Boat Builder Central - Builder Forums

I started building the trawler 28 last month and I am close to finishing the mold for the hull. I only have the transom and bow mold to make and should have them both done this week.

I am creating a photo gallery and will keep adding photos there as I progress.
I am going to try and post updates at least once or twice a month.
I am learning as I go, but if anyone has any questions about my build please let me know.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/mpxAy5ZuYxFCiyyp6

Some issues so far.
1. I have noticed that not all of the frame's baselines are 100% level. Just 1-2 eights of an inch off from frame to frame. I check with a laser level every time I add a frame.
I have written down all the measurements and will recheck and adjust each frame once they have all been put up.

2. Not having a long enough ruler to mark and measure some of the lines needed in making the frames.
I bought a series of aluminum rulers. 6', 8', 10', 12'. This way no matter how long I need to measure or mark something I have a good straight edge fro that.

3. Making the camber curves for some of the molds. I didn't really have anything on hand for that so I got a long 2x4x12 that was perfectly straight and ripped a 1/8'' slice out of it. I attached some l brackets at the 3 points that I need. I use them to secure the wood to the board and mark the curves using that.

Setup is the key. I like to use a laser level and mark the waterline equidistant from the centerline say 7" or firther if possible. Then drill 1/4" or 3/16" holes and ise that for lining up stations.

This really helped me more than straightedges which had a tendency to follow errors..

A good laser level is about $100-150 and the best tool I purchased for my build. I spent about the same on a 4' digital level; also a good tool.

Here's a quick update.

This week I have been focusing on double checking everything on the hull mold.
1. I used my laser level to make sure all the baseline and centerlines on each frame were properly lined up.
2. I also added extra bracing to all the frames and used my level to make sure they were all perpendicular.

I added some more pics to the photo gallery.
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipN ... dReG51TDl3

I received the wood, epoxy, fiberglass, and wood flour. In the next few weeks, I will start marking up and cutting the pieces or the hull.

EDIT: I did want to add one more note. Some of you may have noticed that the transom has not been added to the frame yet. I have it built in my garage and will be adding it later. I was thinking it would be easier to mold the 2 plywood pieces over the transom while it was on the garage floor versus doing it while it's attached to the frame. J

Nice progress!!! Jeff

You need to anchor the strongback into the ground a foot or so. Otherwise, over time it will sink and not be level..otherwise, looks good and maybe u did and I don't see well..

fallguy1000 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 01, 2022 10:08 am You need to anchor the strongback into the ground a foot or so. Otherwise, over time it will sink and not be level..otherwise, looks good and maybe u did and I don't see well..

It's a little hard to see in the pictures because the grass has grown up around the base of the feet but the bricks are sitting on a few feet of compacted gravel. So it should be pretty stable.

Jeff wrote: ↑Tue Nov 01, 2022 7:50 am Nice progress!!! Jeff

thanks

Love it.

Strongback looks good. One suggestion. Reinforce Frame A and B as much as you can. This is where the plywood will take the most torture. Mine shifted after I brought the panels together at the bow and I didn't catch it. Over time the butt joint between the first two panels aft of the bow didn't break but bent slightly.

Keep up the good work.

Your shelter looks great for completing until you have to flip and start building the topsides and then you will need something higher. Tom

TomW1 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 10, 2022 12:32 am Your shelter looks great for completing until you have to flip and start building the topsides and then you will need something higher. Tom

Thanks. I do have longer poles. I have the 6 ft poles on now, and I have another set that can go as high as 10 or 12 ft which I'm thinking will be tall enough.

Knottybuoyz wrote: ↑Wed Nov 09, 2022 11:46 am Strongback looks good. One suggestion. Reinforce Frame A and B as much as you can. This is where the plywood will take the most torture. Mine shifted after I brought the panels together at the bow and I didn't catch it. Over time the butt joint between the first two panels aft of the bow didn't break but bent slightly.

Keep up the good work.

Thanks for the suggestion! I will reinforce those sections some more before I start laying on the hull sections. I'll double up the 2x6 going across and add additional bracing on the front and back. I've got a couple of steel angle irons. Maybe I will use that to reinforce the 2x4's holding up the molds and as additional bracing.
I'll play around with a few ideas and follow up what I come up with.

thanks again

11/13/2022 - Update 2

I have spent the last few weeks marking and cutting the pieces for the bottom and side panels. I lined them all up across a few tables and I was really happy with how they all lined up. I am getting ready to start splicing together the different sections with fiberglass.

