Dillon Laker 14/16.5 Wooden Tunnel Hull Build/Mod Project

[Patfromny]

Well alright then. Enjoy the day anyway. lol I'm going to work, see you guys later. Maybe I'll do a little black Friday at the Depot on my way in though. :bounce:

You never know what you'll find under those black bags. he he he Or maybe you do. Drill bit sets, led flashlights, combo wrench sets, the odd piece of apparel like a ski hat or something foolish like that, tool boxes, etc. it is still fun to browse.

 

[gomopar440]

archbuilder At this point I'm categorizing this PBR idea as a pipe dream for now. Unless the my funds situation changes drastically, it's probably just always going to be just a dream. I do know that the original Mark I PBR's were based off of a production pleasure boat back in the late 60's. I'd have to go back and watch that part of the documentary again to get the name of it, but there should still be some out there here in the US. Being that old, they might even be one of those "come and get it and you can have it" type deals if the owner doesn't know of the hull's military offshoot. If I ever could find one of those hulls and get one home, then I'd look more seriously into it.

I'd also need to get a bigger tow vehicle to haul it, because my little 94' Mazda B4000 (same as an older style Ranger w/ a 4.0L pushrod type engine) could barely haul those two waterlogged 16' Larsons home. Got a plan for that too... A Dodge M37 Power Wagon with a full early 90's Dodge 1 ton Cummins 12 valve diesel, trans and axles swapped in. That project is at least a lot more likely to happen. There's still a few M37's still running around these parts, and TONS of those 90's Dodge diesel trucks on ranches all around here.

Anyway, Hope all you iBoaters had a good turkey day surrounded with friends and family.

 

[gomopar440]

Patfromny Hope you score some good deals on tools and stuff today.

It's 45* out and I've got a little over an hour of sun up left, so I'm going to try to see if I can get some stuff glued down on the port sponson today.

 

[gomopar440]

I got all the rest of the cleats for the Port Chine and Sheer Clamp glued onto the rest of the bulkheads, from #4 all the way forward to the tip. That's all I had left to finish before I can glue up the Chine and Sheer Clamp.

I have the Chine and Sheer Clamp cut and ready to go, but I got called on to help out with a few honey-do emergence fence repairs (neighborhood dogs and our chickens don't mix well), so that's as far as I got for today. I'd rather let those cleats I glued up today have a chance to cure fully anyway. It's already starting to get dark out, so I'll get a pic tomorrow.

 

[gm280]

Why doesn't chickens and dogs get along? I've seen some pretty aggressive chickens in my days that would take on any dog.

I thought honey-dews stop growing already. :lol:

It seems like when I get one thing finished, something else crops up. So you have to meter out your time most of the time. It is all part of boat building projects.

 

[gomopar440]

We've have a few uninvited guests of the four legged kind show up and run our chickens all over the yard. We raise them to donate eggs to the local food bank, and they ALL stop laying for a few days whenever they get chased around the yard like that. Doesn't matter if they get caught or not. Last year one of our neighbor's dogs got through the fence and grabbed our best laying and setting chicken and dragged her off to it's home while we were out in town. When we got home another one of our neighbors who saw the dog with the chicken, got it away from it and brought her back to us (minus all of her tail feathers :mad-new. She was in shock for quite a while after that and it took her over a month before she was back to her usual self. She finally has all her tail feathers grown back out now so this winter her rear end won't be as chilly as it was last winter.

We haven't always had a rooster here, but the one we have now has grown to the size of a turkey. He's at least twice as big as any of the majority of our chickens. We haven't seen the dogs over here lately near as often for some reason. It's all show though, he's got one of those "gentle giant" personalities. He still squawks when I pick him up, but he doesn't try to beat me to death with his wings or spurs like our last few roosters. This one's a keeper according to the wife. The chickens are pretty much all her thing, so she gets final say-so on who stays and who goes in the flock.

BTW: I found a place online selling a real PBR hull that was completely gutted for $21,000. The manufacturer was stated as being Uniflite (SP?) or something like that. It looked worse than some of the "Free" boats I've been seeing on CL. I guess I'll file this idea away unless something just happens to fall into my lap.

