November, 2014

The Rubbing Strakes (Continued)

Next I sanded and finished fairing the entire outer face of the rubbing strakes. Then, I trimmed the rubbing strakes to width per station based on Keith Callaghan's drawings. I would recommend leaving only 5 mm extra material on each end for margin of error.

Unfortunately I didn't do that and decided to cut the excess material after fitting the rubbing strake. I used my circular saw and used an aluminum ruler as a rip fence. It worked well.

Between Station 2 and 3, the rubbing strake begins to widen. I chose to begin the transition at 13 cm before Station 3. Then, at Station 4 it reaches its full 50 mm in width.

I marked the profile of the rubbing strake with a pencil and using my block plane I proceeded to shave off the excess material until the desired width was achieved.

Between Station 6  and 8, the rubbing strake's width changes from 50 mm down to the width of the gunwhale. I again decided to do a step down design from Station 7 to 8. Using Dad's old French curve ruler, I traced the curve I selected. Here's to you Dad!

Using a coping saw, I sawed along the curve...

...and then along the line for a few inches. Then I shaved and sanded the excess material left towards the rear.

After the rubbing strakes were cut to their width per station, I proceeded to round off the outer edges using a sanding block first followed by free hand sanding.

Port side rubbing strakes after rounding off the edges.

Starboard side rubbing strakes after rounding off the edges.

Aft view of starboard rubbing strakes.

Starboard side rubbing strake around mid-section.

Aft view of port side rubbing strake at transition point from from full width.

Port side rubbing strake at transition point to full width mid-section. 

I still have to fit the small rubbing strake section on the bow, right in front of the spinnaker chute. But I'll wait until I can fit a larger piece so I don't waste epoxy resin mix.  

The Carlins

The carlins on my boat are made of 60 mm x 9 mm solid Mahogany wood stock. I purchased a 17' x 8" x 3/4" board and cut an 8' piece for the port and starboard carlins.

But first I had to make the pattern. For this purpose I purchased an inexpensive 8' x 4' x 1/8" sheet of Lauan plywood at the local home center and cut a 12" wide plank.

It was very easy to bend it over the carlin's pine stringers around the side decks and later trace a pencil to outline the shape of the carlin.

Later I used my scroll saw to cut out the template. I added 5 mm on both sides of the lines for margin of error. This is the template I cut out for my port and starboard carlins.

Next, I clamped the template over the stringers to test its fit and realized I had to cut out 3 small notches for clearance where the space frames and the jib sheet cleat meet the carlins' pine stringers.

Then, I placed the template over the Mahogany plank and traced the pattern with a pencil.

Using my scroll saw, I cut along the traced lines on the Mahogany plank.

Here is the carlin stock at 3/4" thick.

Using my table saw, I cut the carlin stock in two identical halves. One for port and one for starboard. 

Next, I clamped the starboard side carlin in place to test its fit.

Here is an image of the process during the dry run. To get a tight joint against the deck line, I had to use bar clamps against the rubbing strakes. To protect the wood work, I used an 8' x 2" section of pipe insulating foam around the rubbing strakes.

View of the starboard side from the transom.

I'll use small clamps to hold down the carlin against the lower pine stringer.

Thank you for visiting.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!