Vacuum worked

I haven't faired it or cleaned it up - this is straight off the seat: My first vacuum formed object - a carriage rail. Now to do another one.

My first vacuum

Okay, after a lot of preparation, I have begun my first vaccum bagging of a part that will go on the boat - a carriage runner. I have currently pulled a 90kpa vacuum and everything is ticking away in the shed (however after the crappy day at work that I had today, I'll be checking on this all through the night to make sure my day's woes don't continue).

On my first vacuuming - tacky tape is your friend! It is like plasticine for grown ups and it can seal some spots you didn't think you missed until you applied a vacuum. I got to the point where i could hear the revs of the pump and didn't need to look at the needle to see where I was at. Anyway, I hope i wake up to a nice dry rail, and not a splinters and carbon artistic impressionist piece - fingers crossed.

Work has been progressing:
Bull noses have been routered on the seat, and 3 layers of Uni on the ends and 4 over the seam have been applied. Tonight or tomorrow night I will lay up the carbon for the racciage rails (the seat is the template for these) and vac bag it all down (first time in anger use for the Vacuum pump).
Pete should have all the insides carboned by the weekend on AUS32.
I'll try and get some pics up tonight

The end of a dream

The IC has ruined me!

Ever since I was young I have thought the FD was a fantastic boat and that one day (if i found a shaved down wookie) I would race one. Well today i did, and it was boring! After sailing the IC everything else really is like kissing your sister, but if nothing else it has motivated me to spend a full day in the shed sanding tomorrow so I can have the hull ready for paint.

Planked

Okay, well I have constructed the makings of my first seat, I need to put on the WRC bullnoses and then router and carbon but it looks and feels seat like (and with the tweaks we made may even be waterproof). AUS31 is upside down and ready to receive it's first load of fairing filler and Pete is laying the carbon on the inside of AUS32.

Pete decided that owning Nethercott AUS9, a Heron and building AUS32 wasn't enough, so he bought an FD off eBay last night - should be fun since he's never seen one before. Anyway, back to work...

Seat work

Dry assembly of the seat - lots of fiddly glueing tonight

90% done, 90% to go

It was always going to take longer to build the first of the flatpacks as we (designer/pre fabricator Geoff, and myself) are working to make it as simple and easy for the next wave of builders who are interested in this design, but even I'm starting to get a little disappointed in my weekly progress. Every job now is small and fiddly, and needs to fully cure before the next can be started. 

The plan is to dry assemble the seat today, and then wet assemble it tonight- so touch wood, by tomorrow I should have a picture of a curing seat.

AUS32 is coming along, with the inside laminate of carbon going in last night, the techniques we learnt from doing mine made that a much simpler and easier job.

Anyway, back to the shed

Sliding Seats

The focus has shifted off the hulls for the next few days and onto the sliding seats. Just chasing up some machined Western Red Cedar and once sorted we will put them together. For anyone interested in the pre-cut seat kits - Geoff (MECHAR) can do a kit for $300 AUD + GST including the plywood. They can also be made with jigsaw joints so they can be packed for easy transport.

Now to buy more resin and filler as we have nearly gone through 20l of resin and 20l of Microlight 411.

Back to work

Well the heatwave has passed for now, so we got stuck into boatwork this morning. AUS32 is off the mould, and on the trolley and AUS31 gets its tracks on this afternoon. The seats arrive this Tuesday, so Wednesday should see us assembling them.

It is good to finally be able to work in the shed, now we have to catch up on the two weeks lost - i plan to be racing in the AIR Regatta (www.adelaidesailingclub.com.au) in March.

Some lessons learnt (while the temp is still above 40)

AUS31 is ready for the tracks to be fitted, and AUS32 is ready to pop off the mould, but while we wait for Sunday and the outside temp to drop below 40 degrees we thought we'd share some lessons we've found work:

• When laminating mix a little of your light filler into the mix, this helps the carbon bond better with the foam
• When starting a project like this, never underestimate how many brushes, mixing sticks and mixing pots you will need. Along with clean rags, acetone and peelply.
• Sanders - 50 degrees in the shed and carbon dust kill sanders - go pneumatic or keep the receipts and keep swapping them as they die (we're on our third - 2 to Pete(1 less than 15m use),  1 to me)
• Wear gloves for laminating, and wear a mask when sanding carbon!
• When vacuuming clean your boat beware electric shocks - seriously!
• Keep your resin pots small - mix small (200ml of resin) and often over a large pot
• If it doesn't go (fold, join, bend, fit) easily then it probably isn't right. Check it, don't force it
• Send postcards to your family, this way they will remember you when you emerge from the shed