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Official start of this LM18 build is about mid July. I purchased the plywood kit which i hope not only saved some time but will reduce the risk of early errors. I am using the MarineEpoxy but will use System 3 QuickFair when i get to the fairing work. I also purchased the foam kit.

I have been studying various builds. There are many FS18s and a few LM18s that offer a lot of build best practices which I intend to use. That being said, I anticipate, I will run in to some unique issues and questions along the way and look forward to any support this forum can offer. I have been building up a notebook of best practices with references to other builds. As I progress, I will communicate what I am trying to accomplish by referencing some of those builds.

I am looking forward to a fun but probably slow build. The build will be rewarding I hope but I also have a passion for fly fishing and look forward to the opportunities this boat will bring. I recently purchase a waterfront lot in Port O'conner which will get a boat house when I finish the boat. Hopefully i will get to use her next summer. That should act as some motivation.

So far i have made the following progress.
1) Built the strong back.
2) Set the frames - i used a water level, string line and measurement of diagonals to get everything in the right place before screwing down.
3) joined the long panels (which is where i have a question)
4) glued the thee transom pieces
5) glued the stringers

On the long panels i have one concern. The puzzle joints were not a tight as expected. On one of the joints i have some gap on one side of the puzzle joint. It is within the tolerance of the puzzle joint. I thought it would be ok but i do see that when i compare the full length panel but putting one over the the other, they do differ slightly - probably as a result of this tolerance. Before i move on, i would like get confirmation from some of the more experienced builders, is this a concern. I would estimate a difference of just under 1/2" at the worst point. See picture below.

Welcome!
Gaps are good, use more wood flour thickened epoxy to fill the gaps.

Which LM18 are you building, the low sheer?

I wouldn’t be concerned about that slight difference. One it is stitched together with spacers in the gaps, they’ll disappear.

I believe a great boatbuilder once said, “ you can’t see both sides of the bot at the same time”.

Welcome to the obsession. You’ll get lots of great help here.

I am finally working on the boat again after being away a few weekends. I will post some updated photos but i have everything stitched together and will start gluing today. Everything fit up nicely. The round chine took some work. I cut through the partially cut sections like some had done on other builds cutting enough wood away to provide a gap. On my first pass i pulled the ties too tight in the rounded chine area. I noticed that the shear line in the rounded chine area was about 1/2" higher than the bottom (flat side) of the mold. When put on the new ties i made sure to leave more gap. That not only solved the issue with the shear matching up with the mold better but also the round chine seemed to look a lot better.

I think i am going to use the plastic bag cake decorator approach to gluing up the boat. I did use blue tap on the inside of the boat so hopefully i wont have a mess when i flip.

Here are some images. Other than putting in a few more ties to try and even the gaps out, i think i am most done. If anyone sees anything that i should be concerned with, let me know.




I haven't seen too many pics of the transom panel connection but i think this is ok. I will make sure there is a little gap to get a nice amount of glue between transom and plate.

Capt UB wrote: ↑Tue Jul 28, 2020 3:26 pm Which LM18 are you building, the low sheer?

No. It is is the regular sheer version with the round chine.

Niced work Eric!!! Jeff

The stitching looks good Eric! Make sure you don't have any wood touching wood. You want small gaps to allow the fillet to do its job. Hard to tell from the picture but I see an area in the bow where it looks like the two side panels are touching.
Good luck going forward!
-Reid