Introduction

Hi, my name is Bryan A. V. Pang. This blog I am documenting is all about building the Firebug as part of my Unitec boatbuilding course requirement - small craft build. We have six weeks to build the small craft. My team, Guns N' Roses comprised of 5 unique individuals. Each of us unanimously agreed on specific team role to emulate a real world working environment, as well as to foster sense of responsibility. The team contract,  (click here), further details information on the designated roles.

The blog would be presented in a way that makes sense in regards to the construction phase, not necessary in the sequential days. This way of presentation would attempt to eliminate confusion to the reader. Other than that, I have prepared and documented separately my thoughts on each day of construction, called Building the Firebug - Reflection, for reader(s) who are interested in my thought process as such.

It Begins...

Being the project manager, I was fortunate enough to be allowed to bring home the boat plan for study purpose, study at my own free time. I have then compiled a gantter chart outlining all the timeline and different phase of construction (click here).

Setting up

We were anointed with the less than ideal wobbly forming body.... Just how did it happened?

Even before we started, we have already gone into negotiation with the other Firebug team - Team Gunners. The situation is as follow, one set of CNC precut jigs/temp frames, one solid forming body and one not so good a forming body.

Team Gunners was the first to voice their preference, the sturdy forming body which meant we get to keep the CNC precut jigs.

Preparation of the forming body enlist the following tasks:
- Sanding surface
- Chisel out unwanted hardened glue
- Balancing the forming body
- Setup centre line string

Having a sturdy forming body is important for any boat construction as construction jigs or frames would be sitting on it.

After addressing the matter with the forming body. Time to assemble the CNC precut jig, using timber dowel, PVC glue and a few sash clamps.

My thoughts - The reason I prefer the precut jigs and frames can attributed to lesser work needed. The other team would need to duplicate the jigs and frames by starting from scratch. Another reason is simply because it is CNC cut, which means, it is precise. Starting from scratch and doing it manually risk errors to be made, human error.

Jigs and frames mounted on the forming body. Time to afix the jigs to the forming body while maintaining precise alignment with the centreline string.

Only the necessary temporary frames were marked out to be chisel in the corners for the chines and gunwales - temporary frames for station 1 and 3. Why? The bow (stn 0), forward bulkhead (stn 2), aft bulkhead (stn 4) and transom (stn 5) are all to be made of ply.

3mm marine ply BS1088 was used for the bulkheads. Since station 2 and 4 are of the same dimension, we stacked the ply together before running a plunge router on them.

Considerations..
- Nesting of the components on ply sheet to minimize wastage
- Grain direction of the two bulkheads, preferably in the same direction

Problems..
1) the offcut allowed was too big, resulting in the routing bit cutting of 180 degree of its drill bit area - more effort needed.
Solution: Have a smaller offcut, just a few mm off the lines.

2) Burn mark on the jig guide, caused by non-rotating ball bearing on the router bit.
Solution: Time to change the router bit

The bulkheads cut out with router followed by marking of doublers and cleats positions on the bulkhead. Time to machine the timber pieces.

Doubler pieces machined and cut to fit. Marked out the underside of the pieces (also the glue face for the timber) to keep track of each pieces.

 Drawing the cleats position, before bisecting the angle for the carlin to sit on. The angle of the cleat is parallel to the topside. The bisecting of the angle however depends on the width of the carlin specified by the plan.

Sanding the beveled end of the cleat piece using the facesander. A point of interest, when sanding, take note that the end grain do not get burned. Burned end in effect "polished" surface, thus will not allow any adhesive to stick.

Sorting the components required for the bulkheads. Again, marked out each component on the glue face. for tracking purpose.

 At the end of the day, to keep our work station tidy as well as to store the various timber components, the pieces are stored in the forming body. Reassembling them unto the bulkheads later would be much easier as well with the tagging on each piece.













Marking out the air holes for station 2. For esthetic purpose, the holes are marked exactly in between the topside end and the the outer line of the cleat piece. For ease of construction purpose, the air holes are made before gluing on any of the doublers or cleats.

