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Smoky Mountain's FS13

Posted: Wed Dec 23, 2015 3:07 pm
by SmokyMountain
Well the bug has bitten me again :help: . I ordered the FS13 plans in November, already had the necessary plywood in the shop and needed a new project (not like I'm busy enough) = recipe for a new boat!!!!

I want to use this craft on some of the larger tailwater rivers in around East TN when generation is 1 or less, in the salt on the ocean side (when boat not available and bait busting) and when I want to get really shallow. Some features I am considering are thru holes fore / aft for a pole, an anchor system off the bow controlled from the center and installation of a small jet (7 hp) for propulsion 8O . I'm trying to find a water cooled engine like jetsurf or poweski uses, if anyone has ideas let me know. I've found a 7.7 RC motor that zenoh makes on gizomotors. Bradley found a small jet impeller MHZ makes ... Still investigating ....

I've looked at some fishing paddle boards company's for ideas on features and Bote has some really good ones. The Bote Rackham has thru holes and a pre-made frame for hanging your gear on. I may get the frame for Christmas 8) .

On to building ...I've already cut my panels out, completed most splices and should be stitching this week.

Drawing out the panel. Used a fake wood square molding for a batten.

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The best tool ever for cutting panels!!
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Panels being spliced. Still need to splice sole.
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Laminating the transom.

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Fitting the stringers / Bulkheads
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Next pic's should be a stitched boat. If anybody has idea in some neat feature to add let me know.

Re: Smoky Mountain's FS13

Posted: Wed Dec 23, 2015 5:48 pm
by Cracker Larry
Dang Andy, you've been busy 8) And still got another boat to finish? I plan to start mine right after the holidays and some other stuff is over with.

Merry Christmas to you and all your family :D

Re: Smoky Mountain's FS13

Posted: Wed Dec 23, 2015 6:26 pm
by Joe H
The best tool ever for cutting panels!!


The cuts look nice and clean Andy, good start.

Bitten again myself, V10 on it's way.

Joe H

Re: Smoky Mountain's FS13

Posted: Wed Dec 23, 2015 9:04 pm
by Cracker Larry
BBV is incurable :help:

Re: Smoky Mountain's FS13

Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2015 7:54 am
by Aripeka Angler
Looking good Andy :D Time for a photo update though :wink:
Have you been able to utilize any imported labor from Sevierville :doh:

Re: Smoky Mountain's FS13

Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2015 11:11 am
by gonandkarl
Hi,

I love your work and pictures and I also would like to get such a plywood cutting tool you mentioned, but no matter how much I zoomed into the picture of the tool I cant read its name. I read craftiman or craitimak but none of this is correct because I cannot find tools with this name. I am looking at Amazons Mini Circular saws for quite some time but none has complete positive recommendations.
Please let me know which tool you use.

Greetings from Karl ( Austria )

Re: Smoky Mountain's FS13

Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2015 11:30 am
by jacquesmm
I have a Rockwell Versacut. It is not what's in the picture but somewhat like it. It works well on plywood up to 12 mm. I use it mostly for 6 mm.

Re: Smoky Mountain's FS13

Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2015 12:37 pm
by terrulian
I have a Makita 5" battery operated saw but I can't cut nice lines with it without a fence. I had surprisingly good results with Jacques' suggestion of a normal skillsaw to cut the panels.


Larry says:
I plan to start mine right after the holidays and some other stuff is over with.
What are you going to build?

Re: Smoky Mountain's FS13

Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2015 1:11 pm
by Cracker Larry
I've got a battery powered 5" Dewalt that does a great job for cutting anything up to 3/4" or so. I don't recognize the brand of that one either, but I do know Andy. He's an engineer and he doesn't buy junk tools.

Re: Smoky Mountain's FS13

Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2015 1:12 pm
by Cracker Larry
What are you going to build?
The same. FS13.

Re: Smoky Mountain's FS13

Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2015 1:21 pm
by pee wee
That looks to be a Craftsman - sold by Sears and Sears.com, but probably made by another company. I think it is an older model, but I saw one like it on E-Bay (labeled a 3" saw), but like the others said, you can do a good job without having that exact model and brand. I'm all for buying new tools if they'll make my life easier or do the job better, but I'd give my current saw a try first. I don't know if a smaller blade will fit (arbor hole) on a 7-1/4" saw, but you can make broad curves with the full size blade. Practice on scrap ply, not your good marine ply! :help:

Re: Smoky Mountain's FS13

Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2015 5:52 pm
by SmokyMountain
It's a 3" Craftman circular saw. It's not as "squirrelly" as a jig saw and cuts curves really well. Very similar to the Rockwell Jacque was mentioning.

Richard, He came by during Christmas and inspected 8) .

