FS-18 - "Bare Bones"

[Jeff]

Nice work AA!! Nice cool weather today, what a relief!! Jeff

[cape man]

Yeah baby!

[Eric1]

The boat looks great Richard! Glad you are able to get back to it.

[Reid]

Looks really good!!! She'll be floating in no time!
-Reid

[nfloyd77]

I really like the design of your strong back. What kind and size of plywood did you use? How tall are the long sides? Are there double layers of ply along the sides?

[Bogieman]

[Aripeka Angler]

I really like the design of your strong back. What kind and size of plywood did you use? How tall are the long sides? Are there double layers of ply along the sides?

Hi Nfloyd,
Welcome to the forum!
My son and I were in Lake City doing some deer killing, hence the slow reply.
The strong back is made of a good grade of 3/4” radiata pine plywood. The stringers are only one layer of plywood but they are doubled at the seams. The scabs at the seams as well as the stringers are cut laser straight with a cnc beam saw. The way it’s put together keeps it from twisting and getting crooked.
I built plywood risers attached to the strong back at each bulkhead to keep the hull dimensionally correct as I glassed it.
I’ll have to get back to you on the height of the jig’s stringers. If you are building your jig from ply, taller stringers are better. They will resist warping better and stay straighter. I’m trying to give this strong back away but I think it’s too much of a drive for you to pick up.

[Aripeka Angler]

Looks great! I love the moment paint (and Kiwigrip) go on! Nothing better than hearing people say, “wait...you built that?!?”

I’m interested why you put the battery switch in the bow? Are you storing all the batteries up there? Or is that for a trolling motor?

Will

Thanks Will! Sorry, the page rolled over and I missed your questions.
The battery is indeed in the bow, trying to keep the weight forward so she is not stern heavy.
The reason for the battery is to operate the hydraulic jack plate and nav lights.
No plans for a trolling motor at this time.

[Larry B]

If I was looking for a strong back like this one and was going to have to build one, I'd drive 200 miles easy to pick up one AA had made. You could not come close to building one for the cost of fuel. Material would cost more plus labor, not to mention AA quality

AA, boat looks great, you did a fine job on her as usual.

Larry B.

[nfloyd77]

Hi Nfloyd,
Welcome to the forum!
My son and I were in Lake City doing some deer killing, hence the slow reply.
The strong back is made of a good grade of 3/4” radiata pine plywood. The stringers are only one layer of plywood but they are doubled at the seams. The scabs at the seams as well as the stringers are cut laser straight with a cnc beam saw. The way it’s put together keeps it from twisting and getting crooked.
I built plywood risers attached to the strong back at each bulkhead to keep the hull dimensionally correct as I glassed it.
I’ll have to get back to you on the height of the jig’s stringers. If you are building your jig from ply, taller stringers are better. They will resist warping better and stay straighter. I’m trying to give this strong back away but I think it’s too much of a drive for you to pick up.

AA,
Thanks for the info. I actually am interested in the strongback. I can be in Dade City in about 3 hours. I think the drive would be worth it and I'd like to pick your brain a little about some other things while there. I am going to build an LM18 but I think it will still work.
I assumed it had already found a new home so I was going to build one from birch ply since that's the best I can get at a reasonable price but birch ply from HD is not as good as what you used. I already drew it up in Autocad with the stringers at 12".
How long and wide is the strongback? What would you estimate its weight to be?
Thanks!
Nathan