I've done a few test pieces and this is the process I am planning on:
1. Marked a line 3 inches from the edges that are being joined.
2. Roughed up the front and back using 80 grit sandpaper.
3. I brushed, vacuumed, and used a microfiber cloth with a little water to clean off all the dust and debris from the boards.
4. I have them drying and will start fiberglassing in the next day or two.


I did have a few questions regarding the next few steps.
Q1. When cleaning the dust off the edges that will be epoxied should I be using water or is there something better?

Q2. Now that I have been working with this good quality marine plywood for a while I am wondering if there are any tips or tricks on how to mold the boards around the frame. Especially the transom and bow sections where there are a lot of curves. This wood seems very strong and resistant to warping or bending. Is it just brute force? (which seems to be what Knottybuoyz is alluding to in a previous post) Is there some other process I need to look into?

Q3. Is there a good way to clean off your epoxy tools? Like the rollers, straight edges, etc. Not having much experience with epoxy I wasn't sure if water would be enough or if I need some kind of solvent to clean them up.

As always, thanks for your feedback and comments.

Hi MageDK


If you're using electric tools for sanding etc. Your method for cleaning off the dust is good. If you're using air tools I use acetone or denatured alcohol as there is oil in the air lines from the compressor, unless you have a trap. I use all air tools (well mostly) and a dust cyclone to get as much of it off the work as possible. Have only been doing this for a couple years and it's a game changer in time savings. I also will blow off an area with compressed air.

Laminate the transome off the strongback frames. Much easier but it is still brute force. I'll go looking for pictures. The long panels along the bottom towards the bow were the hardest to get to conform. Ensure you're kerfs are as deep as you dare go and put them about 1 to 1-1/2" apart. I used ratchet straps, huge zip ties and screws to get it to bend over Frame A and as I mentioned brace Frame A and B really really well. The force you'll put on the panels to get them to conform to the forms is pretty wild. I had to put two U Bolts in each side at Frame B, one on each side about half way down the side panel and put a ratchet strap to pull them onto the forms.

If you get to your cleaning your tools soon enough white vinegar will prevent it from curing and make them easier to clean. Acetone works as well as denatured alcohol or laquer thinner. If you get a tool, such as a bubble roller that has fully cured soaking it in Acetone or MEK will soften up the cured epoxy and a wire hand brush will clean it right up. Takes a couple days though.

Carry on!

Laminating the transome





Bringing the side and bottom panels into the forms. You can see the kerfs on the left side and the error in the kit. They should have been on the inside.



Heavy stitches along the bow and some small pieces of ply screwed to the panels to help keep them aligned.



This is what happens when you pull one stitch too many too soon! Ooops!



Lots of big stitches. I think these were 100 lb zip ties about 24" long. Not exactly cheap but everything else I tried broke too easily. Sorry, can't remember where I got them.



Hope that helps.

Knottybuoyz wrote: ↑Sun Nov 13, 2022 11:50 am Hi MageDK


If you're using electric tools for sanding etc. Your method for cleaning off the dust is good. If you're using air tools I use acetone or denatured alcohol as there is oil in the air lines from the compressor, unless you have a trap. I use all air tools (well mostly) and a dust cyclone to get as much of it off the work as possible. Have only been doing this for a couple years and it's a game changer in time savings. I also will blow off an area with compressed air.

Laminate the transome off the strongback frames. Much easier but it is still brute force. I'll go looking for pictures. The long panels along the bottom towards the bow were the hardest to get to conform. Ensure you're kerfs are as deep as you dare go and put them about 1 to 1-1/2" apart. I used ratchet straps, huge zip ties and screws to get it to bend over Frame A and as I mentioned brace Frame A and B really really well. The force you'll put on the panels to get them to conform to the forms is pretty wild. I had to put two U Bolts in each side at Frame B, one on each side about half way down the side panel and put a ratchet strap to pull them onto the forms.

If you get to your cleaning your tools soon enough white vinegar will prevent it from curing and make them easier to clean. Acetone works as well as denatured alcohol or laquer thinner. If you get a tool, such as a bubble roller that has fully cured soaking it in Acetone or MEK will soften up the cured epoxy and a wire hand brush will clean it right up. Takes a couple days though.