The diameter of each hole is made out to be 52mm, using the standard saw hole bit.

Without the air holes, the sealed compartments beneath the carlins would be subjected to air pressure deviation which could result in implosion or explosion of the compartment itself.

Marking out where the copper nails will go when mounting the doublers and cleats on. Decided that 150mm apart is ideal based on look.

Dagged copper nails on the marked points. We did this to make it easier for us when the doublers are mounted . Preparation is the key.

It is time to prepare the mounting of the doublers to the bulkhead.  With the right doubler pieces, snot (epoxy with fixatroph) is then spread completely on the glue face of the doublers.

Note: we will be using a jig to keep all the doubler pieces in place on the bulkhead while the snot harden.

Once the doubler pieces had been seated in their slots with glue, the bulkhead is then mounted on top properly before the nails are hammered into the doublers.

A nail punch is subsquently used to flush the nail heads while the snot are still wet.

Once the snot dries up, we turn the bulkhead over to work on the cleats. Same procedure except there is no need for a jig to sit the timber pieces in place.

A point of interest, when we were mounting the doubler pieces, we made tit holes on the doubler pieces to guide the copper nails into. This method allows the timber piece to sit exactly where it was during the dry fitting phase. Picture on the left is a visual representative of this method used on the cleat mounting stage.

Chiseling out the beads of snot that were squeezed out - additional work. Such unnecessary work can be prevented by cleaning the beads off prior to the epoxy hardening.

Bow transom:

Preparing to cut out lightening holes on the bow.

- First used the saw hole attachment on the drill press to cut various pilot holes.
- Used jigsaw to cut out most of the offcut leaving out just a few mm on close to the line.

Plunge router in action. Even though the bow is an 18mm thick ply. The job was accomplished with little struggle. It pays to take note how to work with a plunge router.

Lightening holes routed out of the bow transom. The centre line had been mark out. All that is left is to mount it to the jig.

Transom:

There is no jig used mounting the fashion pieces to the transom ply. The fashion pieces were cut and machined to the defined dimension before being cut to the right bevel for dry fitting purpose.








Below two pictures showcase transcribing the bevel to the fashion timber.

Sitting the various fashion timber in place before commencing with the gluing process.

Once all the fashion timber had been mounted and glued on, it can now run pass the belt sander to give a final sanding to the actual dimension specified in plan.

Aft face of the transom - How we hold the transom in place. A little bit of creative problem solving. It prevents the transom from falling off the jig but can be moved from side to side given enough force.

Forward face of the transom - How we hold the transom in place. In order to ensure the transom is sitting plumb, we needed to over come the transom's tendency to fall forward due to lack of surface contact on the bottom of the transom.

Instead of wedging block where the hollow is, we decided to extend the high of the jigs arms. If we had wedge block in the hollow part, we would have difficulty turning over the firebug.

Another creative method of holding the bow transom in place. I would prefer solid timber piece instead of MDF. We just had to make do with available resources around.

The top of the bow transom need to be beveled for the deck ply to sit flat later on. The picture shows how we transcribe the angle using a sliding bevel.

Once the angle had been afixed on the sliding bevel and transferred to the top of the bow transom, it is time to hand plane to line.

In hindsight, we could have set the table saw to the desired angle before running the bow transom through it. Fast, efficient and accurate.

How we opted to clamp the various bulk
heads in place.

A different view if the custom made clamp.

Once the various bulkheads and transoms had been set in its place, it was time to bevel the bottom of those station in order for the bottom plywood to sit properly. This is done by handplaning the stations bit by bit to suit.

We used a fairing batten in place of ply to get the bevel we needed, and ensure there is no gap.

Backbone construction

Studying the plan for the lofting of the girders. For that, we need to start from the beginning - drawing the grid lines.

Note: We deemed only the girders and royalty posts (king and queen posts) are necessary for our need.

Lofting continues. It is advisable to extend the batten beyond the last point of interest to provide better fairing. Notice the two battens on the right of the pic by the lines plan, one was too stiff while the other too flexible. Experimentation is the only way.

