Build Pictures of HOUDINI Gaff Rig- John Welsford Jan - July '10
Posted 30-04-2010 at 04:45 AM by George Cunningham
JANUARY '10
After adding upper and lower stringers, upper planking goes on easily. Also deck support strips and king plank can go on now. Somewhere in here, following the instruction sheet, the temp frames have been removed.
(Click on any picture to enlarge)
FEBRUARY '10
Although there is a bit of heat in the garage, it is also very leaky around the big doors. As a result, too cold to do much out there in February but managed to make a hatch cover which required no epoxy to cure.
MARCH '10
Temperatures in March are a little more conducive to working in the garage.
Time to fit the lower planks and the dreaded lower bow plank.
First dry fitting the bow plank and then shaping it to fit better.
Long way to bend into place.
Then get it glued up after bending into place by steaming with a trash bag pulled over the plank from the front and then winching into place with many clamps pushing and pulling from everywhere. I have to say, the planking is the hardest part for me...mainly the bow planks...the other planking goes pretty well.
Right side pic show the steaming setup - what a mess!!
Dry fit templates from 1/4' scrap ply for side and forward decks. I have gotten very fond of using templates and getting them to fit very close before cutting on the good stuff.
Forward planks from inside - lookin' good to me. Lots of work there.
APRIL '10
Seems like I worked a lot of hours on the boat in April with little visible progress but there was lots of small stuff to sort out and finish up from previous stages that got taken care of.
One problem was on the bottom bow planks. Don't know if I over-steamed them or what but had some distortion just around frame #1 on both planks where they kinda sucked in a little bit much - like if you suck you cheeks in - it prompted me to try and wedge the large dimples out with the wedges shown here. Maybe pre-soaking these planks overnight (ala Ray Frechette) would have helped.
Wedge supports attach to the hull sides to support the floorboards in the midsection.
Rear seat supports and forward floor supports. This boat looks enormous inside!!
Some pictures of the floorboards dry fitted. The curvature on the front of rear seat is just a mockup and the curved seat will be on both sides.
Two boxes like this are going to be attached below the floor line on each side of the centerline in the midsection just aft of the centerboard and be available for storage that will be kept dry in case there is water in the bilge. Also, will keep stuff from getting lost under there. An 8" screw out deck plate will be over it. I also plan on two 8" screw out plates on the rear seat for storage and also to give access to the gudgeons just in case there is ever a problem.
MAY '10
With the help of my new sailing friend Wendell, we got the boat up on it's edge ready for the mounting of the skeg - I'm still working on the best way to proceed.
A few days have passed since getting the boat up on its side - I didn't work on it during the flooding rains in our Middle Tennessee area. We had more immediate tasks at hand. Fortunately, we don't live in one of the majority of areas that flash flooded and are still under water several days later - in a big mess.
After rigging up some tackle on the rafters above, I was able, little by little, to hoist the boat and rotate it with the help of winch straps all over the place and get the jig back under it. It took well over and hour of careful maneuvering, but it is a doable task by one person. Here are pics of the various stages of turning the boat over. For this task, I did drop the CB out of its case. I'm thinking it will probably be difficult to get back in but we'll see.
Now that the boat is turned over, it's much easier to work on the bottom. Frankly, I didn't think I would be able to work on it very well on its side as per instructions.
First, to fill and sand the joints and seams, the filler used was Wast 410 with soome silica added for viscosity. I think the silica adds to the hardness but seemed to be needed to thicken up the mixture. For final fairing, I will just use 410.
This seemed like a good time to finish the stem off with the stem cap. Two layers of 6mm meranti ply, after being soaked overnight and steamed for a half hour, still had trouble getting around the bend at the top. Photos show fitting and gluing, then fairing with thickened epoxy 410 and silica. I find that the silica may be necessary to get a thick mixture that won't run. Seems like with even a whole lot of 410, the mixture does not get thick enough.
Work continues with the taping of the plank seams on the outside hull. I have used a length of 4" tape with a 6" wide biaxial tape over the top of it. The biaxial does contain higher ridges it seems, so, more filling and fairing will be very necessary. Turning the boat over was facilitated with block and tackle to the rafters. An added benefit of that arrangement is that I can vary the angle of the boat to make the taping and fairing easier to reach. And, maybe less sagging and running of the 410 Microlite. I think I'll pick up some microballoons and try that out like John W. suggested. He's always right - yes?