Carry on!

Thanks for the feedback and the pics. That helps out tremendously.

I had some plastic zip ties, but nowhere near as heavy-duty as the ones you are using. I am going to get a good number of ratchet straps as well to help with the bending and molding of the hull pieces.

The only difference in my approach is that I didn't put any kerf cuts on the hull pieces. I didn't see anything in the instructions that indicated I needed them, so I hope they aren't 100% required. I don't have a tool that could make those easily.

You will likely find that you won't be able to bend the bottom section around the bow without the kerfs. They're not hard to make. You can use a circular saw set to about a quarter inch. A little more would be even better. You have to keep in mind that the panel is not only bending in one direction it's going two ways. Often referred to as "Tortured Ply".

Those jumbo zip ties are used by heating and air contractors to put together flexible duct work, so a HVAC supply house will stock them.

pee wee wrote: ↑Mon Nov 14, 2022 9:37 am Those jumbo zip ties are used by heating and air contractors to put together flexible duct work, so a HVAC supply house will stock them.

Thanks. I was able to find them. 24 inches long and rated for 200-300 pounds.

Update 3 - 11/25/2022

I finished cutting out all the bottom and side panel sections. I have spent the last week fiberglassing the sections together. I don't have a lot of flat space so I do 4 pieces at a time, let them dry, flip, and redo.

1. I've got one bottom panel almost completely spliced together.
2. I laminated the 2 transom sections together and bent them over the transom frame. I wet both sections with Epoxy and also used thickened epoxy to glue them together.
3. I mounted the transom frame on the strongbacks so it's there when I am ready to fiberglass the transom to the hull.
4. I am also testing out a few different methods to cover the frame so the hull doesn't stick to it when fiberglassing. The plastic sheeting is a little messy, but I am also trying out duct tape on the frame. The epoxy doesn't seem to stick to the duct tape to well so this might be a cleaner, easier option.

I have added some photos to the photo gallery: https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipN ... dReG51TDl3

Update 4 - 12/27/2022

I finished splicing the hull sections together and tried fitting them onto the hull jig, but they weren't lining up properly. It was really worrying me because I thought I had done something catastrophically wrong. Turns out that the bottom panels aren't meant to fit on the jig with the Keel molds on the frame. viewtopic.php?p=505953#p505953
I would up removing some of the keel molds to make the panels fit better. Then I notched out a small piece in the bottom panels to accommodate the keel frames that were left.

I needed a bit of help to move those panels around and take them up and down so I made a small cart and a crane that I use to move them around.
http://emildiego.com/boat-photos/cart-1.jpg
http://emildiego.com/boat-photos/lift-1.jpg
http://emildiego.com/boat-photos/lift-2.jpg

I added the kerfs to the forward 3 sections of the bottom panels. Spaced out 2 1/2 inches apart.

My goal in the next week is to mount the 2 bottom panels on the frame as well as the 2 side panels. If the weather cooperates, then maybe I will have time to finish the keel as well.

You are getting some great help from an expert,

I keep acetone in a 5 gallon bucket with a lid during the entire project. For a project this size, get about 4 gallons of acetone. Pour a gallon or two into the 5 gallon bucket. Keep in 2" deep or so with temporary refills.

All rollers and trowels that get epoxy on them must be solvent rated and then they can go in the bucket after use. It is especially good for bubble buster or fin rollers.

One or two times, the rollers were forgotten overnite and takes a few days soak to loosen enough to tear down and clean. I used a dental pick to clean my fin rollers now and then. I also throw squeegees in the bucket. Take them out and dry before using as acetone is a solvent for uncured epoxy.

It also works well for paint roller frames when you get that far along. Keep in mind, I used 300+ gallons of epoxy. You won't use that much, but the method is a massive timesaver versus cleaning tools each day. Drop them in the bucket and clean them off with air or a wipe next day.

I developed epoxy dermatitus reactions from repeated skin contact due to degloving and touching my wrist and a pair of underwear got a spot of epoxy and gave me a really bad reaction that just happened on Nov 11, 2022. Do not allow any skin contact ever. I use thickster gloves which are about 50 cents a pair and I never reuse them. This was actually unbidgeted expense and I probably used about $700 in disposables during the project. (You won't need that many for a ply boat). But get good protection.