A batten too stiff would snapped given too much force while the flexible batten would not provide a fair line.

We positioned an offcut ply underneath the drawing in order to tack the nails unto the ply. The ply is then removed for the various points (nail holes) to be joined accordingly. This is our method of transcribing unto the ply to create a template.

Why a template?
We decided early on the best method of constructing the girders is to run the timber plank through a table router with the template as jig guide.

Girders templates cut using bandsaw, trimmed to line with spokeshave, fits perfectly with the components plan that was provided.

Nesting for the girder pieces. The timber plank is sufficient for ours as well as the other team's needs.

Plan of action
- deep rip plank
- mark out excess on left
- cut using bandsaw
- excess glue to right side of timber to cover the convex bit

Best way to deep rip a timber plank is to multicut the timber. Multicut for this comprised of cutting using the table saw on both sides before running through the bandsaw.

One half is then given to the other Firebug team for their girders construction. All the while, we remained in communication with the other team to minimize wastage of resources as well as fast tracking the construction.

All that's needed now is the gluing process with epoxy resin.

The gluing process. What we should have done is to use plastic sheet as an underlay instead of cardboard. Why? Epoxy do not stick to plastic.

Consequence of using cardboard as an underlay. We then had to clean the surface by chiseling out bit by bit before sanding it.

Timber plank meant for girders were marked out with the template before being cut with offcut allowance using the bandsaw. As the picture suggest, the fore and aft girders are ready to be shaped using the table router. The arrow on the template indicate the direction of the forward end of the girders.

The girders had been cut using the table router with the aid of the jig guide.

Having done the girders. We can now move on to the construction of king and queen posts. The designer referred to these to pieces as "packers".

The royalty posts were easily lofted from our drawing. Easily constructed.

The royalty posts ready for the next phase.

Tracing out the center case using a template created from our loft.

The outline had been established for the center case. It was time to bring out the jigsaw. The trick is to cut as close to the line as possible. The piece would later be sand using the facesander, right to the line. It is crucial not to lose the line as the line provide the definition of the component.

With that, the center case has been construction. All that's left is to assemble the various components to form the backbone of the Firebug.

The various components for the backbone are assembled on the lofting for exact alignment.

 The inside of the center case will need to be covered by timber sealant before gluing the case to the posts and girders.

Gluing together the girders, royalty posts and one side of the center case. The pressure necessary for holding the pieces together was provided by the standing wood post that is linked to the steel beam on the ceiling.

Once the gelcoat had hardened, and before the other side of the center case is mounted and glued, we need to cover the inside of the center case with a second coat of timber sealant.

For safety precaution, respirator is necessary for the task.

Epoxy glue applied, center case set in place, it was time to tack nails into the floor around the center case to ensure the center case ply do not move or shift position when pressure is exerted from the top.

Our attempt to keep things tidy, and to avoid any complication. Whatever gets the job done.

Marking out the segment of the forward girder that will not be routed. Why is there a need for routing? The edge of the girders preferred to be filleted to rid of sharp corner. The reason there is a section best not to be filleted is intended for the compression post. The flat end of the compression post do not sit well on curved surface. The picture illustrates the lifting up of the lines from our lofting.

Routing the edging of the girders. Just ensure the right edge is marked and routed.

Figuring out the chine and gunwale pieces - a visual representative of our attempt to utilize the timber best way possible.

The timber we have at hand is 3000x100x50mm yellow cedar.

Machining the timber plank. The process - run piece through the buzzer before gauging using the thicknesser.

Note: If possible, work with the thickest possible timber. That normally would require "skimming" the timber. Skimming is the process of cleaning the surface of the timber while leaving the odd marks. The difference between skimmed timber and dressed timber could amount to just a few mm. That few mm could have made a lot of difference in maximizing resources when for construction.

Marking out using the marking gauge. Some considerations to note, the thickness of the blade, the crown side of the timber and offcut allowances.