In the third photo, just above, notice the sort of round patch on the lower side plank near the seam. That is a spot that did not bend fairly with steaming (too much steam - too little?). JW suggested wedging it out as much as possible, glue it up and proceed, later filling with fairing mixture from the ourside. - that's what I did and have filled it in from the outside to a better fair compound curve. Both sides had that problem in slightly different areas. The starboard side had it just aft of frame #1 and the port side just in from of #1. I obsessed a lot about this mal-formation of the planks but as it turns out, JW's rule about "there is nothing that cannot be fixed with enough fiberglass" works here.
At JW's suggestion, I got some microballoons. It's a little bit harder to sand than Microlite, but it resists sagging much more than Microlite so is better where the surface to be worked on is more vertical. Both spread very well - I did mix some silica with both fillers about (1/4 to 1/3 silica) to thicken the mix quicker. Else, you have to use an awful lot of filler. I know the silica probably makes the mix harder to sand but it's not a big deal as long as you're not sanding manually. The microballoons can be seen in the last two pix - the red stuff.
It's the last two days of May and I have started sheathing the boat hull with a large fiberglass cloth. Got one side done today - sure does take a lot of epoxy. It went pretty well - I cannot decide the best way to apply the epoxy. Mostly I poured it on, then used a spreader, and rolled it with a small white foam roller. After a while, I gave up trying to prevent drips onto the floor - useless effort. I should have spread something under the boat - great hind sight !!
As I have said before, the block and tackle at each end of the boat to tilt and hoist it has been of great help.Here it is with the panel at eye level that I can sand and see the surface dings much better than bending over in a bad light.
Still a long way to go (sigh), but I'm enjoying the building very much, even if the pace is very slow and I only get a bit done each day, a few days per week.
BTW - the tackle setup is great. The boat can be tilted, lowered, on and off the jig, whatever to suit my needs. Sure helps the old back.
June-July 2010
Well, June has come and gone and July has arrived. Just in case anyone is wondering where the progress on the boat is --- there has been very little. I have gotten more involved in teaching sailing at the boat club and the work on the boat has been limited to sanding and resurfacing and sanding the hull to get it to a nice paintable surface. The surfacing has been done with microballoons and a little silica to stretch the supply of mb. I like the way the microballons spreads very nicely with a spatula. However, it's expensive and soon I'll be back to 410 which is also good but is more runny and definitely requires silica.
One side of the boat was done with ePoxy (Marinepoxy) and the other with Epiglass. The Epi was left over from doing a barrier coat on my San Juan 24. Although it worked fine there, it has given me problems on the Houdini. On some smaller items, it had to be entirely scraped off because of not curing enough and on the Houdini it tends to melt under the orbital sander. I keep the sander moving and use slower speeds - the ePoxy did not present this problem. Now, I have read good things about the Epiglass so I don't mean it is a problem resin - just that I have had problems in spite of taking care to mix proper proportions and letting cure. Some buildiers have reported using Epiglass exclusively so it must be good stuff.
In spite of a considerable amount of work on the hull (sanding/filling), the appearance has not changed very much to the eye,.. so - no new photos. - G
August 2010
Building has slowed down considerably these extremely hot months. We are 10+ degrees F. over normal, anywhere from mid 90s to over 100 for the whole month of August and most of July, setting new records daily for this area of Tennessee.
I have been at the point of painting the hull but need it to be outside to do that and of course it's too hot to paint.
I had a concrete driveway put in for drainage purposes and while they were here, I had them pour a nice concrete (10' x 20') pad outside my shop where I can roll out my tablesaw or whatever and do my sanding and messy stuff.
Lots of 'things' beside weather have kept me from the boat but I'm starting back now. I was very puzzled how to draw the profile of the keel onto plywood - not sure why - it's all there on the plans. But it took me a lot of thinking about how to do it and finally the templates are finished. It won't look so tall at the stern when the cut-away is made.
OK - Here is the keel all glued on finally. Quite a job for one person, working the top of the boat and underneath putting in screws---top, under, top, under, etc. I put a nice fillet on full length plus a couple layer of glass tape at the taller section, over the fillets. The tape is for me. The structure is probably plenty strong without it. The plans call for an 8' plank to be scarfed but since the lumber yard only had a 12 footer in the 8" width, I was able to make a one piece keel.The wood is red oak - not the best choice for a keel because of low rot resistance but it won't be staying in the water and will be well epoxied and painted.
