Stada Shipyard

The fillets have cured and are very hard. It won't be easy to sand them. If I compare them to the ones on pictures from others, they are a bit generously added. But they will make the boat strong. The daggerboard trunk was a few millimeters too high and the lower front part had to be rounded more. After that, I added thickened epoxy andput it in place, right-angled. A hammer on top and tape to keep it right.

Transoms and bulkhead had to be filleted. The manual says that it was not necessary to remove the wires, but I wanted to remove them. Therefore I put some epoxy mixed with glass and wood powder between the wires. It was just hot enough in the shed, but after some days the fillet was still soft. Probably too cold in the night, because the epoxy was not cured even after a week. Plan B: Leave the wires in place and fillet all when temperatures 20+ degrees. This went well, with home made filleting tools of plastic. Next morning, the fillets were super strong.  With my Japanese saw, I made the bow and transom plane at the outside. Wires filed with a metal file. No more scratches and blood!  Next job is filleting the bulkhead and the seams between botom panel and first panel. I will probably remove the wires just after filleting. This will make it easier to saw the hull. Point of concer is the sanding. Looks like I have to spend a lot of sanding hours in ...

Time to fill the gaps between the overlapping planks. To prevent dirty spots on the hull, I used a lot of tape, inside and outside. And in the little holes of the stitches, I put cocktail sticks, brake them just at the surface of the hull and sanded the spots. That will look better than dark little epoxy filled holes.  During the process of preparing the epoxy filler, I put another layer on the inside of the daggerboard box and the rudder holder. Then I thickened the epoxy with glass powder and some home made wood powder (from the sanding machine). Just thin enough for the syringe. Filling the room between the planks was easy, but with  the last 1/4 to do, I had to make another cup of epoxy. After doing that, the syringe stuck because of the curing epoxy. I did the rest with a filler knife. After one hour, I tried to smoothen the epoxy with a gloved finger  that I make wet with denatured alcohol, but that was not easy. Final smoothening must be done with sandi...

It was finally hot enough in the shed for the gluing job with the epoxy. I had prepared some parts which needed a layer of unthickened epoxy. They should be done first.  Then the epoxy was thickened by glass powder. Just thin enough to be able to be used with a syringe. Before that, I had turned the boat upside down on the saw horses. These were too small, so I widened them with beams and duct tape. The gluing went well. Luckily I prepared the inside with tape. Otherwise the epoxy could drip through and make the floor dirty. It was not easy to left the stitches clean. Hopefully I will be able to remove them tomorrow.  I found a valid reason to buy a new tool, a spoke shave: the boom and yard had to be rounded. The local wood and carpenter shop had nice pieces of wood without knots. When I was drilling one of the holes, I destroyed the wood at the end of the boom. With a new little piece of wood glued in the destroyed place as a replacement, the dest...

All stitches have been made. The boat has become its final shape. The manual told me to "stand back and admire". I did. Next weekend the temperature will rise. Next job: glue the planks together at the outside, except on the spots where the stitches are. They will be removed later.

The central double bulkhead is finished. The star knobs were sold-out but I found nice large wing nuts. Between the parts I have put cardboard. Att first it appeared to be that thick that the nuts could hardly be turned on the bolts, so I took a hammer and flattened the cardboard a bit. With this cardboard it will be easier to split the boat and get a 'nested pram'. Finally the stitching process could start. Instead of the recommended copper wire, I used a kind of iron wire used in gardens. Just the size to get through the little drill holes in the planks. I had some problems to get the planks in place at the ends, at the transoms. Putting the sawhorses at the end made the 'boat' more round which made it less difficult. With help of my daughter, we finally succeeded. In the meantime we both stitched ourselves by the super sharp wire ends. Still some more planks to do and then it's time to glue the planks together between the stitches. Probable next weekend. The d...

Temperatures till too low for epoxy jobs in the shed. I have used my time to make holes in the central bulkheads. The bolts which keep the two parts of the boat together, must be put in holes that are drilled in holes filled with epoxy. With that method, the wood will not be in contact with any water. So, drill the holes, fill it with epoxy and drill again with a smaller drill. Next thing I have done: cutting rabbets at one side of each plank. The planks will overlap a little in order to get a strong connecting. 3 mm of the 6 mm should be removed at one side for half an inch. It was very hard to find the right rabbeting bit for the router. At https://rs-tools.nl/ they had the right (and expensive) one. It went well, so I can attach the parts together. The boat shape will be visible soon!