I'm almost ready to start tabbing. Will upload some pictures shortly.

Re: Smoky Mountain's FS13

Posted: Mon Dec 28, 2015 8:03 pm
by SmokyMountain
Pics as promised. The 4mm ply is very flimsy. I'm used to something a lot more stiff that will hold its shape a little better. I took the bulkheads out and traced on some cheap ply and made outside molds to better support the needed shape and let gravity do the work. :D

Filleted
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I'm off all week and hope to have the outside hull glassed by the time I go back to work.

Re: Smoky Mountain's FS13

Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2015 11:14 am
by Aripeka Angler
Beautiful work :D

Re: Smoky Mountain's FS13

Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2015 1:00 pm
by Dougster
Agreed, very clean work. I never seem to manage it that well. That's a good tip on cutting outside molds to let gravity shape things; wished I'd done that on the Plyak. I appreciate your documentation on this build as I have the plans and am considering it.

Dougster

Re: Smoky Mountain's FS13

Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2015 5:24 pm
by terrulian
Agreed, very clean work. I never seem to manage it that well.
Yeah, me neither...but I wonder how much difference it makes. Assuming a proper layup, is a really neat joint with the edges of the glass laid out perfectly in a line any stronger? I never have bothered with it. If you are not going to fair it, it means it is in a place no one is going to see anyway; and if you are going to fair it, it will all disappear. I know some folks just work very exactly no matter what they do and you have to admire that for sure. But that is not my style. So far, I can't recall, knock on wood, any glass failure on anything I've had something to do with, and some of it was carrying quite a lot of structural load.

Re: Smoky Mountain's FS13

Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2015 9:15 pm
by SmokyMountain
The main reason I try work clean is that it generally means less sanding..... :help:

Re: Smoky Mountain's FS13

Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2015 9:35 pm
by Aripeka Angler
Amen on the sanding :wink: Less work equals to more fun.
Carry on...

Re: Smoky Mountain's FS13

Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2015 10:02 pm
by terrulian
SmokyMountain:
Perhaps I'm so sloppy that I can't conceive of the advantage. :roll: :doh:
It seems that you have to fill the weave and feather the edges no matter how carefully you put down the glass, no? Of course you don't want to starve the glass or use too much epoxy.
The places that take the most fairing will be the seams and overlaps and edges. I have no doubt that applying the fairing compound carefully is a huge advantage and timesaver and there I do try my best to be neat. I also have used molds and tape and mylar to get a smooth finish. But why does a perfectly straight line on the glass make any difference?
I'm totally asking here, not arguing. Of course, I'm not going to build another boat anyway...am I? :help:

Re: Smoky Mountain's FS13

Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2015 7:16 am
by Walkers Run
terrulian wrote: Of course, I'm not going to build another boat anyway...am I? :help:
Denial. One of the stages of BBV :help:

Re: Smoky Mountain's FS13

Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2016 12:29 pm
by SmokyMountain
But why does a perfectly straight line on the glass make any difference?
I'm totally asking here, not arguing. Of course, I'm not going to build another boat anyway...am I? :help:
You maximize the strength of you tape (not that it makes much of a difference) and it looks good. 8) You have to remember, I'm a civil engineer that regularly deals with 2 decimal places and it messes with my O/C if its not straight... :help: To each is own.

Re: Smoky Mountain's FS13

Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2016 1:03 pm
by SmokyMountain
I've made good uses of my Christmas break and finished filleting the inside and outside of the boat, taped the inside keel, taped the outside keel, chines, filled the tape weave on the outside and glassed the outside of the hull. I'm going to buy some southern ash for the rub rails this weekend. I've got to start figuring out how I'm going to power this thing. Does anyone make a jet foot for a small 8-10 hp outboard?? That would be much easier than installing a jet and small water cooled motor internally.

Filleted transom after rounding off the top and cutting the side arcs to match the sheer.

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Glassed and filleted inside

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Filleted, filled holes and sanded - Ready for tape
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Taped Hull
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A little enlisted free labor 8)
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Taped Hull ready to sand

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Question - Should I square the rounded chines or does it matter on a small boat such as this? I was leaning toward sharp edges...