Pictures: Template ---------------- Full Keel -------------------- Cutaway
Last few days of August - still extremely hot but the PrimeKote primer can go to 90F. I had some left over from Tender Behind but it did not quite cover one side and I will need a few coats.
So while I'm waiting for the primer to come in, I steam bent a piece of red oak for the outer gunnel to see how it would go. The large steamer worked great and from what I gathered on the internet, one hour steaming per inch was about right. The red oak is fairly compliant as long as you bend slowly and don't rush it.
Click here to return to the beginning of the build
After adding upper and lower stringers, upper planking goes on easily. Also deck support strips and king plank can go on now. Somewhere in here, following the instruction sheet, the temp frames have been removed.
(Click on any picture to enlarge)
FEBRUARY '10
Although there is a bit of heat in the garage, it is also very leaky around the big doors. As a result, too cold to do much out there in February but managed to make a hatch cover which required no epoxy to cure.
MARCH '10
Temperatures in March are a little more conducive to working in the garage.
Time to fit the lower planks and the dreaded lower bow plank.
First dry fitting the bow plank and then shaping it to fit better.
Long way to bend into place.
Then get it glued up after bending into place by steaming with a trash bag pulled over the plank from the front and then winching into place with many clamps pushing and pulling from everywhere. I have to say, the planking is the hardest part for me...mainly the bow planks...the other planking goes pretty well.
Right side pic show the steaming setup - what a mess!!
Dry fit templates from 1/4' scrap ply for side and forward decks. I have gotten very fond of using templates and getting them to fit very close before cutting on the good stuff.
Forward planks from inside - lookin' good to me. Lots of work there.
APRIL '10
Seems like I worked a lot of hours on the boat in April with little visible progress but there was lots of small stuff to sort out and finish up from previous stages that got taken care of.
One problem was on the bottom bow planks. Don't know if I over-steamed them or what but had some distortion just around frame #1 on both planks where they kinda sucked in a little bit much - like if you suck you cheeks in - it prompted me to try and wedge the large dimples out with the wedges shown here. Maybe pre-soaking these planks overnight (ala Ray Frechette) would have helped.
Wedge supports attach to the hull sides to support the floorboards in the midsection.
Rear seat supports and forward floor supports. This boat looks enormous inside!!
Some pictures of the floorboards dry fitted. The curvature on the front of rear seat is just a mockup and the curved seat will be on both sides.
Two boxes like this are going to be attached below the floor line on each side of the centerline in the midsection just aft of the centerboard and be available for storage that will be kept dry in case there is water in the bilge. Also, will keep stuff from getting lost under there. An 8" screw out deck plate will be over it. I also plan on two 8" screw out plates on the rear seat for storage and also to give access to the gudgeons just in case there is ever a problem.
MAY '10
With the help of my new sailing friend Wendell, we got the boat up on it's edge ready for the mounting of the skeg - I'm still working on the best way to proceed.
A few days have passed since getting the boat up on its side - I didn't work on it during the flooding rains in our Middle Tennessee area. We had more immediate tasks at hand. Fortunately, we don't live in one of the majority of areas that flash flooded and are still under water several days later - in a big mess.
After rigging up some tackle on the rafters above, I was able, little by little, to hoist the boat and rotate it with the help of winch straps all over the place and get the jig back under it. It took well over and hour of careful maneuvering, but it is a doable task by one person. Here are pics of the various stages of turning the boat over. For this task, I did drop the CB out of its case. I'm thinking it will probably be difficult to get back in but we'll see.
Now that the boat is turned over, it's much easier to work on the bottom. Frankly, I didn't think I would be able to work on it very well on its side as per instructions.
First, to fill and sand the joints and seams, the filler used was Wast 410 with soome silica added for viscosity. I think the silica adds to the hardness but seemed to be needed to thicken up the mixture. For final fairing, I will just use 410.
This seemed like a good time to finish the stem off with the stem cap. Two layers of 6mm meranti ply, after being soaked overnight and steamed for a half hour, still had trouble getting around the bend at the top. Photos show fitting and gluing, then fairing with thickened epoxy 410 and silica. I find that the silica may be necessary to get a thick mixture that won't run. Seems like with even a whole lot of 410, the mixture does not get thick enough.
