My Official build thread. 27 1/2’ GA

[Brian.Dixon]

I’m a long way from fitting the stringers. I still need to tape the outside seams.  I did fillet  the keel.  Maybe by next weekend I will be ready to lower the bottom onto the stringers.  I still need to glass them. 
  I put the aft end straightening 2x6 back on the outside of the hull.  I got it pretty much whipped.  I think they will stay until I get the stringers in.

Yes, I got ahead of myself and for whatever reason wondered about the stringers.  You should at this time still have 2x4s (or similar) across the bottom panel assembly (clamped to chine flats on opposite sides) for strength so you can build the exterior seams.  2nd layer of bow goes on later, after the bottom panel assembly is lowered onto the stringers, transom, and stem.  The bottom panel assembly will take on it's best final shape at that time.  It never hurts to put things on like those 2x6s to hold the parts as close to final shape as you can while building seams.

Brian

[Todd j]

Gotcha.  I need to find a way to better handle the bottom.  I don’t have room enough to put it aside while I prep the jig for the next phase.   Will have to do everything while it’s suspended overhead.   Need another chainfall.  Looking forward to the next batch of progress.

[Todd j]

Today I put the molds on the jig. I got the stringers and the shelves along with the stem all onto the jig.  I was nice to get the parts off the floor and out of the way. I got rid of some scraps I was holding onto and have a little more room to maneuver in the shop.  I had the the stringers on the jig before the shelves.  Those rascals are extra stabby on one end and head bonky on the other.  Somehow I managed to avoid them while moving around. 
  It was nice to see how well the parts fit together.  The stem and shelves were just about perfect.  No gap on the shelves at all.  I think the stem support may have a tiny twist.  Just looks like the top needs to pull over a tad.

[Djeffrey]

First of all, your shop is way to clean. Your making me clean my shop before I take any more pics. Secondly you speak my language when you use words like stabby and head Bonky. Lastly the boat is looks fantastic.

[Todd j]

Thanks.  I built it just for the boat.    Check out my thread titled “A house for a GA”. It’s in this forum too.  You won’t believe what a piece of crap I started with.   I started with a naked inside building that was so clean I found myself sweeping all the time since the new concrete was so well, new.  I didn’t have time to put other crap in it.  There is an advantage to leaving an inch of sawdust on the floor.  It absorbs all the epoxy I slingshot away from my project.  The floor is covered with it. 
  After seeing a big glassing project fail on another forum and one bad scarf(my fault) I am careful with the dust.  It’s everywhere!  I hit all the parts with a foxtail then with the shop  vac. As soon as my other chainfall arrives I look forward to doubling the shop space as my project will become more boaty looking. 

[Brian.Dixon]

The only epoxy joints that I've seen fail were either because of dust and/or epoxy starvation.  You learn to de-dust and then glue things up right away before they re-dust, and end grain needs epoxy until the shine stays.

Love the last 2 pix in particular .... the curvy lines of the boat are really pretty ... you can see it materializing right before your eyes

Brian

[Todd j]

I think my epoxy scarf failed because I added resin instead of hardener

[Brian.Dixon]

I think my epoxy scarf failed because I added resin instead of hardener

Yeah ... I remember that.  Human error ... it happens.  Humans are everywhere too ... I think it's some kind of infestation

Brian

[Todd j]

observations to pass on.  I built all the components and stored them for installation down the road.  In particular I stored the shelves on edge against the wall. I wish now I would have clamped them together until I needed them. One of them took on an undesirable shape.   While on the shelf molds the weirdo one doesnt take the same shape.  It may settle out due to just sitting on the molds.
   I’m not crazy about the shape of the shear as it is now.  It’s humped up in the middle.  I think #2 needs to move down.  I’m pretty sure I built it correctly.  I am building to 27 1/2’.  I put mold 2 at 82” aft of 3. And mold 1 84” aft of 2.  Does that sound right?  Page 76. 
  Here lies the question.  If I want to monkey with the shear should I have the transom locked in so something doesn’t go hAywire?

