Saturday, March 29, 2008

Another social evening in "Nossum verft"

Three other members of "Flerskrog Trøndelag" had decided to join me in the construction of a vacuum infused laminate this evening. We decided to make the cockpit seats. Here Eivind, co-owner of "Frimann" and one of the Slinn developers, is studying the plans to find the right positioning of the reinforcements.

Several steps of dry lay up then missed the photographer, now it is time to test the vacuum integrity.

Detail of the part, the core being different thickness and various layers of fabric. All walking areas are constructed with a thicker core to provide the necessary stiffness in the laminate. This area is also involved in distributing loads from the aft beams.

Opening the resin inlet:

Using the Prime 20LV epoxy from SP systems, opening time of 10 hours, developed to handle advanced fibers.

Robert, constructor of a foil stabilized proa-canoe sail vessel, posing in front of the fabrics and tools.

Nearing completion

The finished laminate, still to be left under vacuum until tomorrow. Both cockpit seats made in one infusion.
The next float ready to test my ability to focus on sanding over time....

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Float in storage

The latest week have been consumed by long days at work. But the starboard float is now in storage, waiting for the final layers of Hi Build primer and LP paint. One or two professional painters will pop in to see the float.



I also cut the panel that we infused on March 19th into 4 bulkhead pieces and one bunktop.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

My apologies to all Mac users

I have been noticed that the Google map have caused trouble for Mac users and that Apple has not been able to source this out. The map is now removed from my page.

Social evening infusing another panel and float weight revealed

The first evening with invited multihullers took place this wednesday, and three people showed up making this the most social building event in my workshop so far. I didn't remember to take any photos as we were very busy discussing multihull designs and building issues. Trond Are has designed and built several catamarans (among other things) and Trygve is soon finishing his second TRT 1200 (fast 40 ft cruising catamaran), the first one dismasted close to Easter Island after sailing around half the globe. At the end of the day this was how the panel serving as the center of the evenings activities and the starting point for interesting discussions looked:


We were also able to make a pretty good estimate of the starboard float weight without paint and hardware. It seems to be heavier than I hoped for but not too bad. The estimate is 51 kg (112 lbs). The hatches were mounted after weighing.

And finally I filled a few spots on Frimann's centerboard:

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Panel preparations and Frimann's centerboard

I have been busy preparing panels for infusion as the epoxy coating takes it's time to cure. Currently there has been no animals in the above floor and thus the heater has been running a lot without achieving the best temperatures in the workshop. Things will change within a week.

Here showing the preparations of the core for the cockpit seats, gluing two sheets together with polyurethane glue using the daggerboard case mould and a few epoxy buckets as weight. In the background finished panels with outlines of bulkheads and other panels. I have invited the members of the Northern branch of the Norwegian multihull association (Flerskrog Trøndelag) to come and take part in the panel infusion on three occasions during the next two weeks.


I am also finishing the new centerboard for Frimann. The old one retired during the first sail in Trondheimsfjorden last fall and Eivind has been developing a new and better board and the upwind performance will probably be much better this season. Just some fairing and then seal it all in one layer of glass using vacuum.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Epoxy coating starboard float

I have decided to let professionals do the finishing job on this vessel as I do not trust that I have the necessary experience in these matters to achieve a result good enough for the high standards that I pursuit. I have been thinking a lot about on which stage I would leave the work to someone else. I needed for sure to come to a point where the floats could be stored until due for finishing work, preferably all hulls and beams at one time.

I bought the SP system Hi Build 302 spray coating as the SP/DIAB salesman told me this was ideal as a water tight seal and as a foundation for the LP paint as well. As I have studied the documentation from SP it turns out they specifically point out that the Hi Build 302 is not suitable as a water barrier. This is the same guy who sold me 130 foam without telling when I specifically ordered 200 foam, as "he thought it would be good enough" which led me out on another 1200 km drive. I'm just not impressed....

Anyway, today I decided I had faired enough, down to 150 grit on the longboard, and I applied a layer of epoxy using a mohair roller on the starboard hull outside:

This will serve as a water barrier and also as a seal against everything while in storage. It is also the first time I am able to make a visual evaluation of the fairing work.

I'm quite content. A low area at the middle bulkhead tells me I probably use too much force on the board... Not able to catch it in a picture though.

Seems to be a fast boat...

Further infusion of mainhull panels

I closed the tubes and turned off the vacuum pump on Sunday evening. This afternoon it was still a good vacuum in the bag. I mixed up the epoxy and went on with the infusion.


Approximately two minutes after opening the inlet:



Then I accidentally kicked the epoxy bucket down on the floor, rapidly closed the inlet and mixed up some more epoxy to continue the process. This is 19 mins after start:

Here is a close up of the incorporated glue flange along the cockpit floor mid line:

It is currently curing in the bag. Hope i will be able to detach the panel from the table top (I used plenty of "Nor-slipp")

Sunday, March 09, 2008

Back in business

The other day I glued the laminate on my vacuum table. Here it is loaded down while curing:


Today I vacuum tested the table and it was ok. Then I laid down everything for the next round of flat panel infusion. You can see I tried several configurations to get as many parts as possible with the least cut away. To the left you can see fabric extending from the foam, this will hopefully become the gluing flange for the cockpit floor half, the top layer also extending a similar amount:


Under vacuum and still fine. I will infuse as soon as time permits, tomorrow or Wednesday:

Saturday, March 01, 2008

Challenges when doing vacuum infusion

Here are some pictures I took during the infusion of what was meant to be the main bulkhead, as well as some smaller parts for the main hull.



The infusion went on with no problems, but it must have been a small leak, supposedly from the table itself, that allowed too much resin to be sucked out before cure. The fibers are fully saturated, but I fear for poorer bonding to the distance material and following delamination.

I got my new table surface today, it seems it has traveled quite a distance...

I am now preparing the table for the laminate. I will also have to add 5 cm of with to the table in order to take advantage of the full size of the laminate.

Really busy days though, have only been able to spend about two hours on boat building this last week...