Cutting out the chine and gunwale pieces. Since the timber is 3 m long, there is effectively, an operator, tail in supporter and a tail out receiver..

We have our chine pieces though not bevel nor machined to the required dimension. The picture shows our attempt to allocate which pieces should go to which side. There is the bending of the timber due to its natural fibre to consider. In that sense, we are only trying to work with the timber grain.

Cross referencing a test cut for the the chine. Since the chine and gunwale scantlings were given in actual size on the plan, it was easier to counter check our work.

A bevel board was created for this particular task.

Collaboration in action. I was showing and explaining how a bevel board can be made.

We thought of two ways to cut the bevel of the chines and gunwales.

The first, is to manually handplane the chines and gunwales. This method however is time consuming and require reasonable amount of effort.

The second, is to cut the chines and gunwales using the table saw set at the bevel angle. This method is fast and efficient provided it is done properly.

Where the timber piece is bowed, the bow face would need to sit against the fence with inward pressure (towards the fence) exerted before the initial cut, as represented by the picture.

Bending the chines and/or gunwales:
Chines put into the steam box to soften the fibre which in turn allows the piece to bend more easily.

Some considerations to note:
- the heating time of the steam box - an hour
- the level of 'bend' intended, and the set up to achieve it
- the side or surface to be bent
- assignment of tasks

Actions in motion. After twenty minutes of steaming the pieces. Fully gloved, it was time to pull out the pieces. Everyone else knew the exact sequence of my movement from body orientation to the timing of setting pieces on the sawhorses.

We used a piece of foam to prevent contact between the wooden handle and our chine piece to prevent indentation of the chine.

After half an hour of cooling the pieces, the bend is clearly visible.

Ideally, the construction set up (forming body and the jigs) should be right next to the steam box. The moment timber pieces (chines and gunwales) had been steamed, they can be set in situ and screwed in (dry fitting). This would allow for the exact level of bending of the chine or gunwale pieces.

In reality, however, we just have to make do with the given circumstances. Such is life....

Assembling the pieces...

When the various stations had been assembled on the jig, it was time to prepare for the next phase - installing the chines and gunwales, before the planking process.

First is to cut out the exact slot and bevel on the various stations in order for the chine to sit snugly. The chine end had been cut to angle so we could draw accurately on bow transom.

Chine slot marked out.

Once the forward face of the bow transom had been marked out as well, bevel angle needed to be taken into consideration.

It was time to cut out the slot.

A little bit of a botch job done on our first try.
What went wrong?
- did not cut right on the line
- did not make a series of cuts
- did not utilize proper chisel technique
- did not sharpen the chisel

Making the series of cuts on the starboard side for the chine slot.

Chiseling the excess with a SHARP cutting tool. Note; when chiseling, it is easier to make a clean cut against the grain line.

Note how the chine slot on the bow transom extend through the entire depth of the bow transom (previous picture). As for the chine slot for the transom piece, the slot cut does not extend into the transom ply, didn't even fully cut the fashion piece.

Our attempt at dry fitting the chine piece. Despite having steamed the chine and achieved some level of bent on the chine, we still struggle to keep the piece into the various slot.

Dry fitted the bottom chines and the backbone. A note in regards to the fastening used in holding the chine in place, we used stainless steel screws. Never screw into an end grain - it will not hold.

Planking process begins

After having cut the bottom ply for planking purpose, we needed to prepare the set up by figuring out how to exert downward pressure on the ply. This task was made easy for us as our boat construction is sitting right beneath a steel beam running fore to aft. A few wooden posts to push down the ply would be more than adequate, in theory anyway.

Bottom plank is now glued on. The vertical posts indeed provided some adequate pressure on the bottom plank. The clamps visible on the side clamping down unto the chines are necessary as there were gap on the inside of chine. One would need to peek from underneath the forming body to identify this hard to see gap.

We noted that the necessary amount of downward pressure in the middle had an unexpected reaction - the sides of the plank bowed and spring upward though slightly. This was the primary contributor to the gap on the inside of the chines which warranted the need for clamps.

