Vacation and New Festool!

I was on vacation all of last week, so needless to say there was no boat building being done.
We went to Charleston South Carolina for the week. While visiting one of the plantations there, I discovered a 1800's boat that was used and thought I would share.  I found it very interesting that it was actually made from 2 pieces or log half's. The boat was about 27 feet long and about 4-5 ft. wide. That had to be some tree! 

New Festool and Companion Way

When I got back I visited the local Woodcraft store in Richmond and decided to buy a Festool vac and sander. While there I talked with the store owner Ed Sontag and he helped me with the order. Very nice customer service and I recommend the place. I plan on going back to get various tools and to purchase the lumber for the boom gallows and rudder handle in a few weeks. Its like a toy store, so I need to be careful! :-)

Yesterday I got the Festool RO 90 DX out and used it to sand the companion way hood. I am very satisfied with it. The model is one of the smaller ones, but it sure does have a lot of power. When on the highest speed, you definitely need to hold on with two hands. Turning the speed down, it was easily managed. I know these things are expensive, but with the amount of sanding that I still have to do I think this will be a definite time saver. I was also happy with the lack of dust that I normally have with my regular shop vac and sander. The Midi vac is also a lot quieter, which will make the wife happy! 

Below is the companion way hood and slide. I sanded everything down and then filled all the screw holes with epoxy. Once they cure, I will sand again and then apply the fiberglass.

Not trying to sell anyone anything, but just showing you what I am using. 

RO 90 sander

Midi Vac

Companion Way and Rudder

Companion Way

After getting the angles planed, sanded and lined up for the companion way framing, I epoxied them in place. Below is the companion way hood being glued up. I used a piece of scrap board on the other end to help line things up.  I also had to go purchase some longer clamps. I got 4, which will do.  I used screws as well, but I find when screwing something together, the screws will sometimes push things out. The clamps hold them from doing that.

After the front piece cured, I epoxied the top piece of plywood on and used screws and wood blocks as to not damage the plywood.  The picture below shows this and also the trim piece, but I just have the trim piece clamped in place as to help form the top piece while it cured.

The companion way hood has been curing for about a week, so I started off this weekend by cutting the extra pieces off the edges. I used a small hand saw. If I would have thought about it ahead of time, I could have just aligned the edge of the plywood with the aft part of the hood. That would have saved me the time of marking and cutting one edge. Not a big deal, but a hint for future builders.

I started to sand the edges, but decided to wait until I fill the screw holes with thickened epoxy. That way I can do a final sanding before applying the fiberglass.

Picture of hood with edges cut off. The edge I was referencing is shown facing you. 

If you recall, I didn't have the correct size of wood in my timber kit, so I decided to use the 3/4" piece left over when I cut the front hood piece. Be sure to save these when you cut them out. They may come in handy.

Below is a picture of the trim piece epoxied on with clamps and a few screws. Instead of making the sharper edges like the manual states, I used a round over bit on my router. I think it looks just as good!

Another picture of the trim piece curing with work lights. It is still in the 50's in the garage. 

I also worked on the framing of the companion way slide. I finished up the edges with a plane and then a final sanding. The piece of plywood fit pretty good. I then epoxied the framing together with screws and then epoxied the top down with screws and a few clamps. I used the clamps in a few places that I saw the plywood not fitting properly. The clamps pulled the plywood down more for a tighter fit. 

Rudder
The manual calls for you to use a chamfering bit in your router to do the "cheek" edges on the rudder. I didn't have one, so I bought one. Below is a picture of the bit. The only problem I had was the bottom edge of the "check" that touches the plywood. If you can see the little bearing below on the top of the bit. That is used so you don't cut too far into the wood. It also hampers you from a height perspective. For that edge, I just used a small plane and cut the edges down some and then sanded. They don't have the same angle, but look fine.

Below is the finished product. I decided to work outside, since the router blows dust all over the place.

The edge I used a plane and not the router is marked with an X. 

Up Next
I will let things cure for a couple days and then start to sand on the companion way for fiberglassing.
I will also work on the bottom piece of the rudder. Getting that glued on.