 

[gm280]

We've have a few uninvited guests of the four legged kind show up and run our chickens all over the yard. We raise them to donate eggs to the local food bank, and they ALL stop laying for a few days whenever they get chased around the yard like that. Doesn't matter if they get caught or not. Last year one of our neighbor's dogs got through the fence and grabbed our best laying and setting chicken and dragged her off to it's home while we were out in town. When we got home another one of our neighbors who saw the dog with the chicken, got it away from it and brought her back to us (minus all of her tail feathers :mad-new. She was in shock for quite a while after that and it took her over a month before she was back to her usual self. She finally has all her tail feathers grown back out now so this winter her rear end won't be as chilly as it was last winter.

We haven't always had a rooster here, but the one we have now has grown to the size of a turkey. He's at least twice as big as any of the majority of our chickens. We haven't seen the dogs over here lately near as often for some reason. It's all show though, he's got one of those "gentle giant" personalities. He still squawks when I pick him up, but he doesn't try to beat me to death with his wings or spurs like our last few roosters. This one's a keeper according to the wife. The chickens are pretty much all her thing, so she gets final say-so on who stays and who goes in the flock.

BTW: I found a place online selling a real PBR hull that was completely gutted for $21,000. The manufacturer was stated as being Uniflite (SP?) or something like that. It looked worse than some of the "Free" boats I've been seeing on CL. I guess I'll file this idea away unless something just happens to fall into my lap.

gmp440, way back in my childhood days (I think that was a century or two ago now or more) we used to raise chickens, but not for eggs. We selected one every now and then for diner and not as a guest either. I do vaguely remember them running around with their head chopped off. So I can tell you that much of the saying is true, although not really something I enjoyed seeing. Kind of weird in a creepy sort of way. IDK.

As for the PBR hull for your FUTURE boat project, you can always built a scaled down version from pictures and such. That would still allow you the unique design, but also allow you to power it easier as well. Just a thought.

 

[gomopar440]

It's easier to just hold them upside down by their feet for a minute first. They settle right down and don't struggle at all that way. I guess it has to do with the blood all going to their heads maybe. Dunno?

Anyway, I've been fighting the same crud that everyone seems to be getting right now. I'm sick of staying in bed and it's just over 40* outside right now. Screw it, I'm going to try to head out to the tent and get a little done on the boat. Wish me luck.

 

[gm280]

gmp440, don't do anything rash. I have the creeping crud as well now, And I have to push myself to do anything. So sanding primer isn't very high on the list presently. Take care and don't get sicker.

 

[gomopar440]

Rash would have been doing anything other than making a cup of coffee before today. I think I may be over the hump finally. It's waaay too early to be getting cabin fever this early in the season...

Anyway, I'm already throwing in the towel for today. As promised, here's the pic of the last bit of progress, the Chine and Sheer Calmp cleats glued to the port bulkheads from #4 up to the tip.


And other that that, all I got done today was to get the Chine fitted, glued and clamped. Easier said than done with one sick person wrangling a 16' fork tongued stick that has to make compound curves and get clamped so the top edge is exactly level with the outer edge of the bulkheads at every joint. Whew.



On the forward joints I used my Wood PB formula (Sawdust and TB3 mixed to PB consistency) to fill the large gaps where the Chine met the bulkheads and cleats and an angle that caused a gap. I'll just call it WPB from now on for ease of typing if that's ok with everyone. I checked the joints at the tip of the STBD sponson where I first used this WPB and it's hard as concrete. I tried pulling and tugging on the wood going to those joints pretty firmly, but stopped before I broke something. Solid as a rock. The wood strips were flexing a little, but the WPB joints didn't budge a bit.


Pic of one joint where I had a slight mismatch to the cleat under the Chine. I filled the joint with the WPB mix and aligned the chine's outer edge with the bulkhead. Then it was clamped firmly so it would stay locked in that position until it cures fully. The other joints where WPB was necessary are all done in a similar fashion. Most of it was use on the first two joints, the sponson tip and at bulkhead #1.


More chicken honey-do stuff came up, so I gotta go. Hope I don't fall over...

 

[gomopar440]

Looks like the lower clamp jaw in that last pic has a split in it and is ready to snap. Time to retire that clamp before it fails on me when I'm not looking. Actually I better go replace it right now. Better than finding out it failed the next time I head out to the tent.

EDIT: Changed that cracked clamp out with a good one. It was still holding fine when I looked at it, but better safe than sorry. It wasn't as cold in the tent as it was outside (34*), but I still ran the torpedo heater again for about 10 minutes to warm the tent up a bit. Some of the glue joints looked like they could still use a little more time to fully cure, and I didn't want it to get too cold in the tent before then.

 

[gm280]

gmp440, you can never ever have too many clamps. If it weren't for the clamps I have, basically nothing would ever get done. And I still can use up all my clamps on some projects and looking for more of them.