It is necessary to have 100% epoxy glue coverage where intended, even though it means the usage of 'finger' spreading to reach and cover any visible gap.

The left picture illustrate the joint of the forward end of the girder glued to the aft face of the bow transom. The end joint of the girder was ensured to be saturated with epoxy

We encountered a slight problem with the front end of the forward girder. There was a 15mm gap (between the the girder and the bottom plank) as a result of misalignment during the assembling of the backbone. To rectify the problem, we spring the girder into place by using a vertical post to hold the girder while the epoxy dries.

The misalignment of the girder would bound to have other implication. The forward girder segment next to the center case need to be spring up into the bottom plank as we albeit being 5mm gap. A vertical post is used to push the girder into the bottom plank after saturating the faying surface with epoxy.

Once the epoxy has dried, clamps were taken off, it was time to cut the edging of the bottom plank to reflect the necessary width needed as faying surface.

After group discussion and input from the tutor, we can either handplane the edge until the desired depth achieved or cut using a skilsaw running fore and aft.

The picture illustrate the marking out of the excess.

A forward end view of the marking process.

The cutting process using a skilsaw. Note, a straightedge is used as a jig or fence for in order for the cut to be straight and consistent.

Some considerations taken for this undertaking;
- the depth of the cut; adjustment on the blade to be made; the same thickness as the bottom plank, 9mm.
- distance from blade to the outer edge of the skilsaw plate

Product of cutting using the skilsaw.

After bottom planking comes the garboard planking. For the garboard plank to be installed, the topside chine needs to be in place. The chine pieces had been steam bent, and now awaiting for the slots to be cut for mounting purpose.

The fashion piece on the transom marked out and in the process of being chiseled out. Notice the mark lines and compare it with the end product in the next picture.

A lack of attention result in an over-cutting mistake. What is the consequence of such an error?  There will likely be a hole where the garboard plank should have glued to the fashion piece. It goes, garboard plank => gap hole => chine

On the upside, it makes the chine installation much easier to put it in situ.

Marking out the bow transom that's to be cut out. It was curious to note the marked line is substantially different to that of the other Firebug team. We still have, in this instance , a small section of the bow transom that will remain, in between the the bottom chine and the topside chine.

We had cut off a segment of the bottom chine and ply in order for the topside chine to sit in the slot.

Dry fitting the chine is a success.

We then proceeded to measure the width required of the garboard plank and the topside plank.

With exact measurements at hand, we marked out the 4 strips required - 2 garboard and 2 topside planks.

Testing out the garboard ply. There were few issues instantly recognizable;
- the plank needs to be cut to fit exactly
- some beveling is required for the side of the garboard plank
- the ply was not 'sitting' flat on the surface of both the chines where it was meant to

Utilized a method called splicing. Splicing is used to mark out the location of a non-linear shape. In this case, we used this method to get the measurements and dimension for the garboard plank.

Splicing works by selecting a point preferably somewhere in the middle of splicing plank, measure out to the edge on top and bottom, note them down. These points will be transferred unto the garboard ply strip before and faired out with a fairing batten.

To attain a fair line, we needed the points measurement from the splicing plank and a functioning fairing batten. Once a fair line is achieved, it is time to cut using the bandsaw before handplane further down to the line.

Handplaning the plank required the plank kept in position at all time. It is crucial to keep the line on without planing into it. Ideally, the planing process should start from one end and goes through to the other end. This way, there can be a consistency in achieving a fair shape.

Used an offcut ply to check the faying surface of the chine - the ply should be touching the faying surface of the chine wholly. Where there is gap between the ply and the chine, some planing is thence necessary.

Handplaning in action.

 Decided to plane back a little the side of the bottom ply. Since it had already been glued to the chine, it was difficult to use the conventional  handplane no.4. I have here a chisel plane for the job. A bullnose plane or a rabbet plane would do fine for the given task.

