My FS18 Straight Shear hard chine Splashed 6/15!

[johnstonjosh]

Work as been slow going since I moved the supplies to Cocoa. A friend of mine is helping with it. He has a fully loaded shop and owes me money so is working off some of the balance by helping. I cut all the parts in a 10x20 bay close by and hauled it all to his place for assembly. Here is what we have up to this point. About 20 hrs in, including cutting the wood. I have a ton more pics of the progress, but mostly just the cut parts.

[Eric1]

Looking good!

[Jeff]

johnstonjosh, Good to hear from you and nice progress!! Jeff

[johnstonjosh]

All of the great info on these threads have really made things easy to follow. Only snag I am running into is the shop is an hr away from my house and the guy helping is a professional boat repair/fiberglasser/carpenter and has his own way of doing things. While not wrong, they take more time, a little more material and instead of several tasks being able to be done at once, we have to wait a little longer. He thinks the fiberglass lamination schedule isnt enough so instead of 2 layers of tape down the keel line, as called for, he cut one of the layers into a 2 inch and 4 inch strip, then layered the 2 inch first, then 4, then 6. so its the same ammount of glass, but now in 3 layers instead of 2. it will require more fairing in the end but makes for a strong joint, just takes longer. I guess when you are familiar with a technique that works you dont want to try anything else even though the boat was designed a certain way.

[jacquesmm]

Don't let the local expert over ride my specifications. Let him help you with application and fairing techniques but your designer (that's me ) has much more experience with the material than he has. I am the only one using that material, how would he know what works or not?
My scantlings are based on lab testing and proven by thousands of boats over 25 years.

About the keel, I hope you understand that the tape is only a part of the glass schedule. The wide fabric will overlap several inches over the keel and you will have a total of 4 layers inside and 4 layers outside in epoxy, not polyester. That means a total of 96 oz. plus the core. It is extremely strong.

[Reid]

Johnstonjosh,

Boat looks great so far!!!
Like Jacques said earlier, stick to the lamination schedule that he has laid out. This is our most popular boat and has been built time and time again, none of which have ever had an issue with hull strength. You are correct though, your friend's way will add more fairing to your build, which will add more time and weight. These are not polyester mold boats. Epoxy stitch and glue is a much stronger build method that utilizes better, stronger materials (that's why the designs are light and efficient.)
Best of luck going forward, and I look forward to seeing your progress!!

-Reid

[johnstonjosh]

I am trying to get the guy to stay with the plans. Everything will be solid, but if anything, more heavy. I am just a few classes shy of an aerospace engineering degree soI am well versed in determining material strength and know that the plans specifications are more than adequate. I just cant be there overseeing his every step since we agreed to let him help me to work off a balance owed to me for selling him my sailboat on payments.

That being said, we got the chines and transom taped. Thurs we will do the exterior glass and so far its looking great. the back section is pretty flat so i dont see any issues to address with hook or rocker. Everything lines up really well and some of the cutting mistakes I had when I was using a sub par jigsaw at first turned out to be no big deal. nothing some filler couldnt fill or a sander couldnt take down a bit.

[johnstonjosh]

Taped up and about ready to add the fiberglass.

[johnstonjosh]

Got the wood for the rub rails ready, the bottom is glassed, and getting ready to start fairing as soon as the epoxy cures

[Fuzz]

The fairing is a real good place for your buddy to work off what he owes. And if done right he will well and truly earn his money