Rear Hull is Stripped!

I started at the outer edge of the plywood and went inboard from there. This was the most challenging place to start but I didn't really have much choice since the stips had to align with the edge of the plywood. The final few central strips were tough to put in, requiring much planeing and fitting to get them to fit properly. Even so there are a few "bugs" in the layout where I cut off a little too much and the strips don't quite make it flush to the plywood. Eagle eyed viewers will see that part of the strips seems lighter color. I sanded a little just to see how much works that's going to be.

The outer strips should go faster because I can glue more at once. I've learned that I have to wait about 2-3 hours for the glue to set enough so I can remove the clamps and start more rows. I can glue 3 strips at once, but that entails getting glue all over everything. The curve of the fantail requires beveling the ends of the strips to mate with the curved inwale. After they're all in pace I'll plane off the inwale to match. Then I'll apply the outwale somehow magically (which means I don't know how yet!).

Here's a couple more pics.

The straps laying over the bow are how I pull the strips up tight against each other to bend and twist them to mate with the inner bow stem. This should get easier and easier as I progress down (up) the sides. A little trivia: My brother-in-law Bob made and steam bent 4 strips of hickory (not normally used in boat building because it swells a lot and rots quickly!) when I was experimenting with hoops for a custom tent. That didn't work out but I kept the strips and laminated them together to make up the inner bow stem! It will be completely covered by fiberglass and epoxy so hopefully the hickory will last reasonably long.

Some have asked about the vertical plywood pieces in these pics. Those are called molds. They define the shape of the hull. They are the "hard part" of designing a boat because it is very tricky to get them to be curved correctly to make a nice smooth hull shape. The plans I purchased were made before computers and were drawn by hand (because apparently nobody makes small fantail launches anymore 😐). Nowadays there are computer programs that make the process much easier. After I finish applying the strips to the molds, then fiberglass, and then paint the hull I'll lift the hull off the molds. This is a huge step in the build process and will probably require many hands (hint, hint). More to come!


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