The splicing and cutting of the garboard planks was a success. Fitted the garboard planks to ensure the fit. We are satisfied with the cut of the garboard plank.

Splicing in my opinion is definitely a skill worth learning. It can derived exact shape out of an non conventional shape.

Tacked nails to hold the garboard ply in place instead of using clamps. We did this for two reasons. 1) tacking nails from the middle working outwards would reduce any flex caught in the middle, 2) it is easier to work with for marking purpose.

What comes next is the tacking of copper nails. A few considerations to take into account
- the angle of the copper nail
- the thickness of the chine where the nail will penetrate; we do not want the copper nail to penetrate THROUGH the chine.
- the location of the copper nail (distance to the edging)
- the gap in between the nails

With that, the dry fitting of the garboard plank is complete

Note; before we commence with gluing the garboard plank on, we had a head start with mounting the gunwale pieces. Everyone by now know the process of planking and what to look out for after having done the bottom plank. It made it easier as we could separate into two groups and speed up the work. One group worked on the garboard ply, readying it for gluing, while the other worked on the gunwales installations. Teamwork in action.

Dry fitting of the gunwales were a success, so too is the dry fitting for garboard planking.

Forward thinking - we would like to mount the topside plank the day after the garboard planking is done. For that, the gunwale pieces need to be in place without clamps holding them in situ.

At this stage, we are ready to glue the garboard planking and gunwale pieces.

The beauty of dry fitting component especially nails were initially tacked, is that there is now tits on the bottom piece, in this case, the chine. The numerous nail tits on the chine made the remounting that much easier and fast. Being fast and efficient is crucial when the epoxy is hardening with every passing moment. Any preparation to ensure work can be done fast and efficiently is definitely worthwhile, just an observation. Less stress furthermore.

Ensured the surface of the chine is clean, absent of dust, before spreading on a layer of epoxy with fixatroph. As usual, we used 403 microfiller.

Once the copper nails had been hammered in, we proceeded to flush the head of the nails using nail punch. The task can only be successfully done with the use of a dolly, or else risk damaging the boat. Dolly is a mass clump of lead that looked like artillery shell with some weight on it.

Newton's laws of motion is in play. Ceteris paribus, the bigger the force exerted, the bigger the mass needed. What does it mean or imply in this circumstance? It means the bigger and heavier the dolly is, the easier it becomes to hit harder on the nail punch without repercussion of damaging the boat.

Fingered glue the joint between the bottom plank and the garboard plank. Used a masking tape along the edging of the garboard plank to keep it tidy. Despite our best attempt to achieve what can be called a good joint, there is bound to be 'abnormality', ie. gaps. The use of epoxy glue not only filled up these gaps but also act as a sealant, waterproofing the material, especially where end grains are visible and susceptible to water seeping in.

The protruding end of the chine and garboard plank will need to be cut away for the installation of topside plank. Took extra care not to cut into the bow transom.

Why would there be 'protruding' materials instead of having them cut to exact dimension lengthwise? It is called making allowances. Beside that, the protruding bits allow for a holding area not to mention makes the flexing of the chine that much easier. A longer stick is easier to flex or bend compared to a short one.

Only cut off the offcut of the chine and garboard plank. Remember, at this stage, we just cut enough in order for the topside plank to be installed - there is no need to cut off the bottom plank yet..

Once the topside planks had been cut out and plan after the whole splicing process, we proceed to marking out the nailing schedule using a guide jig. The guide jig made really made our work faster, efficient, accurate and esthetically pleasing once the nails are set in.

Notice the positions of the copper nails set in place in relation to the nails on the garboard plank. The two reasons we decided on such nailing schedule are
1) eliminate the possibility of nails hitting the garboard plank nails if we aligned them side by side
2) esthetically more pleasing and easier to work with

Topside plank successfully installed. All that's left is to let the adhesive dry up.

Forward view of the Firebug. We had clamps clamping onto the topside plank and the bow transom to ensure tight joint while the epoxy dries up.

