C17 in New Zealand.

[OneWayTraffic]

Just a FYI. Those panel joints are going to be weak if you just butted them together. A bit of thickened epoxy should have been put between the panels, then pushed together and the excess wiped off, then the fiberglass over the top.

I made the exact same mistake and will have to grind the inside splice when I work on the interior, fill with thickened epoxy and then patch the splice.

The strength of the splice is in the core and the fiberglass. If you have a void where there is no core to support the fiberglass it is a stress point and will eventually break.

Cheers, when doing the other side I used a rotary tool to ream out the gap until I could see the glass on the other side and then filled with putty. Flipped again and only the one join with air bubbles. I'll grind them out after planking unless I hear that its better to do it now.

[piperdown]

If it were me I'd go ahead and grind the air bubbles out or inject them because sure as sh*t I'd forget later on.... but that's just me

[OneWayTraffic]

Good point. I'll have to do a sanding of the whole inside anyway before I glass; that will be part of that.

I am building outside, and at this time of the year we get hot dry weather. 40C (104F) degrees is common in that little tunnel house I have set up. When winter hits we get a lot more rain and humidity. I want to have the inside coated just once to control moisture swelling before I get around to glassing the inside (in spring I hope.)

[OneWayTraffic]

Well those who have been following my build may be aware that I had some issues with transom and stringer glueups. I have just about moved on from those now, and have my new transom mostly laminated. I have decided to move the scuppers above the waterline as the layflat hose isn't entirely watertight. The plan is to use a bilge pump in a sump under the outboard at the transom. This will deal with the normal water that gets in and any leakage from scuppers. If I take a wave or get pooped then moving forwards will release water out the rear. The pump can deal with the rest.

[Salty F17]

It's good to see another c17 build

[OneWayTraffic]

Well the stringers and transom are basically done, I am calling them done. Glassed over the top with two layers biaxial tape offset a little bit. Had to cut out a few voids in the first layer where it lifted. Filled with epoxy PB. Second is curing now.

The jig is nearly complete, Frames A-E all lined up as accurately as I can, with a lot of measuring of diagonals. The ground is on a slight slope, so I am squaring off the strongback then checking measurements and adjusting so the notches lie even with the stringer (useful straightedge).

I used the trick of drilling a 10mm hole in the frames at BL and CL and pushing a bike LED light into frame E. The light is visible through a hole clamped over the CL of frame A (Frame A doesn't go through the baseline.)

Next step is to notch the stringers so they fit flush in the frames, then fit the motorwell frames and hang the transom. I'll probably support it from below and screw through the putty filled holes for the outboard bolts.

[OneWayTraffic]

After a fair bit of stressing about the strongback timber warping or swelling, and thinking that I'd never level the jig on grass it was gratifying when I first saw that blinking red LED through the holes in the boat!

[OneWayTraffic]

I cut the notches In the stringers after a quick measure. Perfect fit! Better than I hoped.

Got a quick question for anyone reading. Two of the frames were cut short. Like shown in the photos, B and D. Every second frame is full height. Will that be enough to support the hull sides or should I extend the sides of those two frames?

[jacquesmm]

Is that question about the molds being sufficient?
Yes, it will work but pay attention to the top edge (sheer side). If necessary, clamp a temporary batten along that edge to keep it fair.

[OneWayTraffic]

Is that question about the molds being sufficient?
Yes, it will work but pay attention to the top edge (sheer side). If necessary, clamp a temporary batten along that edge to keep it fair.

Thanks. I’ll check before gluing. I was going to glass the bottom to the lower side panel before attaching the top side panel as space is limited. I suppose then the lower side panel would help to fair the top side.