Work continues with the taping of the plank seams on the outside hull. I have used a length of 4" tape with a 6" wide biaxial tape over the top of it. The biaxial does contain higher ridges it seems, so, more filling and fairing will be very necessary. Turning the boat over was facilitated with block and tackle to the rafters. An added benefit of that arrangement is that I can vary the angle of the boat to make the taping and fairing easier to reach. And, maybe less sagging and running of the 410 Microlite. I think I'll pick up some microballoons and try that out like John W. suggested. He's always right - yes?
At JW's suggestion, I got some microballoons. It's a little bit harder to sand than Microlite, but it resists sagging much more than Microlite so is better where the surface to be worked on is more vertical. Both spread very well - I did mix some silica with both fillers about (1/4 to 1/3 silica) to thicken the mix quicker. Else, you have to use an awful lot of filler. I know the silica probably makes the mix harder to sand but it's not a big deal as long as you're not sanding manually. The microballoons can be seen in the last two pix - the red stuff.
It's the last two days of May and I have started sheathing the boat hull with a large fiberglass cloth. Got one side done today - sure does take a lot of epoxy. It went pretty well - I cannot decide the best way to apply the epoxy. Mostly I poured it on, then used a spreader, and rolled it with a small white foam roller. After a while, I gave up trying to prevent drips onto the floor - useless effort. I should have spread something under the boat - great hind sight !!
As I have said before, the block and tackle at each end of the boat to tilt and hoist it has been of great help.Here it is with the panel at eye level that I can sand and see the surface dings much better than bending over in a bad light.
Still a long way to go (sigh), but I'm enjoying the building very much, even if the pace is very slow and I only get a bit done each day, a few days per week.
BTW - the tackle setup is great. The boat can be tilted, lowered, on and off the jig, whatever to suit my needs. Sure helps the old back.
June-July 2010
Well, June has come and gone and July has arrived. Just in case anyone is wondering where the progress on the boat is --- there has been very little. I have gotten more involved in teaching sailing at the boat club and the work on the boat has been limited to sanding and resurfacing and sanding the hull to get it to a nice paintable surface. The surfacing has been done with microballoons and a little silica to stretch the supply of mb. I like the way the microballons spreads very nicely with a spatula. However, it's expensive and soon I'll be back to 410 which is also good but is more runny and definitely requires silica.
One side of the boat was done with ePoxy (Marinepoxy) and the other with Epiglass. The Epi was left over from doing a barrier coat on my San Juan 24. Although it worked fine there, it has given me problems on the Houdini. On some smaller items, it had to be entirely scraped off because of not curing enough and on the Houdini it tends to melt under the orbital sander. I keep the sander moving and use slower speeds - the ePoxy did not present this problem. Now, I have read good things about the Epiglass so I don't mean it is a problem resin - just that I have had problems in spite of taking care to mix proper proportions and letting cure. Some buildiers have reported using Epiglass exclusively so it must be good stuff.
In spite of a considerable amount of work on the hull (sanding/filling), the appearance has not changed very much to the eye,.. so - no new photos. - G
August 2010
Building has slowed down considerably these extremely hot months. We are 10+ degrees F. over normal, anywhere from mid 90s to over 100 for the whole month of August and most of July, setting new records daily for this area of Tennessee.
I have been at the point of painting the hull but need it to be outside to do that and of course it's too hot to paint.
I had a concrete driveway put in for drainage purposes and while they were here, I had them pour a nice concrete (10' x 20') pad outside my shop where I can roll out my tablesaw or whatever and do my sanding and messy stuff.
Lots of 'things' beside weather have kept me from the boat but I'm starting back now. I was very puzzled how to draw the profile of the keel onto plywood - not sure why - it's all there on the plans. But it took me a lot of thinking about how to do it and finally the templates are finished. It won't look so tall at the stern when the cut-away is made.
OK - Here is the keel all glued on finally. Quite a job for one person, working the top of the boat and underneath putting in screws---top, under, top, under, etc. I put a nice fillet on full length plus a couple layer of glass tape at the taller section, over the fillets. The tape is for me. The structure is probably plenty strong without it. The plans call for an 8' plank to be scarfed but since the lumber yard only had a 12 footer in the 8" width, I was able to make a one piece keel.The wood is red oak - not the best choice for a keel because of low rot resistance but it won't be staying in the water and will be well epoxied and painted.
Pictures: Template ---------------- Full Keel -------------------- Cutaway
Last few days of August - still extremely hot but the PrimeKote primer can go to 90F. I had some left over from Tender Behind but it did not quite cover one side and I will need a few coats.