The next step in in the planking process is the planing of the plank. The picture showcase the handplaning of the topside edge to achieve the same bevel angle as the garboard plank. The same would need to be done for the bottom plank as well.

Handplaning the bottom plank to achieve the same angle as the garboard plank. We took particular attention NOT to cut into the garboard plank. This required a little bit of common sense and experimentation, either hand plane using one end of the plane blade, OR re-adjust the blade so that only one end of the blade protrude out and cut. Either way, both method reduce the chance of planing into the garboard plank.

What comes after handplaning the edge of planks is the sanding of the surface. We used a grit 100 sandpaper on the boat.

The planing task was adequate. Some improvement can be made. Despite being aware of NOT to plane into the garboard, we still made the mistake. These can be seen by the dark patch along the garboard plank side. The dark patches represent the glue between the veneers that make up the ply.

Picture illustrate a more severe case of overplaning. Planed through the first layer of veneer.

The planking process is a success. We will now proceed with cutting off protruding bits, better known as offcuts.

An error was made in attempting to cut away the excess topside plank and gunwale. A lack of marking resulted in the human error.

Once the excess topside plank had been trimmed back. It was time to cut away the excess on the bottom plank. The only difficulty we encountered is the effectiveness of our tool. The japanese saw though easy to use and cuts like butter, met with resistance due to the 'backing' on the saw. At this stage we opted for the jigsaw as suggested by our mentor.

We first made a marking gauge, bevel angle as such before marking the bottom plank.

Jigsaw angle set and let loose on the excess ply. The only concern we had was the angle to set on the jigsaw, which was easily addressed using the marking gauge made .

The end results of removing excess materials. The bow transom is now ready for its 3mm facial ply.

Drilling the center case hole

The easiet way to mark out the exact location of the center case is to draw a straight line that represent the center line. We used a long straight edge that extend beyond the length of out boat. Aligned it with the centerline on the bow transom and the transom before drawing the line.

Once center line established, it was time to drill a small hole.

Let there be light!!!!

We then continued to make a series of holes using a 12mm drill bit.

Without any complication even with the 12mm drill bit. We are now ready to route out the center case hole using a plunge router with a ball bearing router bit.

Our router man in action. Just a few points to make
- the initial depth of cut is set around 11mm, enough to cut the whole thickness of the bottom ply at 9mm.
- it was subsequently increased to 20mm if not more. Why? the ball bearing on the router bit was running around beads of glue and not the surface of the inside center case. To address this, we simply increased the depth of cut hoping the ball bearing will then sit nicely on the inside surface.

A five minute work using the plunge router.

Turnover

All that's left to do is to unscrew all the temporary frames before we can finally turn the Firebug over.

First, we need to lift it vertically as not to damage the Firebug. We then proceed slowly to the two saw horses set up for the Firebug to sit on, right side up. 

The sash clamps underneath really serve no purpose. I guess everyone was just too paranoid about accident befalling the Firebug. 

The turnover of the firebug was a success. It looked decent for our small craft build. 

The next step after the turnover is the installation of the deck and the cockpit sides.

The deck ply needs to sit flat on the boat. This is where the handplaning comes in. We handplaned the gunwales and the doublers of the bulkheads.

As for the cockpit sides, we had to use a bullnose plane on the cleats.

Here we have another member of our team sanding the foreward face of the bow transom in preparation for the mounting of bow ply.

meanwhile....

we have another member chiseling out excess beads of epoxy on the interior of the boat. It is easier to chisel them first before sanding them.

What would be better is if the excess epoxy were removed while it was still wet. That would save us a lot of time and effort.

We next have to prepare the king and queen planks, compression post and the deck beams. But first, like always, taking exact measurement is crucial. The picture illustrate our attempt to measure out the length of the king plank.

Once measured, we proceed to cut the king and queen planks. Note, we took into account the bevel angle of the bow transom as well.

The compression post is then cut and put in situ . We had to ensure the king plank is in its exact position.

Note: there is a flat area on the fore girder meant for the compression post. All we had to do is install a LEVELED compression post.

