Planks and creature comforts

It continues to amaze me how long it takes to plank a hull.  The glued plywood lapstrake technique is much quicker and simpler than traditionally carvel construction , (John Brady identified 28 separate steps needed to make and install a single plank for a carvel hull -- http://woodboatbuilder.com/pages/maid-planking.html) Nevertheless, I am finding the going to be much slower than I had estimated.  That's the problem with making estimates.  Unfortunately, as much as I remind myself that on this project there is no schedule, no management review, no deadline, and no anxious customer demanding completion, a lifetime of managing projects for a living and a highly structured (perhaps rigid?) personality will not let me just drift along. 

Slow though the process may be, I have managed to complete two of the eight strakes and have just completed gluing forward part of the third strake on the starboard side.  Each repetition of the process results in an improvement over the previous, and I am very happy that all my "practice planks" sit modestly below the waterline.

Strake #3 glued, clamped, and screwed in place at the bow

The spiling technique has been working just fine, and I am continuing to use that approach.  It saves making templates for each strake, and has the added advantage of allowing me to establish a fair curve anew on each edge of each strake as I lay out the strake on the plywood.


A few days of daytime temperatures in the 90s led to a couple of changes in my process.  First, I switched over to slow hardener (West 206), and even bought a pint of tropical hardener.  I found that my glue was kicking far too quickly with the West 205 hardener.  Second, I mounted an air conditioner in one of the garage windows.  Although it is too small to really control the temperature at my preferred 70 degrees, I can keep the garage cool enough for gluing even with the outside temperature a sunny 95.

The A/C -- my first Man Cave enhancement

I am very quick to point out to people, whether they ask or not, wife included, that the air conditioning is NOT for me.  It's for the glue.  Needless to say, this claim is met with skepticism, and I have to admit it is more comfortable to work in a dehumidified 80 degrees than a moist 90 or 95.  Uninformed friends have asked when I plan to move a recliner and flat screen TV in.  My response is that those refinements are next in line after the beer refrigerator.