[Brian.Dixon]

observations to pass on.  I built all the components and stored them for installation down the road.  In particular I stored the shelves on edge against the wall. I wish now I would have clamped them together until I needed them. One of them took on an undesirable shape.   While on the shelf molds the weirdo one doesnt take the same shape.  It may settle out due to just sitting on the molds.
   I’m not crazy about the shape of the shear as it is now.  It’s humped up in the middle.  I think #2 needs to move down.  I’m pretty sure I built it correctly.  I am building to 27 1/2’.  I put mold 2 at 82” aft of 3. And mold 1 84” aft of 2.  Does that sound right?  Page 76. 
  Here lies the question.  If I want to monkey with the shear should I have the transom locked in so something doesn’t go hAywire?

Good on ya for stopping and evaluating along the way - trust your eyes.  The shelves should describe a fair curve, no humps and bumps.

So ... First observation.  You did the right thing in averaging the mold locations between the 27' and 28' positions given in the manual.  The curve of the sheer looks correct on the 'good side' but not on the other?  Can you provide pix?  My suggestion at this point is do what you need to do to force the 'bad side' into position.  Once the side panels are on, the sheer shelves are locked into place.  Without seeing a picture, I don't have a good read on how far off the one side is, so I can only speak in general terms here, but I can for example imagine things like building a custom mold at the right spot (a strong one) that you can clamp down to in order to give the sheerline the right shape on the 'bad side'.  If the issue is small, say 1/2" plus or minus, you could consider fairing it out after the boat's upright too.  And note that smaller variations are virtually unnoticeable on a finished boat as well.  One guy that I know of got Mold 43 off by nearly 3" ... holy smokes, you might say(!) ... it gave his boat a powderhorn sheerline that in the end looked good.  Can you take some some long-ways photos that look down the sheer and highlight the 'hump' and post them?  Thanks....

Brian

[Todd j]

Yes I will send some pics when I get back home again.   One side that has a smooth curve seems to look incorrect too.  It appears that molds 1 an 4 are closer and to the shop floor than 2 and 3.  Creating the banana shape.  It is not what my eye likes but it is fair.  Does that make sense?  The wonky shelf has a upward bow between 3 and 1.  Making them Banana shape worse looking and not fair.  I know a picture is worth a thousand words. I will see if I can get far enough away with my limited space and post pics

[Brian.Dixon]

Yes I will send some pics when I get back home again.   One side that has a smooth curve seems to look incorrect too.  It appears that molds 1 an 4 are closer and to the shop floor than 2 and 3.  Creating the banana shape.  It is not what my eye likes but it is fair.  Does that make sense?  The wonky shelf has a upward bow between 3 and 1.  Making them Banana shape worse looking and not fair.  I know a picture is worth a thousand words. I will see if I can get far enough away with my limited space and post pics

You're building a standard GA, right?  Not the Kodiak?  Double check your molds against the specs given in drawing #010 (I believe) to make sure the vertical positioning of the shelves is right, and double check the mold locations on the jig too.  Just for the record, note that unlike some boats that have a low spot in the sheerline in the amidships region, the Great Alaskan sheerline is a monotonically increasing curve from stern to stem.  In other words, the sheerline gets progressively higher from the stern forward to the stem, and the curve upward gets a little steeper on the forward half of the boat.  Look at the profile pictures of the boat in the #000x series of drawings to see what it is supposed to be shaped like.

I look forward to seeing your pix....

Brian

[Todd j]

Yes. Short skinny GA.  Not the kodiak 

[Brian.Dixon]

Yes. Short skinny GA.  Not the kodiak 

You likes your boats like you likes your gals, eh? 

[Djeffrey]

Good news Todd, we are neck and neck on our builds so I went out and looked at my build and like yours it appears that mold 2 is high(humpy) then I started thinking about it. Mold 1 and2 are almost level, mold3  is much lower as it turns up at the bow. So it makes sense to me that the hump should be there. 1,2,3 should not be in a straight line.. 1 and 2 should be straight.