our project

[piquet95971]

Forgot to add to the previous post that this arvo we went out and pilot drilled, clearanced and wacked home some 50 nails ready for when the roves eventually do arrive.

There are some 50+ that need to have epoxy in the holes to take up the gaps before we can do those nails.
The hassle there is that it has to done when the epoxy is wet or else if done later the epoxy will probably crack.
so progress is being made even if it is not as noticeable as big items
cheers
the boat building gang

[piquet95971]

The saga of the roves continues......

There was a listing on ebay for some roves from a supplier in FNQ. Bear Marine supplies.
Contacted them and they were good enough to send me a sample of some roves and nails and screws etc.
They compare quite favourably with the original Otter brand that I have been using.
I have ordered some of the 13 mm roves from them.


In the meantime I have spoken to Greg Blunt from C Blunt Boatbuilders in Williamston. He was most helpful and I have bought half a box of Sidney Cooke roves that match the ones that I have been using. I now have enough original Aust made roves to probably complete the job. Way to Go.
Blunts have been around in boat building since the mid 1800's starting in Geelong before moving to Willaimstown and the workshop looks everybit as old, but inviting.

Today when I met Greg his opening words were that he thought that I was being a bit picky over the phone about the roves being no good. We compared the Otter and Sidney Cooke side by side and they are so close that it doesnt matter. He then had a look at my other roves from Sorrento and his immediate words were that "They're rubbish".

So I now feel totally vindicated in trying to get roves that match. He also sugested that the roves coming from of all places Norway are really good as well.

So for future reference I will have a look and see what I can find

cheers
the finicky one

[piquet95971]

So to summarise the Rove situation

The roves from the wooden boat shop are 12 mm not half inch and in my opinion not worth the effort of driving to Sorrento to get them.

The roves from Rockhampton supplied by Bear Marine services appear to be close to the Australian made roves of years gone by.
I have found anothers supplier that has them listed and will contact them tomorrow and ask them for a couple of samples to do a comparison

Could someone from NSW see what the roves from Drive marine services, they're in Beverly Hills, are like and that will then give us at least three sources of the roves

cheers
peter

[piquet95971]

More wackatacking today. Did another 40 plus nails with the first lot of epoxy seated nails done.
Only another 60 or there abouts to go and the majority have to have the epoxy poured down the hole and then nailed and roved.

Have decided that the original stain used onthe hull was probably Mahogany stain. So the faded areas and the new top plank will be stained shortly so that the outside of the hull looks closer to completion.

Now a question. In talking to Greg Blunt the other day he suggested using Everdure on the boat. I probably won't use it on the outside as that would mean having to go back to raw timber. I'm concerned that I might sand through the top layer of the Coachwood Marine Ply and the I'd have probably pant it as I'd be in the cross grain of the plywood.

So what are the thoughts on use of the Everdure inside the boat? I will be varnishing the inside of the boat.

The steps to completion are getting less. Hopefully by either Nerandera or next Yarrawonga
(if it's on in 2014) the project may get a wet bottom.

Only 3 1/2 years after starting and nearly 2 years after I thought it would be completed.

[tommo]

The varnish could possably laminate on top of the epoxy best to use the one product and stick to it through out the boat,
cheers Peter

[piquet95971]

28 nails and roves still to be done and then that milestone is complete. The last six have to be done after the rubber gasket is cut and installed under the shaft log.

These may have to wait for a while as I haven't got the insertion rubber to make the seal. The 19 mm roves have arrived for this part of the job along with my other roves from the FNQ supplier. I will try a couple today as they are located under where the engine is located and if the look too much different then they will be hidden but I think that they will be ok. They are not as polished as the Australian manufactured though.

Last night I sanded off and stained the top two planks on both sides of the boat. I'm amazed that such a small step makes the boat look so much closer to completion although in reality there is still heaps to be completed.

Today will see the last 22 nails and roves in the ribs completed and a second cost of stain on the planks. Tomorrow will see first coats of varnish on these planks. Maybe even get the cockpit sides down from carport roof and commence varnish works on them as well. We'll see how I feel.

[NPeth]

Great to hear about your progress Peter. You inspired me to go out and compete the roving on the top part of the ribs on Grumpy! Progress for me will now stop until I have a new place to work on boat as I need to take it off the trailer for the next part. I would love to see some progress pictures of the project. Keep up the good work.
Nick

[piquet95971]

Hi guys
Well the nail and roving is now complete on the boat with the exception of round the Shaft log as I said earlier.
I suppose that I won't really know how good a job it is until I either fill it up with water or launch the boat!
This morning after completing the roving I put the second coat of stain on the top planks and then after that had dried lput on the first coat of varnish to the first and second plank each side.
I am using the Feast and Watsons Spar Varnish. From all the reports this seems to be a good alround performer. It's the type of oil rich varnish that has been around since hector was a pup and always performed well. None of this fancy two pack stuff here.

Late this arvo I gave the varnished areas a light sand off and applied a second coat of the varnish. Looks Ok to me so far.

Tomorrow I will take some up to date photos and post the for all to see.
cheers
thanks for the encouragement
peter

[piquet95971]

Today I rolled the boat out into daylight and gave it a bath. Also took th opportunity to clean the work shed of accumulated dust dirt and pick up all the copper nail off cuts. I suppose that I have about 3 kg of offcuts old nails and roves. Scrap metal price might buy me half a slab!!!!!!

The Karcher and a hand broom work wonders. Also blasted all the crud out of the groove between the keel and the garboard Plank. Then rolled the boat back into the carport and bashed the caulking cotton into the slot. my home mad caulking iron worked well. So now to get some 3M5200 to seal the cotton in place.

I might try and get the cockpit sides down, give them a light sand and start to varnish them. but then again I might just sit and watch the cricket with a cold Crownie
cheers
peter

[piquet95971]

OK some more things that I hadn't foreseen.
The nails at the stem end of the planks were not as tight as they should be. I was able to get a small screwdriverunder the head and just lever them out. Like the transom I doubt that there was any adhesive behind the planks.

So what to do. I think the best thing might be to get the next gauge of nails up from what was installed and then to inject some epoxy down the nail holes and then renail the planks.

I suppose that the fact that square copper nails have held it together for 30 + years already means that anything that I do will probably last almost as long.

So after that I decided to cheer myself up and put a coat of varnish on the transom. I'm impressed with the colour.

After checking out the comparison between 3M5200 and the Sikaflex equivelent, I decided to go with the Sika product. Their product is Sikaflex 291 and is quite readily available. Even the big green shed has stocks. I was planning on caulking the centreline seam this arvo bu that all changed after the discovery of the loose nails.

More news later this week..