Here’s what my “thunderboat” looks like now

[Julio Almazan]

Hi, Jeffrey Hammond:
Beautiful job. I follow it very carefully... some doubts...
1 - Where do you get these pieces of metal, so practical and useful?

2 - Don't you think your assistant urgently needs a vacation?... I fear for his health...

 

[Craig Hollingshead]

I am not sure about other folks who have built this boat, but...I found it pretty much impossible to get the motor in and out once all of the deck sheeting was in place. I ended up creating two hatches on either side of the motor. Impossible to undo the header bolts otherwise.

 

[Hydro Junkie]

Julio, the metal blocks you're referring(and pointed) to are called a 1-2-3 block. They are used, primarily anyway, in sheet metal, machining and assembly work. You can read more about and order some(if desired) from Micro Mark. Here's a link to them:
https://www.micromark.com/1-2-3-Blocks

 

[Jeffrey Hammond]

Hi, Jeffrey Hammond:
Beautiful job. I follow it very carefully... some doubts...
1 - Where do you get these pieces of metal, so practical and useful?
View attachment 325991
2 - Don't you think your assistant urgently needs a vacation?... I fear for his health...
View attachment 325992

Hi, Jeffrey Hammond:
Beautiful job. I follow it very carefully... some doubts...
1 - Where do you get these pieces of metal, so practical and useful?
View attachment 325991
2 - Don't you think your assistant urgently needs a vacation?... I fear for his health...
View attachment 325992

1). That’s Skully, my assistant…….or more correctly, my former assistant. On my last project, he made a mistake and I had to reduce his rations to beans and rum. Took a toll on him….tried to revive him with a rubber chicken and some incantations, but it hasn’t worked so far…..
2). Those metal blocks are called 1-2-3 blocks. They are used by machinists all the time. 1”x2”x3”…..pretty heavy steel. Very handy for all kinds of things, from weights, to spacers, to magnet holders, etc….I use them all over the place. Only have 10, wish I had 10 more!

 

[Jeffrey Hammond]

I am not sure about other folks who have built this boat, but...I found it pretty much impossible to get the motor in and out once all of the deck sheeting was in place. I ended up creating two hatches on either side of the motor. Impossible to undo the header bolts otherwise.

Very good point Craig! And yet, I have seen a bunch of these finished boats without the hatches, so how are they getting the header bolts loosened? Hopefully someone will chime in and tell us how they got around this issue!

 

[Jeffrey Hammond]

Last night, I dry fit the cowling on the new deck supports. I am supposed to sand this cowling so that it fits on half of the deck supports. It won’t take much sanding to get that far! It’s close already. I need to get the cowling to fit just right before I start working on the top decks. And I got another pic of my former first mate Skully who is currently looking into the back yard….for prowlers…..with lasers…….

 

[Jeffrey Hammond]

Today the goal was to get the cowling mounted. I spent most of the time trying to figure out a good way to make some kind of a jig to use to help sand the cowling. I finally decided to clamp a quarter inch piece of basswood on top of the 1/2 inch deck/cowling support, exposing half of the deck support. I used the basswood as a sanding guide for the cowl.

 

[Jeffrey Hammond]

A lot of sanding, then fitting, then more sanding, more test fitting, then more fitting, then more sanding, rinse and repeat. I finally got it just right, then I put the cowl block on the front and rear of the cowling and set them up with GFlex epoxy with colloidal silica. Time to leave it alone overnight to dry.

 

[Jeffrey Hammond]

Just checked on the cowling gluing from last night and I’m very happy with the way it came out. Today I will be installing the reinforcing filets on the backsides of the two locating bulkheads for the cowl. Not much work today. Here’s a pic of the deck boards test fit, the sponson decks test fit, and the cowling located.

 

[Jeffrey Hammond]

Worked on both side decks today. One side is done,the other side just needs final fitting. I put the epoxy reinforcing filets on the backs of the 2 plates that locate the cowling on the hull. Pics of those tomorrow.

 

[Jeffrey Hammond]

Here are the pics of the two filets I made with gflex epoxy thickened with colloidal silica. They came out ok, nothing great. I decided to put in the front locating dowel at the same time. I fit the cowling back on, along with the two decks. They fit almost too well. I think I will separate both sides with card stock before i glue in the decks.

 

[Jeffrey Hammond]

By the way, Skully has a friend…….Bones. Also stands guard at the door. Bones got carried away with botulinum injections…..wasted away……but she’s good with a hypodermic needle….

 

[Ray Sametz]

Slick use of the tongue depressors.

 

[Jeffrey Hammond]

There outta be a class called “creative clamping”. I sure couldn’t teach it, but I could probably be a guest lecturer……and you would not believe the number of clamps I have, and I want some more…..the Klamp King! Or Klamp Klutz…..

 

[Ray Sametz]

Might have seen already, you can make hundreds from pvc pipe.

 

[Jeffrey Hammond]

I have seen a reference to these clamps, but I haven’t tried to make any yet. Good project for today…..any suggestions for the best size?

 

[Ray Sametz]

I have seen a reference to these clamps, but I haven’t tried to make any yet. Good project for today…..any suggestions for the best size?

Large ones are 3-1\2 OD. All sizes work.

 

[Ray Sametz]

This one I call the Frankenstein clamp method.

 

[Jeffrey Hammond]

Maybe you should call it the “Lilliputian” tie down method.

 

[Jeffrey Hammond]

Here’s some additional photos of test fits….