very good for this. I find that it is quite hard with the pump I got to get -1.0 bar which is max. The bag and the foam is to big with to many very very small leak. But this is absolutely fine. I would say that all below -0.7 bar is fine. Even to much pressure can squeeze out to much epoxy, especially if the epoxy is very liquid.
After picture was taken it ended further down at -0.95 bar

A walkthrough the workshops

2007-02-18T12:44:00.000-08:00

Entering the stores, where a lot of furniture's, car parts, and materials for a trimaran is stored. The old workshop can be seen at the end of the room.

More stores, this time empty candy buckets from the local store. The local kids eats around 80 kilos (app 160 pounds) of candy each week. Makes a lot of buckets for me for epoxy mixing etc.

Work-table, but at the moment more a mixing-table, until I make use of another one I got in the stores room.

The old workshop (4x8 m) seen from the corner. Small dinghy for a ketch waiting for last coat of paint. Floor is recyckled from a sportsarena, really a tough flooring, and nice to walk and to clean.

The new work shop right next to the old. 5x10.5 m

View from the corner, standing on a latter.

Last float planked

2007-02-14T14:12:00.000-08:00

My old boatbuilder friend Thomas came by and helped foaming the last float. Worksuit is more pro looking than Jorn!!

Sailmaking

2007-02-13T14:12:00.000-08:00

Before I use to work as a sail maker and I therefore choose to do my own sails. Lasse from Ullman sails helps me in the new facilities of GP covers/ Ullman sails DK

This will be a fullbatten jib. I think we will use this on the 18 foot skiff as well, for our new sails. Purpuse is than when easing off, the sail still got a nice shape instead of bending to a round form. The sailcloth is MAXX cloth from Contender. Very nice product, that make it possible to create a crosscut sail but with treads going the right directions like a triradial sail does.

Lasse sewing pockets in the jib.

While Lasse is sewing battens etc. I assemble all the corners for the main sail.

Before we left I took a shoot of both the main and jib on top of another.

Joining float

2007-02-13T13:32:00.000-08:00

I made cutouts first cutting through battens as well- hatch is a big one but i managed to get hold on some very cheap ones made of white plastic. More of this later.

Holding floats together with whatever I got. Missing lashes so jump to sticks from ceiling. worked well. Surplus of bog spread into outside grooves.

I managed to get a nice shot of the lokal pixy.

Keelside is screwed together.

Jorn showing his new recycled work suit. No wonder the first owner gave up on those ungly bastards.

The pixy makes jokes with us again.

View inside showing forward bulkhead glued with bog (glass bubbles/epoxy to use here for strenght)

More opdating on previus work

2007-02-13T12:40:00.000-08:00

Jorn, (in fancy suspenders), and myself ( the stupid fish) hot forming foam and fasten from outside, no glue is used here since later joints will be opened up and glued with bog. Used Polyurethane glue on the first half but this is not necessary. Starboard half's hanging on walls. Blue cord is vacuum hose, attached to a batten.

A fellow builder( Rod Tharp) showed how a shiplap can be routed in foam. This is used to join foam so when later filled with bog (epoxy and filler), the bog cannot sag through. The groove is only to the middle of joint.

Jorn is using a straight router to make groove for the bog.

I adjust foam with a utility knife. You can easily cut foam this way.

A little jump finish floathalf with bulkheads fitted. Note carbon unidir. used for stringer.

Peelply from vacuum is left on until late as possible. removed here for fitting bulkhead. Gives a nice textured surface that needs no or little sanding.

To much bog used here. I had some trouble to get a proper vacuum, so had to spartel a lot. Next float was a lot better.

Name of the boat

2007-02-12T15:00:00.000-08:00

So why is this boat called Lydius? Well, it is the name of my grandfather. He died when I was 6 years old, but I got some great moments with him. Here is one of them.

Status from december

2007-02-12T09:05:00.000-08:00

I Started building in Dec. and sat up form frames for the first half. These pictures are from the 3 half but the principles are the same only the frames are reversed here to make the two last half's.Then comes stringers and foam, hot formed and fasten from the out side.

Choosing a design and getting started

2007-02-10T15:03:00.000-08:00

Working as a sail maker i was offered a Dragonfly 25 that needed some work after it got hit by another boat during a storm in the Mediterranean, but it proved to be to expensive for this old boat, and it took 3 persons half a day to put it together. Then I started looking for a design I could build for myself, and eventually I came across this fine design. If you want to know more about this boat please look at Ian Farriers site.
The main idea would be:

it is fast
it is foldable ( 1 person can do it in minutes)
it is epoxy/foam/glass/carbon built ( not just csmglass and polyester)
you can trail the boat to whereever you like to sail.

But this boat is more expensive than Dragonfly 25 so even if I build it myself. I really had to convince myself that this was what I really wanted. A coincidense made the trick. A new zealander had his plans up for graps so I jumped right into it and said to myself that now I do this and take any problems that would arrice from the top and bring them down.

First I had to build a shed, I did this in 2005/2006 while also doing house fixing and finished another small boat I had going in my old workshop. The new workshop is insulated since Denmark can be quite a cold place during the winter. I was glad that many of my friends helped with left overs or recycled materials to make this shed as cheap as possible. It is going down when the boat is finished.

Blog started

2007-02-10T14:01:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my new blog.
This blog is to show the progress in building a F82R trimaran designed by Ian Farrier, and maybe to write anything else that got my interest.

The name for the blog is the names of my two granddads. These names are by far not normal in Denmark and they sound so funny to me. Maybe the name of the boat??
The first photo is me at age 6 in the kindergarden where we used to do a lot of outdoor activities. I think we are building some kind of big box for a house to use for playing.