 

[Baylinerchuck]

I agree....seems like every time I start a project, there's another type of clamp I have to make or buy. But looking at your project GoMopar, I'd say you have me beat by a long shot!

 

[gomopar440]

​@Baylinerchuck: I don't know about that Chuck. I've still got a LONG way to go with this one. At least your project looks like a boat. I've got a growing pile of bent sticks at the moment.:facepalm::lol:

Note to self: Put a LOT more clamps of all types on my Christmas wish list. If I had more clamps I could have probably got the Sheer Clamp on yesterday as well. I'll just keep doing the best I can with what I have.

I also need to bump that LED shop light up on the priority list as well. Yesterday it was cold enough in the tent when I first went out there that the fluorescent shop light I have out there wouldn't light up. With the days getting colder and shorter, I'm going to need a reliable source of light out there.

Jack Frost rolled into town last night and we've got a couple of inches of snow everywhere now. Looks like the cold weather is here to stay for the winter as well. High teens to low 30's for the highs, and from the teens down to negative single digits for the lows over the next ten days according to the forecast. All that means is it's looking like the start of just another average Montana winter. Brrrr.:smow: https://weather.com/weather/tenday/l/59711:4:US

 

[gm280]

​@Baylinerchuck: I don't know about that Chuck. I've still got a LONG way to go with this one. At least your project looks like a boat. I've got a growing pile of bent sticks at the moment.:facepalm::lol:

Note to self: Put a LOT more clamps of all types on my Christmas wish list. If I had more clamps I could have probably got the Sheer Clamp on yesterday as well. I'll just keep doing the best I can with what I have.

I also need to bump that LED shop light up on the priority list as well. Yesterday it was cold enough in the tent when I first went out there that the fluorescent shop light I have out there wouldn't light up. With the days getting colder and shorter, I'm going to need a reliable source of light out there.

Jack Frost rolled into town last night and we've got a couple of inches of snow everywhere now. Looks like the cold weather is here to stay for the winter as well. High teens to low 30's for the highs, and from the teens down to negative single digits for the lows over the next ten days according to the forecast. All that means is it's looking like the start of just another average Montana winter. Brrrr.:smow: https://weather.com/weather/tenday/l/59711:4:US

Oh yea, you have to heat/excite the gas in those florescent tubes for them to start/fire up. So either switch to LEDs ORrrrrr, make little heaters for the tubes to stay warm. You could go to IR heater lamps and that would give you both heat and light. :decision:

 

[Patfromny]

I've said it before and i'll say it again....Halogen

 

[Baylinerchuck]

I've said it before and i'll say it again....Halogen

I agree. I use mine a lot in the winter. Makes a great light for taking photos too!! Light and heat, all in one.

 

[gomopar440]

The LED shop light will be fixed in place to the tent's top center pole where the old fluorescent light is now. I won't be able to move it around once it's in place.

I'm still going to pick up a dual head halogen light as well. That way I can move it wherever I need it around the table and boat. Neither one would have helped me get out to the tent today though. It was just way too cold to work and I'm almost out of kero and propane fuel. We didn't get above 31*F all day. Too chilly for me at the moment to try to glue the Sheer Clamp on, even with the heaters both running. I REALLY need to insulate that tent soon or I'll lose most of my available build time during the winter.

 

[Patfromny]

I will say you have more guts than I. I don't work on my boat in the winter and I've got her in a garage. no wind but it sure gets cold in there. Something about being inside and freezing cold that doesn't sit well with me. I just wait until the Temps warm and work on the boat like it's a second job to get it done for the summer. That doesn't seem to be an option for you though. Too much gluing and actual boat building to leave until april. Maybe I'll take my own advice and break out the halogen lamps. I don't need the light but it will definitely heat up the portion of the garage I'm working in.

 

[gomopar440]

On the upside, I'm retired so my schedule is wide open. I should (hopefully) be able to make up for any build time I loose out on over the winter and still (hopefully, again...) be able to splash on schedule. I'm shooting for sometime this coming summer as long as I don't run into any unexpected snags during the build. We have a later start to boating season here as the lake closest to me, Georgetown Lake, is at just above 6K feet above sea level. It takes a long time for that lake to thaw out. I've seen it still fully frozen over as late as May.

Oh yea, and today's forecast is calling for a high of 32* and more snow from 10am to 5pm.:smow:

I can't wait till I can get more fuel for the heaters so I can get back to work.