Click here to return to the beginning of the build
Total Comments 8
Comments
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Love this blog, George. It's going to be very helpful to a lot of our members and visitors, for sure. Hats off to you on a great job. It's coming along beautifully. I particularly liked the fix for the 'sucked in' bow planks. That system works well for keeping a fair line on planking generally but particularly if you stretch a build. The extra space between frames can cause a little unfairness and a temporary wedging system can push the plank back into a fair shape. Great stuff. Must get myself a little steaming thingamajig.
Regards
Mike
Posted 30-04-2010 at 11:39 PM by Mike 
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Good work George, well done! I bet that you are beginning to stand back and look at the amount of space that you have in that "little" boat and think of where you might go and what adventures you might have.
I note your use of templates and patterns, thats good thinking, it can save a lot of errors that cost a lot of expensive plywood.
I like your underfloor "box". Thats a really good idea.
John Welsford, looking forward to seeing more.Posted 01-05-2010 at 04:14 AM by jwboatdesigns
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410 microlite is not a true thixotrope , that is, it tends to sag when you've got a thick layer on a vertical or steep surface. For a heavy layer to go on an area like your bow panel try microballons ( also available from WEST suppliers).
Make or buy a notched spreader, and spread a layer of microballoons on, maybe 3mm deep, then sand off until you get a fair surface around the edges ( you probably wont get the deepest part first time) then use a trowel, not notched, to fill the gaps between the ridges. Do the process again with the notched spreader where needed, and sand off etc 'till you have the result you want.
Why the notched spreader? Saves waste and a lot of elbow grease when sanding.
John Welsford.Posted 16-05-2010 at 02:28 AM by jwboatdesigns
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Ahah, thanks John for that tip to George about using West microballoons. I shall pick some up myself next week.
I've had a similar problem to George with using the 410 Microlight. As you so rightly say, it does tend to sag on steep or vertical surfaces no matter how thickly you mix it with your resin/hardener mix. This was evident when fairing the inside of TB as I came up the sides. It would lay on fairly at first but had sagged by the time it set up, meaning lots more waste and sanding effort and re-application.
Sounds like Microballoons is the way to go and I will add that to the supplies armoury asap.
Little tips like this one are just so valuable. Don't ya just luv the Internet? It has made backyard boatbuilding so much easier by allowing us all to tap in to expert knowledge and advice. Great stuff!
Posted 16-05-2010 at 10:58 AM by Mike
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Yeah - I've been having that saggin' problem with the microlite also. I have been mixing a small amount of silica which of course makes the product more difficult to sand but it does not take much to thicken it up and I have plenty of sandpaper. - I'll have to try the notched trick. - George
Posted 20-05-2010 at 04:50 PM by George Cunningham 
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Keep up the good work there George, you're going well.
Your comment on the drips of epoxy on the floor reminds me of the time a while back that I was visiting a new friend and asked him what kind of boat it was that he'd built. He was really puzzled as to how I knew, there had been no mention of boats or boating, ( I'm interested in folk music and this was one of that group). I touched the side of my nose and said something to the effect that "once you've caught it, the signs are always there so others can recognize the affliction.
In fact we'd dashed in through the rain, into the garage and up the stairs, there was, under the car and out past the end of it, a line of curved drips of epoxy resin. Old and worn but unmistakeable.
I never did enlighten him, but we often talked boats after that.
JohnWelsfordPosted 26-06-2010 at 04:24 AM by jwboatdesigns
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It is very satisfying to know that the designer of my wonderful Houdini actually reads my blog. Not only once, but it looks like he has revisited.
John, I have often wondered how you personally keep up with all the forums and websites I have seen your posts on...and still manage to keep up with your personal work, career, family and life in general.
Thanks for your support John - GPosted 02-07-2010 at 03:42 PM by George Cunningham
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I'm pleased to be able to see what you are up to George, keep up the good work.
As for keeping up, this boat design business does not quite pay all the bills although its gradually improving in that respect. So I have to work at other things now and again so when I disappear for a while thats usually where I am.
I have a dayjob for the next while, managing a tool servicing shop that sharpens joinery and sawmill saws and tools, and sells the same plus a wide range of woodworking tooling and sawblades. I'll have a bit less time until thats over, it means that I'll be back to about three designs a year or so.
But I dont want to lose contact with my "freinds" who are busy building, so please keep up the progress reports.
John WelsfordPosted 03-07-2010 at 05:32 AM by jwboatdesigns
