My (Sort Of) Sea Knight Build

[hoodman]

I use sawhorses as out feed supports too. I really should re-build mine so that they will be the same height as my table saw like you did. I always have to put additional blocking on top of them and then a sheet of ply to get a good support.

[froberts]

This day was spent lightly sanding my new battens, chine, sheer! Once sanded I pulled out the router and added a nice rounded edge to the interior portion of each piece. While my boat isn't bound to win any awards for skill or beauty I was really impressed with how they looked!



Note that the ends will be cut to size so I didn't finish them off

[Roberta]

Look's Great!! Something about a rounded edge on boards that is very appealing.

Roberta

[sscobra]

Looking really good. Your knees will really appreciate the rounded edges when you flip it over and work on the inside. Skip

[froberts]

Hot diggity! Posting these updates has become one of my favourite parts of the build as it's amazing to see how much progress I've made. Still a long way to go but motivation is high and I'm really enjoying this part of the build.

My first time cutting and gluing scarf joints was...a real learning experience! I apologize for not having many photos. I used a combination of my table saw with a scarf jig, my power planer, and hand planes to get all the scarfs cut. Then glued em up to get the length I needed for the chines, sheer, and battens.



I got my keel laminated and then bolted it to the stem and transom knee (dry fitted only)


Then came the fun part! STEAMING!!!!
A HUGE thank you to the many people on this forum that have shared their tips for how best to steam and bend (Carl - thank you for all your documentation) I used my garment steamer...which is quite a little beast as I use it to steam my work clothes each morning, and it worked like a charm! I used thick plastic wrap to create a sleeve and plugged each end with a rolled up towel and zap straps, shoved the steamer hose in and turned it on. Each chine took about 45min before they could be slowly eased over!


The notches in frame 5 still need to be cut at the right angle but then the chines should fit perfectly into place!

[Roberta]

Looks Great!!!

Roberta

[hoodman]

Very nice!

[mrintense]

Fraser, looking good. Glad my documentation could be of use. I learned the steaming trick on the Internet and it was tailor made to do the job you and I used it for.

[froberts]

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Hopefully everyone is enjoying this wonderful time of year by spending it with family and friends....or, if you're like me, working on your build!

It's been too long since my last post and for that I apologize. So much has happened lately in work, life and my SK build. We will be welcoming a new addition to our family this April so quite a bit of my boat build time was spent on house chores but I still managed to squeeze in a fair number of hours (usually early morning or late evening) on the boat.

I spent the end of November searching ebay for a couple old Stanley planes and managed to score an awesome No.5 and incredible No.8 for next to nothing. (i cant seem to find the before and after pictures at the moment but some light restoration was needed along with a good couple hours sharpening) But SO WORTH IT!

With my new (old) planes I started fairing and I have to say that nothing has been more enjoyable than the fairing process. I'd spend about an hour or two working the wood and then re-hone the blades on a couple high grit wet stones. Very meditative and relaxing.

After getting the keel and chines faired up I cut out all the notches for the battens and then it was time to add the sheers! Same steaming process was used that I did for the chine and it worked like a charm.


Here I am super excited to be in the shop rocking my new respirator. I'll admit that i've been terrible about consistently wearing my respirator while working on the boat but with this thing there is no reason not to. It's so comfortable, looks awesome, and has a HEPA with active carbon filtration that is good down to .1 micron!


Both laminations were bent at the same time and then left to rest for 24hrs.

Then came time for gluing, screwing and clamping! As you can see I don't have a ton of clamps and I couldn't convince my wife that I needed to buy at least 20 more, so I ended up making my own with screws and some scrap oak! I highly recommend this if you're in a pinch and need a few more clamps



Today I spent some time just tidying up the shop and admiring how far I've come. While it might not win any awards (especially compared to the amazing work some of you have done) I'm really falling in love with this boat and cannot get enough of the process!


Once we get back from a quick holiday vacation I'll be tackling the last bit of fairing and sanding and then hopefully I can get going on planking!!! I plan on sanding, encapsulating, and then maybe painting almost everything (mainly the lower sections of the frames) prior to planking. Any advice on things I should start thinking about before I start?

[Bill Edmundson]

Fraser

You are correct. Encapsulate as much of the frame as possible before planking! Don't forget limbers!

Bill

[Roberta]

Merry Christmas. Looking great.

Roberta

[froberts]

Ahh good point on the limbers! Any recommendations on how best to cut them out? router or just saw?

Thank you for the compliments everyone!

[Bill Edmundson]

Fraser

I'm not sure what is the best way to cut limbers. If you haven't glued the battens a saw may be better. If not the router may be the choice. But, be careful with the router it's easy to blowout when you are cutting across the piece.

I do know the worst way is trying to do limbers after the planking!

Bill

[chugalug]

Maybe cut curf in front part of battons back a little to aid bending them down when you install ply.I drilled small hole in front of batton and used wire to hold down.then after flip ,went inside and removed wires and glued curfed end to ply.just my 2 cents.Merry Christmas.

[hoodman]

Kerfing the inner battens is probably going to be a necessity.