Almost-A-SCAMP Progress Report #7B . . . . .

[Charles Brennan]

When we last checked in, we were having problems with a puzzle tab that was sitting too high and was not flush with the cleats.
Asked for help on various SCAMP forums and decided to take the most often suggested (and incidentally, the easiest way out) route.
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Just cut the sucker off!   
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I'll just glue the tab onto the cabin sole and then I won't have to worry about it, until it comes time to install the sole.

When I first laid eyes on the partial SCAMP kit I bought in Wisconsin, last (ouch!)  December, I thought the seams on the upper two plank fillets looked a little thin.
So I laid fiberglass tape on both inside plank seams, clear down the length of the boat for reinforcement.
Here is a typical example.
(Well  . . . . not all THAT typical; this was the least drippy seam I got done! I ain't posting the other pics!!) 
Not to worry, enough 80 grit sandpaper can erase even the sloppiest of fiberglass craftsmanship.
All the other hull seams had already been taped by the DPO and looked good, although they also needed a lot of sanding, so HAH!!   
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All the pieces I have been cutting out and fitting, were primed with epoxy in preparation for gluing them in place.
The Okoume is so absorbent, that you run the risk of having glue-starved joints from the wood soaking up the resin, otherwise.
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Including all the backing blocks for all the deck cleats and deck hardware, that will be glued in between the gunwhales and the carlins.
(Not the Cedar block; I use it as a spacer for stuff that has epoxy on both edges.)
Square piece with a hole in the upper right, is the electrical panel doubler.
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Primed the parts of the hull that will receive glue.
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Primed BH-3 in preparation for cabin hatch doublers.
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Everything glued and clamped! 
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Man! I used a LOT of clamps!   
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I'm happy with the Goldilocks clamping pressure; the squeeze-out of glue, is not too much and not too little.

Clamped on both sides! 
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And down the length of the hull.
Thought I was going to run out of clamps! 
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But I actually had two left over. 
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The next morning, I liberated all my clamps so I could do more gluing and clamping, starting with the "SCAMP ramp" a slanted trough that aids in raising the mast.
Too bad you can't see it under all the clamps! 
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Next, I started in on the side panels retrofit to make BH-4 a little wider on the edges.
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Also installed a cleat that will have the side panel attached to it, at a later date.

Tapered the panels and the bulkhead edges so that when I fillet them in, I'll have a stronger joint.
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And to PROVE the bulkheads aren't leaning this way, or that way . . . .   
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So, Charles . . . .   why aren't those two horizontal holes on the bow, the ones with the pegs in them, level? 
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   I DONWANNA TALK ABOUT IT!! 
Today's DIY Home Boat Builder Tip:
Never "guesstimate" hand-held drill angles, while wearing bi-focals.   

I was originally going to use a horizontally mounted U-bolt for the bow eye and after the drilling debacle, decided to go with a vertical mounted U-bolt.
Screwdriver shafts covered with packing tape, inserted to keep the backing blocks in alignment
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An inside look at the U-bolt backing doublers. A wedge wrapped in packing tape was jammed in from each side, since there was no way to get a clamp on something in there.
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In a previous post, Riley cautioned me to make SURE I was using bronze and not brass for centerboard hull bushings.
I retorted that I had made SURE McMaster Carr sent me bronze ½-inch NPT pipe nipples when I ordered them.
When I read his response though, it tickled something in the back of my sub-conscious.   
Checked my packing slip again.
2) Bronze ½-inch NPT pipe nipples.
Check
2) Brass ½-inch NPT pipe caps.
BRASSS?!?!?!?!?   
   ARRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!! 
Wonder what Riley saw in the pic I posted that I TOTALLY missed, but I'm glad he caught it! 
And once again the TSBB community comes to the rescue, to save me from myself.
The centerboard bushings are the ONE set of parts that have to be installed and then buried for all time.
They HAVE to work and hold up and NOT get de-zinctified (is that a word?) from salt water.
Every time the centerboard goes up or down.