Thanks

Andy

Re: Smoky Mountain's FS13

Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2016 7:06 pm
by stickystuff
The smallest jet foot I know about is on a 25HP Tohatsu. You can always call or email the jet foot people out in Calif. I used to have their address but have lost it over the past 5 yrs.Google it should give you the answer. 13 is looking great. I layed mine out on shop floor , except I made it 6" wider. Made some bulkhead templates. Right now I am dealing with DR bills from cath scan. :)

Re: Smoky Mountain's FS13

Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2016 7:13 pm
by stickystuff
If you remember I had those flatstalkers. I flipped one in the Withlacootchie river and lost a Hundred plus outfit, ruined a brand new military gradec cell phone, hand held GPS and a complete tackle tray(plastic box) full of plugs and a boga grip. My friend I work with dove for it the next weekend. Rod and reel was never found. He did find my tackle box full of plugs, boga grip, gps and brand new browning fishing pliars. $50 alone just for the pliars. So that is the reason I will make mine wider. :D :lol:

Re: Smoky Mountain's FS13

Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2016 10:15 pm
by Newt
You might want to invest in some of these. http://www.gearkeeper.com/

They sure helped me hold onto some gear in a kayak.

Newt

Re: Smoky Mountain's FS13

Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2016 8:38 am
by topwater
outboardjets.com looks like 25 HP is the smallest engine they make a jet kit for.

Re: Smoky Mountain's FS13

Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2016 9:24 am
by Cracker Larry
I bet that boat would haul azz with a 25 8O

Nice work, Andy 8)

Re: Smoky Mountain's FS13

Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2016 10:20 am
by poleposition
[quote="Cracker Larry"]I bet that boat would haul azz with a 25 8O


Yea, you might hit ludicrous speed w/ a 25hp. Anybody got an idea at what point weight / speed might become an issue?

Re: Smoky Mountain's FS13

Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2016 10:24 am
by Cracker Larry
Depends on how fast you go :lol: I've seen some airboats that couldn't even float the engine, they have to start and stop on dry land. Sort of makes it hard to fish.

Re: Smoky Mountain's FS13

Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2016 2:34 pm
by SmokyMountain
The jet foot manufacture makes a foot for the 20hp Suzuki. Lowest hp I've found. The 20 weights in at 97 lbs with a pull start. Their 9.9 is 87 lb. not a lot of difference. What is the weight limit FS13 wrt a motor? I'm going to call the jet foot manufacture to see if they can custom build a foot for a ~ 10 hp motor. Also, there is a 20 hp Suzuki on Craiglist locally for sale. Though like ya'll said 20 is bit of overkill.

Re: Smoky Mountain's FS13

Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2016 4:20 pm
by poleposition
I don't claim to know a thing about jet engines, but don't you lose @ 30% efficiency going w/ a jet? ......would be great if you could convert a 9.9hp for that boat ( ?? )

fwiw, you may want to search Pinterest / microskiffs for some ideas for features........

https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/? ... fs%7Ctyped

Re: Smoky Mountain's FS13

Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2016 4:44 pm
by SmokyMountain
poleposition wrote:I don't claim to know a thing about jet engines, but don't you lose @ 30% efficiency going w/ a jet? ......would be great if you could convert a 9.9hp for that boat ( ?? )

fwiw, you may want to search Pinterest / microskiffs for some ideas for features........

https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/? ... fs%7Ctyped
Yes, I've read 30%. I was thinking the same thing, use 10 hp outboard and get 7 hp of power. That would be about right. Thanks for the ideas, I'll take a look.

Re: Smoky Mountain's FS13

Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2016 1:54 pm
by SmokyMountain
Jacque,

For the FS13 transom, I've laminated 2 pieces of 3/8 meranti, used ample fillets, taped with 6 oz biax inside /outside, glassed layer of 6oz fabric on the outside, will glass 6 oz fabric on the inside with the sole, install the transom knees as specified and tape them with 6ox biax. (transom knee are a solid pieces of 3/8" meranti.) With this in mind if I hang a motor that weights approximately 100 lb, would there be any problems?

Thanks

Andy

Re: Smoky Mountain's FS13

Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2016 2:15 pm
by jacquesmm
The transom is strong enough but trim and balance will be bad.
The boat is not a full fledged planing power boat. It is an hybrid between a SUP, a kayak and a small skiff.
She can take an outboard but max. 5 HP. A large motor will raise the center of gravity and being small and narrow, she is not much more stable than a canoe.
If you install a 100 lbs motor, you will have to learn how to handle her, be very careful in the beginning. Because of the weight, you will have to stand more forward and that reduces stability even more.
It is possible but I do not recommend it.
She can probably plane with a 3 HP if the crew and gear are less than 200 lbs.

Re: Smoky Mountain's FS13

Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2016 11:55 am
by SmokyMountain
Jacque / Anyone else

Should I sharpen the chines or leave them rounded? I'm going to finish out the hull to fairing next. Gives me time to figure out how I'm going to power this thing.

Got my rub rails cut out, rounded and fitted last weekend.

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Re: Smoky Mountain's FS13

Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2016 12:54 pm
by jacquesmm
For the chines, it doesn't matter since this is not an high speed planing boat. You will round to 1/2" radius for the fiberglass and I would leave them that way.
The rubrail looks good.