More marking out. This time for the deck beams. Some thoughts into..
- gap between the deck beams
- length required for the individual deck beam
- bow face of the deck beam when installing

The various deck beams will be sitting on the insert cut made as per picture.

Just before the permanent installation of the deck beams, we decided to use a sash clamp to connect tightly the king plank to the forward bulkhead and the bow transom. This eliminate the minuscule concave of the forward bulkhead.

The hangers for the deck beams had now been glued to their marked out locations on the gunwale. All these hangers had been cut before hand, so too were the other components.

When it was time to glue, we know what goes where, and move on to them without wasting time. Work smart but preparing beforehand.

Used the same batch of glue used for the hangers on these as well. We managed the king plank, the compression post and the two support posts visible beside the compression post.

Deck beams installed and glued. They were good fit, as expected.

Detailed pic of the deck beam on the hanger. Notice how there is a small gap. This is true for the top part of the deck beck. The bottom is a good fit. What that tells us is there should be slight angle in cutting the piece, instead of cutting plumb as we did.

All the installation of the deck beams are nearly complete. We can now proceed or at least begin the preparation of the carlin pieces.

Making the carlin pieces was mind puzzling. We initially opted for the table saw but the angle of the blade did not extend to our specification. Note: the angle was derived using a sliding bevel on the cleat of the bulkheads.

Picture shows the only possible way we could do - using the bandsaw, tilting the table as far as possible. Any difference in cut required need to be hand planed to the line marked.

 Handplaning in action, down to the line marked. We had to improvise in order to keep the work piece solid and in place.

Once the carlins are installed. It was time for more marking. The picture illustrate the distance from the edge to the opening of the cockpit. In this instance, it was 190mm.

Here we marked out the distance from the aft to the opening of the cockpit - 472mm.

The next step is to lay over the ply and based on the marking made, we have to identify the opening of the cockpit. We used a straightedge to assist us in the task.

Once marked the cutting of the cockpit hole begins. We used a jig saw to work fast and efficient.

Pilot holes were made for the corners using small drill bit. The diameter of the drill bit needs to be at least as thick as the jigsaw blade.

Once the cockpit hole had been cut. We made sure the cut out is in one piece.

The cut out will be used to make the two cockpit sides by splitting it in half.

Since the Firebug has a rocker, the bottom end of the cockpit side will need to conform to the shape of the rocker, slightly curved. Therefore, we needed to do some splicing before fairing it and cutting out the excess.

Port cockpit side had been cut to shape. It now fits nicely in situ.

The deck then proceed to be marked out for further cutting.
Some considerations taken into account include..
- identifying the 'good' side surface
- tack nails for exact location fitting
- identify center line
- mark out the deck line on the underside of the play, ie the bad side

We had to be vigilant in cutting the deck ply. Task is done best with 2 people using the bandsaw.

The deck ply is then fitted in situ.
Note: we noticed the ply was not wide to cover the whole width of the boat to begin with. To address the issue, we decided to attach a symmetrical strips of ply on each side of the boat. A difficult job for the unskilled.

Planing a strip of ply to latch on to the side. The difficulty is getting a 'perfect joint' with minimal joint visbility. AN extremely difficult task in my opinion.

The strip of ply taped to the side of the deck ply. Not the best job, but it is the best we can do given our skill.

The final task we did before we relocate the firebug to the FRP bay is to tidy the interior up, using vacumn cleaner. All the saw dust, dried snot, and other impurities need to be cleared out before the timber sealing takes place.

We used epoxy timber sealant.
Before all else, we had a brief discussion about safety issue. Those without respirator are not allowed to be in the FRP bay.

My main concern was development of respiratory problem even with a respirator being worn. I understand, sometimes, even the vapour can cause irritation to exposed skin or even eyes.

In the time we are applying the sealant. We ensured the ventilation system is operating. Other notes for the task include
- wet on wet application of the sealant
- apply from top to bottom
- generous application where 'gap' is perceived
- generous application where there is end grain exposed
- cover every single surface area!