So I went in search of bronze pipe caps and while I was looking around, I found a much better ½-inch NPT pipe nipple that had a hex nut cast in the center.
I had been leery that the notches I cut into the threads of the nipples on the epoxied side might not be stout enough to keep the bushings from stripping out and un-threading, if the the pipe cap ever got stuck.
Get epoxy and filler all around that hex casting and it won't go anywhere.
Much better.   
I cut grooves in the nipples anyway, just to be sure.
You can see the bronze pipe cap sitting next to the brass one, as well as the original bronze pipe nipples.
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I was glad to have tripped over this fitting.
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I temporarily clamped on a piece of wood to simulate the centerboard trunk thickness, (which is two 9 mm pieces of plywood) to check for fit.
You'll note that it sticks out not quite one thread's worth.
Initially, I was going to grind it flush, but then decided to leave it.  I'm going to have some HDPE spacers between the centerboard and the centerboard trunk.
This protrusion will give me a slight shoulder to rest the spacers on, when I install the centerboard.
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I have been concerned over getting the bushings both square and plumb and in-line.
I came up with the idea of cutting a piece of lumber square, screwing a wire to the ends and then getting it to the right height vertically and wiring it in place.
Since epoxy fillers tend to sag a little before curing, I wanted some means of holding the bushings at a fixed height, without moving.
 Not shown here, but I will add a smaller block to sit on top this block, to have a horizontal reference point for the pipe that is going through the trunk.
If the pipe sits square against the edge of the block, then I'll know it's square.
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Outboard side of the centerboard trunk, checking for fit.
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LOOKS terribly out of square, but the visual reference is skewed from the hull angles and curves.

Inboard side of the centerboard trunk located in the water ballast tank.
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I remember when I first came to TSBB and was mildly amused at the Water Ballast Wars back then and feeling all smug with my 400 lb swing keel.
My turn to talk out of the other side of my mouth, I guess!   

The pipe and the insides of the pipe nipples are heavily greased so that no epoxy will stick to the interior bronze parts.
Check the plumbers Teflon tape to also forestall epoxy intrusion, where it's unwanted.
That's also how I'll keep the centerboard bushing pipe caps from leaking during installation.
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Mixed up a bunch of glue and jammed it in there, then installed the pipe nipple.
Since the glue tends to sag a little until it cures, I shored it up with packing tape. all around the fitting.
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Packing tape shows a little better in this pic of the other side of the centerboard trunk.
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SUCCESS!! 
Level is sitting directly on the copper pipe.
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Marching right along!!   

Charles Brennan

[Norm L.]

How did the USS CONSTITUTION get built without epoxy, Teflon, and packing tape? Easy. It didn't have a centerboard. 

Face it, a centerboard is about the only in hull moving part in a small sailboat and its unexpected failure to operate can be extremely dangerous. Definitely a point for over-engineering.

[Captain Kidd]

The devil is in the details! Sooooo sooooo many details. Nice work! There's a tendency to think that once the hull if finished, you're almost there. NOT!

By "seam" did you mean the amount of overlap of the planks? One thing is for sure: the fiberglass tape will fix that! I had a couple laps that I thought I would tape over. After thinking about it, with frames and planks all tied together, I figured it was strong enough. Epoxy joints are super strong.

Can't have too many clamps! I plan my work so that I'll have enough for immediate use. Epoxy cures and then on to the next job.

[Charles Brennan]

Captain Kidd, These planks do have a small overlap and have exterior fillets (which were done correctly) and interior fillets that I felt, were too small.  This judgement from a total noob, was based on seeing pics of other builder's interior fillets.  These were just a little on the thin side  and therefore didn't have enough "meat" (IMHO) to hold the planks rigid enough in extremis.  And I've had more than my fair share of near extremis, Out There! 

Remember, this is the original:
A Thing Worth Engineering, Is A Thing Worth OVER-Engineering! guy talking, here.

So while the judgement of the SCAMP builders community was that they were probably OK, I went ahead and beefed up the seams with fiberglass tape, anyway.  I've had Urchin nearly 50 years, so of necessity and habit, I tend to take the long view.  This will probably be the last sailboat I ever own, so it has to LAST, it has to HOLD UP and it has to be as maintenance free, as a septuagenarian can mange.

Hope this clarifies,
Charles Brennan